tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83465089333813376992024-03-18T14:08:36.328-04:00Corona JumperJerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.comBlogger1141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-64760048162636259912024-03-18T06:10:00.003-04:002024-03-18T12:05:21.211-04:00Ranking the 80's and 90's RPGs I've Finished<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmCUVdHig1yRynVYB1o4NvaflhuccDgT4LK88R9rLaCwJP4nzoMxQ0utQzdiZc9eivi3bhOmcIUYXw9tNj5xFLy4M6rxhoqPqVp6QOJJqWh3MNy138KBz6GAdvHsFFpdjRLkd1jHLtVZZ0li8QlMv6Pg2r8RRiCjzNJcFgWHHcYVYYHjUK8yJxAhHxn1oW/s1920/Chrono-Trigger-6-Curiosities-Featured.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmCUVdHig1yRynVYB1o4NvaflhuccDgT4LK88R9rLaCwJP4nzoMxQ0utQzdiZc9eivi3bhOmcIUYXw9tNj5xFLy4M6rxhoqPqVp6QOJJqWh3MNy138KBz6GAdvHsFFpdjRLkd1jHLtVZZ0li8QlMv6Pg2r8RRiCjzNJcFgWHHcYVYYHjUK8yJxAhHxn1oW/w535-h300/Chrono-Trigger-6-Curiosities-Featured.jpeg" width="535" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pre-millennium was the golden age for gaming in a lot of ways, especially when it came to traditional RPGs. This list is kind of a supplement to the big 1000 list, just a fun thing for me to think about while I do that.</div><p style="text-align: center;">Note: Counting 2000. One can technically say 2000 was the end of the decade, and either way I feel like the real changeover from retro to modern happened in 2001 with the advent of the PS2/XBox generation. So <i>Dragon Quest VII</i> just barely gets spared from being on the list and probably scoring pretty low on it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">If something I played is a recent remaster/port and very close to the original, it counts as me playing the original for ranking purposes. Like the Langrisser games, or <i>Romancing SaGa 2</i>. If it's a full-on remake it doesn't count, like the completely-overhauled PSP remake of <i>Ys 3</i> doesn't count as me playing OG <i>Ys 3</i>.</p><span><a name="more"></a></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Honorable Mentions, 'Cause I Didn't Finish Them: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES), Crystalis (NES), Tales of Phantasia (SNES), Shining Force 1+2 (Genesis), Star Ocean 1+2 (SNES and PS1), Breath of Fire 2 (SNES), Rudra no Hihou (SNES), Bahamut Lagoon (SNES), Treasure Hunter G (SNES), Fire Emblem 1-5 (NES and SNES), anything on the Saturn and Dreamcast.</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Also Honorable Mentions To The PC Trendsetters I Never Got To Play: The Wizardry series, the Ultima series, Moria (even though it was 1975), etc.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04DB5EbVOvXsjrLabWLNcC2CO2jOz2yEti2slbh3kOCAfoOfMXcDXBzxjokNHWL1TaijyXomc-whWk3EQnB51xeEYj5amT-ulyd_vKa-zKbAoH0QvXDBOXtHmthKE71gW8HIDdbMa0r4oEwJbbLDD3hj6tWphlrZ6LbSwUYk_AIg9-lWbpVF8KDah3D3c/s1081/chrono%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="1081" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04DB5EbVOvXsjrLabWLNcC2CO2jOz2yEti2slbh3kOCAfoOfMXcDXBzxjokNHWL1TaijyXomc-whWk3EQnB51xeEYj5amT-ulyd_vKa-zKbAoH0QvXDBOXtHmthKE71gW8HIDdbMa0r4oEwJbbLDD3hj6tWphlrZ6LbSwUYk_AIg9-lWbpVF8KDah3D3c/w457-h256/chrono%202.png" width="457" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Whoa. I just noticed for the first time that the Epoch's wings are basically Saiyan armor shoulders. Toriyama, you scamp!</p><p style="text-align: center;">93. Lord of the Rings Vol 1 (Super NES, 1994) - As much as I want to like this game, it really is the worst RPG I've ever played. Underpowered characters, glitches everywhere, equipment that doesn't work, characters that don't even attack, cave dungeons that are confusing mazes and all look the same, an endless fetch quest to unlock the last dungeon, which usually ends with the game having mercy on you and just glitching the dungeon's door open anyway. The list goes on. Bad, bad game. Music is decent and it's LOTR, but that's about it. It does have a certain charm on paper though, and the Nintendo Power artwork for the game was great, and I wanted to get into it, but unfortunately at the end of the day it's a great missed opportunity.</p><p style="text-align: center;">92. Tecmo Secret of the Stars (Super NES, 1995) - Hard to believe this came out the same year as <i>Chrono Trigger</i>. It's an incredibily generic and badly-made game. I may have had fun with it, but it's terrible. It's like something someone made in one of the RPG Makers, except I'm pretty sure most people could make something better. You have two different parties to use throughout the game, and inevitably one of them gets much stronger (probably the one you get well before the other). Then in the final dungeon it suddenly springs on you that you have to use both groups. If you're like me, one of them will be at basically noobie zone level, so good luck. Also the entire game is in all caps.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnN4zNh0Soel1KDKUFpbQK7kPFo1mzcumUPFI70rTb4GSvzTWOB-zY-bryXbqNvpNSPRt3x0XJfj4oJQOYTEFjoFju1nj-5XbS353QvoIaktQYo94E6ss7Gbs6hC5C1lJtPsE6GhYFgX1X7udtzsOFXRdnFFOxMhn2i7lh3TO1J_qGp9MPlOfpRdsOeZ7/s256/dbz%20rpg.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="256" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbnN4zNh0Soel1KDKUFpbQK7kPFo1mzcumUPFI70rTb4GSvzTWOB-zY-bryXbqNvpNSPRt3x0XJfj4oJQOYTEFjoFju1nj-5XbS353QvoIaktQYo94E6ss7Gbs6hC5C1lJtPsE6GhYFgX1X7udtzsOFXRdnFFOxMhn2i7lh3TO1J_qGp9MPlOfpRdsOeZ7/w293-h267/dbz%20rpg.gif" width="293" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">91. Dragonball Z Chou Saiya Densetsu (Super Famicom, 1992) - Dragonball Z RPG for the SNES? How can you go wrong? Well, very easily as it turns out. This game is bland, the characters have weird wide stances like they're hanging out in a congressional men's room, the animations are stiff, the list goes on. You also have to do a ton of grinding to fight the first boss (Raditz) which kills a lot of the game's potential appeal right out of the gate. At least it has a cool postgame superboss fight with Super Saiyan Vegeta. That was them thinking on their feet. Would have liked to see what this developer did with a second Super Famicom RPG covering the Cell Saga, but no such game ever materialized unfortunately. The NES got that game, but a very underwhelming version of it. More on that in a bit.</p><p style="text-align: center;">90. Phantasy Star 3 (Sega Genesis, 1990) - Subtitled "Generations of Doom" and containing several generations of main characters, this was a great idea in theory. In practice, your choices of who to marry really just affects the hair color of your next MC. Terrible dungeon design, bland enemies, bland everything. Worst part is the huge spaces between everything in towns just to make them feel bigger. Probably a big "rookie game designer" mistake people make in RPG Maker softwares. This was a B-Team game and it shows, compared to the others in the series.</p><p style="text-align: center;">89. Monstania (Super NES, 1996) - The world's shortest SRPG. It certainly exists. Nothing wrong with it really, it's just...kinda there.</p><p style="text-align: center;">88. Mystic Ark (7th Saga II) (Super Famicom, 1995) - When I found out <i>7th Saga</i> had a sequel and that it launched in the golden RPG era of 1995, I was stoked. Then I played it and spent most of the game lost. It's super weird, with these different worlds that make very little sense. Nothing like the first game, with no classes or extensive level grinding. Just wandering around getting lost in bizarre areas looking for the one character you need to talk to to make the game progress (usually some obscure NPC). This game nearly turned me off of RPGs entirely for a while. Yeah, not playing this one again.</p><p style="text-align: center;">87. Dragon Ball Z RPG 1: Saiyan Saga (Famicom, 1990) - The worst of the four NES DBZ RPGs due to being the first and most rudimentary. Still manages to be decent. Heck I think it's better than the Super Famicom one despite being much shorter. This one only covers the Saiyan Saga (and the Dead Zone movie), which makes it brief for an RPG, but it's dense and focused. There's a lot of training montage type stuff, and they spend quite a bit of time on Raditz (including giving him subordinate goons) but it all feels like it has a purpose. Really not a bad game at all. Best of all, no weird combat stances. The only downside is there's a ton of grinding in it and every time you switch characters (like say from Gokou to Piccolo/Gohan and back) you need to do a ton more grinding.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixAqFsgY07YA75VAKUOOlgz1WYXqsxpin2muvqy_v9e_7niLz44ggWo7Fw80MrknNcTf6rzYxPHTM051jb6-h3qMo56IBHT8R-rEEYOp7WfQO7CHJSPBZi8o3aGRq91wA5_3ZqjISBu_3DORzcUjxdC_yRdHl9FGWQ8uUXtjxKnYqh3QlgBfSclBUPFPKR/s640/3-Breath_of_Fire_IV_01993.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixAqFsgY07YA75VAKUOOlgz1WYXqsxpin2muvqy_v9e_7niLz44ggWo7Fw80MrknNcTf6rzYxPHTM051jb6-h3qMo56IBHT8R-rEEYOp7WfQO7CHJSPBZi8o3aGRq91wA5_3ZqjISBu_3DORzcUjxdC_yRdHl9FGWQ8uUXtjxKnYqh3QlgBfSclBUPFPKR/w377-h283/3-Breath_of_Fire_IV_01993.jpg" width="377" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">86. Breath of Fire 4 (Playstation, 2000) - Lot of people like this one but I don't. The camera angle is too low so your view is constantly obscured by objects. The game goes on about 3 times longer than it should have, clocking in at like 60 hours for me over a few years of chipping at it. It stopped being interesting well before that and would have been fine if it were condensed to like 20. The visuals are also weirdly washed-out, with very little color to be found, which is probably the thing that tanks it the most. The character portraits are hideous, too. ...what the hell is going on with that guy's lips?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphWuzvuWhfJmIr8riaBKOM_RXwBVbxcQrDLDj7qMyZB5P1va6KcawbRiarYc9ycZQtLzPByfLbQfqrSH7MdQU211vdwMbq32u5KpOdJwDpZFgUqiloT1pd7LdEsxOSpgPnq4tJlcgzdg87kA_w2wCtNJXvVgpcS5d5d_o_6LOP-lLYg7niGsBL2GLWS54/s864/Final%20Fantasyll.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="864" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhphWuzvuWhfJmIr8riaBKOM_RXwBVbxcQrDLDj7qMyZB5P1va6KcawbRiarYc9ycZQtLzPByfLbQfqrSH7MdQU211vdwMbq32u5KpOdJwDpZFgUqiloT1pd7LdEsxOSpgPnq4tJlcgzdg87kA_w2wCtNJXvVgpcS5d5d_o_6LOP-lLYg7niGsBL2GLWS54/w320-h249/Final%20Fantasyll.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">85. Final Fantasy II (Famicom, 1988) - Technically this is dated before <i>FF1</i>, since I'm going off of <i>FF1</i>'s North American release date and <i>FFII</i>'s Japanese release date. Well, this game had its heart in the right place, but it isn't particularly good or fun. Later remakes of this made <i>FFII</i> into a pretty decent entry (PSP is the best version of it, due to some balancing changes and the Soul of Rebirth content), but the NES original? Yeah, this one has problems.</p><p style="text-align: center;">84. Radical Dreamers (Super Famicom, 1996) - This is deceptive placement, because the game isn't bad or anything, there are no real negatives about it. It's very barebones though and some might argue it barely qualifies as a game. It's more of a choose your own adventure book with pictures and sound, which is a pretty good idea on paper. So even though there's nothing wrong with it and it's perfectly decent, there just isn't a lot here. Also it's sort of the sequel to <i>Chrono Trigger</i>... but don't get too excited.</p><p style="text-align: center;">83. Legend of Mana (Playstation, 1999) - It was out in 1999 but I didn't know about it until 2000. Not a good game. It's gorgeous and sounds good and by all rights should be one of the greats on PS1, but the fact that you can stunlock almost anything in the game with basic attacks and a quick weapon... well, it just breaks everything. This game is zero challenge, and thus a good sleep aid. Also the AI allies are useless. Spells are useless. The world is disjointed and weird. While it has some worthwhile aspects, good luck actually getting very far in this before regretting the purchase and time spent.</p><p style="text-align: center;">82. Final Fantasy Legend (Game Boy, 1989) - This is the end of the "bad" games on the list, or at least the ones I didn't enjoy playing for the most part. From this one onward, I enjoyed everything on the list. Just some more than others. This one is objectively pretty rudimentary, and has a lot of good ideas that would be fleshed out in later games. I enjoyed being able to buy stat gains and kind of customize growth in that regard. Unfortunately the game is very unbalanced, with Mutants leaving everyone in the dust. They level up their stats from fighting, and generally their stat growth will far outpace your Human characters who have to buy their stat gains. Though this does level out as you progress and money becomes more plentiful. So on a speed run Humans might excel over Mutants. In the early game, and on a normal run, Mutants are too OP and it takes a lot away from the items-for-stat-growth theme.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK57Vahlyz5lhBaa6PO88nDXbLXLnEs9zWXr9R6K_vhI7TeyAmzeebxn9NjdpXgFexuokRAslBKqLIeHdmR-2zklm24z0GPyda7ezTxtrn2LWtW5lPG5xEHYVAX_NENwZxgkZ8wbAJe4gfDeJAe__49c8ERzwm_Y05VuqL9oqQKCc4H3_0Ix32BvuEjFJE/s256/Dragon%20Warrior%202%20124.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK57Vahlyz5lhBaa6PO88nDXbLXLnEs9zWXr9R6K_vhI7TeyAmzeebxn9NjdpXgFexuokRAslBKqLIeHdmR-2zklm24z0GPyda7ezTxtrn2LWtW5lPG5xEHYVAX_NENwZxgkZ8wbAJe4gfDeJAe__49c8ERzwm_Y05VuqL9oqQKCc4H3_0Ix32BvuEjFJE/w295-h276/Dragon%20Warrior%202%20124.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">81. Dragon Warrior 2 (NES, 1990) - Least-good DQ game. Kind of unbalanced, rough around the edges, too big for its britches. Half the game is grinding, which is fine, except you have like zero good places to grind until after you reach Rhone Plateau...which requires crossing the worst dungeon in the game. A bit of a catch-22 of getting mauled, this game is. My favorite part is getting to that plateau and being able to finally grind for decent EXP. Too bad most of the game is behind you at that point. This is easily the lowest point of an otherwise-great series...and yet it's still a pretty fun game to play through. It's a collect-a-thon, much like the first game, and the Ultima games of the era.</p><p style="text-align: center;">80. Langrisser I (Super Famicom, 1991) - Remaster - Played the remaster of this but it's essentially the same game. Main thing I remember about it was the massive armies of units, causing every turn to take forever. Enemies would form these ridiculous logjams and it all got kind of comical after a while. Game was fun though. It's kind of like a Fire Emblem game, only with less emphasis placed on individual units and more on the overall troop level. The further you go, the more ridiculous it gets with the troop levels, so as much as I wanted to like it, it lands kind of low.</p><p style="text-align: center;">79. Langrisser II (Super Famicom, 1994) - Remaster - A lot like the first, just better on things like QOL improvements. Still full of massive enemy army logjams and fights that take forever, and they start a lot earlier in the game than in the first. If you like slowly chewing through like 30 enemies in a single battle that form a massive conga line, this is your game. It got pretty old, but it was a good thing to sit down and chill with because it didn't take much brainpower.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fU4E5Vq_FKae-4kupNQWwMBfCNkEf0IhoX6jomBq3DaGoq3lF8iQOWTbINA2yI8Oh_OwJ-K0nD6PtWebbQOrMxcdAloA_JT57ES7Xh6QSq17H_cCQgGq-BV74N9q8y-UX1zkR3MoHPb5p4qkdhBxqS-bRVXlKzK6sZqlvSNI0ooBOSgtuqqLKqtfChsV/s260/arcana%20snes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="260" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fU4E5Vq_FKae-4kupNQWwMBfCNkEf0IhoX6jomBq3DaGoq3lF8iQOWTbINA2yI8Oh_OwJ-K0nD6PtWebbQOrMxcdAloA_JT57ES7Xh6QSq17H_cCQgGq-BV74N9q8y-UX1zkR3MoHPb5p4qkdhBxqS-bRVXlKzK6sZqlvSNI0ooBOSgtuqqLKqtfChsV/w320-h278/arcana%20snes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">78. Arcana (Super NES, 1992) - Cool first-person game with a card motif. Game overing when ANY human character is KOed, though, brings this one way down. Other than that one thing, this game is actually a good one and should be a lot higher on the list. Playing it on emulator and being able to reset to a recent save if a KO happens is the best way to do things.</div><p style="text-align: center;">77. Dragon Ball Z RPG 3: Cell Saga (Famicom, 1992) - This one covers from SSJ Gokou vs Freeza up until the beginning of the Cell Games, along with Movie 5 (Cooler). Leaves us on a ridiculous cliffhanger. Why not just cover the whole Cell Saga? They didn't make any more of the series after this either. Just dumbfounding. That alone brings this game way down, because up until that point it's actually a great game and would be much higher on the list. I can't imagine it would have taken much to add a few more battles at the end of this game to finish off the saga, even if they had to rush the Cell Games part. The developers of these games liked to hold back final bosses for the next game, which is great until there isn't a next game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">76. Dragon Ball Z RPG Gaiden (Famicom, 1993) - Well, there was one more, but it isn't about the series. This covers "Plan to Eradicate the Saiyans", the TV special that is in no way canon and takes huge liberties with bringing back a bunch of movie villains. This game is actually pretty good because it's based on a movie specifically made to have an RPG tie-in. So everything works out smoothly in this game. Everyone is also at their late Cell Saga power, so it's almost like a sequel to the previous game. Still would have been nice to see an actual sequel covering the Cell Games (or better yet include it in the CELL SAGA GAME) but no such luck. From the looks of things they had all of the assets done for the late Cell Saga, probably unused from the previous game, like SSJ2 Gohan. Ah well. For what it is (a standalone story) this game is good, and actually feels finished. Just begs the question of why it exists at all when they had the Cell Saga to finish.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Editor's Note: I looked into this and it appears that the Cell Saga wasn't actually done yet on TV (or, presumably, the manga) when development on the Cell Saga game started, so they did as much as they could and were going to do the rest of the saga later. Then that just didn't happen. Makes a bit more sense now.</p><p style="text-align: center;">75. Magic Knight Rayearth (Super NES, 1995) - Barely remember this one. It's an anime RPG. Not a good one either, but I had some fun here and the 3 protagonist chix are kind of cool.</p><p style="text-align: center;">74. Soul Blazer (Super NES, 1992) - The game where you walk around slashing things with a micro-sword while an annoying ball spins around you. Some people really like this game but I didn't get much out of it. Main thing it has going for it is that it's an <i>Illusion of Gaia </i>prequel and has a similar play style. Except with a micro-sword. Speaking of fellow micro-sword game <i>Lagoon</i>...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUKtmMl0WuV-f6RiOekOiyoLFjQpIgTxPQyBvwPjtm3Ys2DQQnQAYkfXAG8TW_oTdW6CmmGp1X_0s5jvQlhyBxVOAUzTTf9tXIKl0AoG2_bYiT-q3569SagdyAyIPvjm-taRX6pZEGG7MenTbpkYYCFbdL0NrVaxWbZkctCHoNwpn9cUxO23ODi2KzaoZ/s256/lagoon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUKtmMl0WuV-f6RiOekOiyoLFjQpIgTxPQyBvwPjtm3Ys2DQQnQAYkfXAG8TW_oTdW6CmmGp1X_0s5jvQlhyBxVOAUzTTf9tXIKl0AoG2_bYiT-q3569SagdyAyIPvjm-taRX6pZEGG7MenTbpkYYCFbdL0NrVaxWbZkctCHoNwpn9cUxO23ODi2KzaoZ/w320-h279/lagoon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">73. Lagoon (Super NES, 1991) - Walk around and swing a micro-sword! It wants to be Ys but isn't. Speaking of, Ys is almost entirely missing on this list because I stuck to the remakes... except the one time where that isn't an option. In any case, <i>Lagoon</i> has some cool areas and it looks and sounds good. It'd be much higher on the list if it weren't for that micro-sword. Which is kind of like a micro-penis, it just tanks everything. Or as I call them, a weenis. At least the music in this is really good, too bad it isn't in a different game. Speaking of the Ys series...</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZNFpCfP49l_N5kDrt0f9We9nAZ8rdmZEd3tI_DW9IFuhUpSJJk5uzNUHWN7D00o9IHu67OoR_Lu55dmJp1JOLurCiqXDOraHqCmz6Wmvo7yoj7rzT6FCLvES9EQL1BH5obyhFgmKIaZbHquep7s33uiwEHZuEP5muFulHkfjOLy-04tnja92siTMURwh/s480/ys%20V.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ZNFpCfP49l_N5kDrt0f9We9nAZ8rdmZEd3tI_DW9IFuhUpSJJk5uzNUHWN7D00o9IHu67OoR_Lu55dmJp1JOLurCiqXDOraHqCmz6Wmvo7yoj7rzT6FCLvES9EQL1BH5obyhFgmKIaZbHquep7s33uiwEHZuEP5muFulHkfjOLy-04tnja92siTMURwh/w400-h300/ys%20V.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">72. Ys V - Sand City of Kefin (Super Famicom, 1995) - Interesting game about the collapse of Atlantis and onset of the Sahara Desert (though all of the above have different names, in Ys tradition). It's good, but I got lost a lot later on, which docks it a lot further down the list than it probably should be. This trend continued with later games in the series for me unfortunately. Other than that I found this to be an enjoyable play. Game looks very pretty (even if it's a bit dark for some reason) and it feels like a late Super NES game. I enjoy the subject matter of lost civilizations, something a lot of games in this era tackled. I liked this one quite a bit, but everything it does, plenty of other games do better.</p><p style="text-align: center;">71. Front Mission 2 Remake (Playstation, 1997) - Remaster - Played Switch remaster of this. Had a lot of problems with it. The remaster also doesn't change much at all, so I'm comfortable putting this on here. Just wasn't super into this one, but it had decent SRPG gameplay and wasn't terrible. I did kind of regret the purchase after a while (it's only available digitally) even though it was a mere $30. Maybe this series just isn't for me, I don't know. They're all slow and plodding games, and at the end of the day the high point of this series was probably in the relatively quick (and visually quite nice) first game. Once it went 3D with the second one, it may as well have been a different series.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3LHFxwOJgNqA0gTViLcrs87pI5cB5S3WnqXFkf7paFBF08_BURVY3QV44imxJTFQmfJPyXVkOHKChhtqJVqohQQ2pgrDAcMiwvsECRpvKMpUU-XNzocIi0bIG1GXvkZnR9kY4g0GuVu-fXRKwtJ7ZX9a5HxVzp7iT1O-hA-OdV-7Yyse4yDuFIMKS62o/s821/final%20fantasy%20legend%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="821" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3LHFxwOJgNqA0gTViLcrs87pI5cB5S3WnqXFkf7paFBF08_BURVY3QV44imxJTFQmfJPyXVkOHKChhtqJVqohQQ2pgrDAcMiwvsECRpvKMpUU-XNzocIi0bIG1GXvkZnR9kY4g0GuVu-fXRKwtJ7ZX9a5HxVzp7iT1O-hA-OdV-7Yyse4yDuFIMKS62o/w340-h304/final%20fantasy%20legend%203.png" width="340" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">70. Final Fantasy Legend III (Game Boy, 1991) - Can't remember this one well enough to get into it too much. I think it departs from the SaGa-ness of the previous two games and has a more uniform "regular RPG" style to it. It's on my list of things to give another shot to at some point. I'll say this, the visuals are very detailed for a Game Boy game and a step up from the two before it. Problem is I found the game hard to get into and the enemy sets were pretty weird-ass. I only played this on the original Game Boy with that small blurry screen, so chances are it's ranked lower than it should be or would be if I played it on a real screen with emulator or Switch.</p><p style="text-align: center;">69. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (Super NES, 1992) - Simplistic and ridiculously easy. That said, I find it to be a super-charming game and worth a run for anyone who wants a nostalgia hit. Anyone with any real RPG experience might not get much out of this, but it has its moments.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwIUXsIRKf6kCxwp0fM7QnULzLZG4LaQ6j4WzI5bNr-eMWDE93Q3sCTk_GQiriL0c1VwYwCN3mQjuwCGr7fGAdq4oLP1GOkesuCfNbbI-FyCGeC4onjxwfAbXR-Ynyvk0vrCcvVKY37hsYZdjelUogGJhpPpHanEyFbgjbWkdbuJEz1Cipng1xVI2moaY/s640/ogre%20battle%2002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwIUXsIRKf6kCxwp0fM7QnULzLZG4LaQ6j4WzI5bNr-eMWDE93Q3sCTk_GQiriL0c1VwYwCN3mQjuwCGr7fGAdq4oLP1GOkesuCfNbbI-FyCGeC4onjxwfAbXR-Ynyvk0vrCcvVKY37hsYZdjelUogGJhpPpHanEyFbgjbWkdbuJEz1Cipng1xVI2moaY/s320/ogre%20battle%2002.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">68. Ogre Battle (Super NES, 1995) - Interesting game with a great look and a lot of depth. Then again I ignored most of that depth, pooled all my best characters into one unit, and rolled the battlefields with that one unit. No reputation for me! At least the game lets you play that way if you want to. I appreciate the freedom.</p><p style="text-align: center;">67. Ogre Battle 64 (Nintendo 64, 1999) - I played this one waaaaay after it was current and it suffered a bit as a result. Was dated by then. Still a lot of fun and kinda held up though, and if I'd played it in 1999 instead of 2011 or so I think it'd be higher. Similar to the SNES one, but with some QOL improvements, a better story, and so on. Worth noting that the N64 had almost nothing for real epic games, so this served an extremely important role for the system. Again, if I played it in-era and spent more time with it I think it'd be a lot higher.</p><p style="text-align: center;">66. Romancing SaGa 3 (Super Famicom, 1995) - Interesting game that has that "forbidden fruit" quality of never being put out in the US at the time. It suffers from having vague objectives, and I spent way too much time lost which was a big turnoff. However the enemy designs are really nice and have almost an <i>FFVI</i> level of detail. The characters you can choose from are all interesting, though Harid is by far the strongest one so it isn't much of a choice. I thought this was pretty cool, actually, but I think it was mainly due to the novelty of playing a Japan-only RPG in 2009. Even now there's some novelty to it. The combat has a lot of jank and imbalance though, and the being lost so much brought the game down a lot. If the areas had more cohesion / made more sense or it allowed free exploration, it'd be higher.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMhCIxCPyUBuWyKmY06CSg6neNJV2otcFvZrLf459upELsH0xnO0bVr24pKMWeuXbZ7yfKsEGEfdbE1i3ZpzD9blLKW6UD5E73LTYyQYGZfMvKFZTyOfOlXJSHZ8QjaKrReksU9iK0ypeU03HjmEfrND0J6-KGzOMbnWPB90okKYH4FMMrcNZYWlpmicY/s836/earthbound%20zero%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="836" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivMhCIxCPyUBuWyKmY06CSg6neNJV2otcFvZrLf459upELsH0xnO0bVr24pKMWeuXbZ7yfKsEGEfdbE1i3ZpzD9blLKW6UD5E73LTYyQYGZfMvKFZTyOfOlXJSHZ8QjaKrReksU9iK0ypeU03HjmEfrND0J6-KGzOMbnWPB90okKYH4FMMrcNZYWlpmicY/w356-h286/earthbound%20zero%204.jpg" width="356" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">65. Earthbound Zero (Famicom, 1989) - Cool game because of all the "Proto-Earthbound" stuff and I would love to rank it higher. It's just so rudimentary though. The grinding is ridiculous, too. You have to do so much of it just to progress, and it takes some of the wind out of the game's sails. The dialogue is great, the world is whimsical and crazy, and everything about this game is decent aside from the grinding required. <i>Earthbound</i> does pretty much everything this does only better, so that's another strike against it. All things considered, though, this might be one of the better RPGs on the NES if you look past its downsides.</p><p style="text-align: center;">64. 7th Saga (Super NES, 1993) - Speaking of grinding, I really like this game. The choice of seven characters gives it replay value. Only problem is, the game is pretty hard. The Elnard patch makes the game way too easy...and a lot less impactful as a result. Pretty much steamrolled it without having to farm equipment or micromanage anything and felt a lot less interested in the game after that. So the game isn't as high as it would have been before. Wish there was a version of the game somewhere in the middle where it's still tricky and requires micromanagement, but scales down some of the overly tough parts. Still, the diverse character styles and interesting, <i>Phantasy Star</i>-ish world are really memorable and fun to play around with. It's a game that punches above its weight.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyV9UHDvS49VVJkpwUE3HSActfqJ0G9FD4ivrJt2kcJhsQDWvCMuBMvlzzbzKU8WQ8cz5PECk_WdkppvMYRFjMfplBWn0SJjoyjuvbg731jiP_n-_REM8vBFiQj_9yRmEU8BHTBPs4y9AmJOz4HbNrfCFQTRqYB4TIE-D7usl02wS20FKdWt17He7osj8Z/s1024/lufia.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyV9UHDvS49VVJkpwUE3HSActfqJ0G9FD4ivrJt2kcJhsQDWvCMuBMvlzzbzKU8WQ8cz5PECk_WdkppvMYRFjMfplBWn0SJjoyjuvbg731jiP_n-_REM8vBFiQj_9yRmEU8BHTBPs4y9AmJOz4HbNrfCFQTRqYB4TIE-D7usl02wS20FKdWt17He7osj8Z/w346-h260/lufia.png" width="346" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">63. Lufia and the Fortress of Doom (Super NES, 1993) - Has very generic gameplay but also has a story with heart and inspired characters. For what it is, there's nothing wrong with it, and the music elevates it a bit as well. It's just a very basic RPG that gets far exceeded by the sequel and gets carried by its heart.</p><p style="text-align: center;">62. Front Mission 3 (Playstation, 2000) - I call this one "You must really like Squaresoft: The Game" because that's pretty much what it is. Long, drawn-out, at times tedious. I liked it quite a bit more than <i>Front Mission 2</i> however. It's also a pretty easy game, and doesn't require a huge amount of thought or input. Just follow the story, play out some mech battles on Tactics-style maps, have a ball. Or at least a decent, slightly-medicore ball. But yeah, you have to really like Squaresoft to play through all of this one.</p><p style="text-align: center;">61. Phantasy Star 2 (Sega Genesis, 1990) - Has dungeons that go on waaaay too long, but it's interesting and the space theme is very cool for the era. Most RPGs didn't go in that direction at all at the time. Felt like a real epic, which the Genesis certainly needed more of. Might have been lost in the shuffle on the SNES a few years later, but in 1990 on the Genesis it found a strong rallying point.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQX6jiupQ1KCuz0yrTZHWUQbnp1cG2iY5a284WyXT53QyyQIWqT10a64lNUZ9aktYvcNzrOMs_2FXHlkCPi6x_1iBptCxXtDbMpcVnGHUeZdq4zWxz9pWoqPmuzRdlxO74CSIRDFILEUhb6YaPmCpKId2ycA8LBhPKWuppuNGhO3NkAKi3YVSXcgdbCnqE/s256/Breath%20of%20Fire%20I023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQX6jiupQ1KCuz0yrTZHWUQbnp1cG2iY5a284WyXT53QyyQIWqT10a64lNUZ9aktYvcNzrOMs_2FXHlkCPi6x_1iBptCxXtDbMpcVnGHUeZdq4zWxz9pWoqPmuzRdlxO74CSIRDFILEUhb6YaPmCpKId2ycA8LBhPKWuppuNGhO3NkAKi3YVSXcgdbCnqE/w320-h280/Breath%20of%20Fire%20I023.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">60. Breath of Fire (Super NES, 1993) - Capcom RPG, great soundtrack, gameplay is a bit simplistic. Characters are all likeable and the whole thing just has the magic of days gone by, if that makes any sense. It's brought down a bit by some parts of it dragging quite a bit (like the Gold Bar scenario, which ended my first run at the game) and a lot of the gameplay being more rudimentary than it should have been by this point (the redundant and sometimes broken spells, for example).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIOB9joqgWNVQsIxCoFyhGkOjoR9OGZ_J50EGvutAyopip0qAi7ynAGBUS3ntwn9BAwuRhbYVx95h7Rl8gCzBUmVRspUmMluwFxwxOvyjQtm79t-SkxWamAQG2ln2ajCp1B3S40OTH1hrEeHanmRUb8bRiK66DK6FUhwMba0KLuePq0GxS5wSvKXNuda6/s1024/sailormoon%20rpg%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAIOB9joqgWNVQsIxCoFyhGkOjoR9OGZ_J50EGvutAyopip0qAi7ynAGBUS3ntwn9BAwuRhbYVx95h7Rl8gCzBUmVRspUmMluwFxwxOvyjQtm79t-SkxWamAQG2ln2ajCp1B3S40OTH1hrEeHanmRUb8bRiK66DK6FUhwMba0KLuePq0GxS5wSvKXNuda6/w363-h272/sailormoon%20rpg%202.jpg" width="363" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">59. Sailormoon: Another Story (Super Famicom, 1995) - Fun game, and more polished than the DBZ games above. I said in the 1000 list that this only covers Season 3, but it actually has a bunch of stuff from Season 1-3. Each character has their signature moves and the game is a good time even if you're not a massive fan of the series. Superfans would really dig this and probably rate it much higher.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEr3WcR5fymX_JPcBSZyJkiPFBQdCSLqL_VkHzUjYD802HuuKn9Z64jpYskG4TlGmbhEWLeyvPD_k7bjvnjMJZ7xH50X1E7-OV5dsW_ecvIPI-Cbt577allV0d5mwDBPeKGmmjgFsFhPM-z51nNauNAlgZZrUYV0KZMIHNOU0kFcj-2-HxMiHfJyjgadN/s256/ff3%20hyne.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizEr3WcR5fymX_JPcBSZyJkiPFBQdCSLqL_VkHzUjYD802HuuKn9Z64jpYskG4TlGmbhEWLeyvPD_k7bjvnjMJZ7xH50X1E7-OV5dsW_ecvIPI-Cbt577allV0d5mwDBPeKGmmjgFsFhPM-z51nNauNAlgZZrUYV0KZMIHNOU0kFcj-2-HxMiHfJyjgadN/w320-h280/ff3%20hyne.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">58. Final Fantasy III (Famicom, 1990) - Interesting game with interesting classes, but had plenty of room for improvement and the final dungeons are pretty much only doable with save states. I wasn't crazy about how there are a few dungeons where you have to use certain classes to progress, but it does force you to diversify your lineup a bit. In the endgame there isn't much choice, Ninjas and Sages are the be-all-end-all. Though I've seen good arguments made that Devout is worthwhile to have one of at the very end. At a sufficient level Ninja x3 and Devout x1 might actually outperform Ninja x2 and Sage x2.</p><p style="text-align: center;">57. Live a Live (Super Famicom, 1994) - Covered this one to death on here, so I must like it. It's a weird game that feels like an experimental SaGa title that escaped from the laboratory. The modern remake makes it even easier to get into and keeps it relevant.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3sJ_1jJPdvNo-VwVjqHCk3yGrVCQhA4n3J0wJR0zVvliIeTTmA5HeGBbfbIVtnspIEHsZUuJhjJaQpd97BCJ3kvYwx-RZp_TXiIPgFkEZYgsgAY8h_32HwMnXmXo0xhYxRrLkQcjWKghf37jxYX-QqLsMjIxUo3hbYC9BhHkvp_biqt4AFqcVarYMM65/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3sJ_1jJPdvNo-VwVjqHCk3yGrVCQhA4n3J0wJR0zVvliIeTTmA5HeGBbfbIVtnspIEHsZUuJhjJaQpd97BCJ3kvYwx-RZp_TXiIPgFkEZYgsgAY8h_32HwMnXmXo0xhYxRrLkQcjWKghf37jxYX-QqLsMjIxUo3hbYC9BhHkvp_biqt4AFqcVarYMM65/w320-h280/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">56. Dragon Quest VI (Super Famicom, 1995) - Been around the block with this one a few times. It's too long, and too vague. Both things I'd say even moreso about <i>DQVII</i> if it wasn't one year off from making it onto the list. Still a good game with probably the best MC design in the series. It's pretty clear they set out to make a real odyssey here and it's an interesting halfway point between the <i>DQV</i> design and the <i>DQVII</i> design.</p><p style="text-align: center;">55. Destiny of an Emperor (NES, 1988) - Cool game here that's even cooler the more you know about the time period and story it's based on. This one thrives off of its setting and more "realistic" aspects like having HP meters be your amount of available soldiers. I liked playing it. Was also one of the first games I ever played.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-v11-0aXF7CqWb4bNMWLcbETZjL4JtTQCzzngH3VFWhR8LMgxehvwECbQv3ZMzqbL36n0_sSjVlLyXa1RBmE7ZZ1nMzlNsfAgqifkilWwxhT5Ibmg0A__tE7yaaXg3bsOmoMD9ZPLQK3VUiadl_5QZ2mK9Mg0CIBC_4vRx5ELtQKdHKRDXjqd69DGqcI/s640/ffl2%20arsenal.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="640" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC-v11-0aXF7CqWb4bNMWLcbETZjL4JtTQCzzngH3VFWhR8LMgxehvwECbQv3ZMzqbL36n0_sSjVlLyXa1RBmE7ZZ1nMzlNsfAgqifkilWwxhT5Ibmg0A__tE7yaaXg3bsOmoMD9ZPLQK3VUiadl_5QZ2mK9Mg0CIBC_4vRx5ELtQKdHKRDXjqd69DGqcI/s320/ffl2%20arsenal.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">54. Final Fantasy Legend II (Game Boy, 1991) - Favorite of the "Legend" trio. This one had some really inspired dungeon designs, like shrinking to microscopic proportions to go inside a goddess' body and swim around. Which sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday evening.</p><p style="text-align: center;">53. Dragon Warrior (NES, 1986) - Simple game, but so effective at what it does, and one I revisit every so often since it can be completed so quickly. Probably the first great JRPG in the West, inspired by <i>Wizardry</i> and whatnot. So just for that alone this game deserves high marks. I also really like that technically you can go anywhere right from the start if you can survive the trip. This game was ahead of its time, and often imitated.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurP4eqBmuKGcqEjrFRsHR8qX-Fw1NgRbTjqNSFA9_9QlFveFKb7SAvRwKeGYjZFM4RgNO-fAi0-bDUyeEHcsg0ufVr27wielI5cQK0lYrag4krcx98AoUdKD09soOfY59jE-IZepg5pqQ4gA5r5J9O7jI2Y3DNS9K7wRN_DBTvrYK6CEii8jP0wu8dIZC/s256/Dragon%20Ball%20Z%20II%20-%20Gekishin%20Freeza!!%20(Japan)_014.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurP4eqBmuKGcqEjrFRsHR8qX-Fw1NgRbTjqNSFA9_9QlFveFKb7SAvRwKeGYjZFM4RgNO-fAi0-bDUyeEHcsg0ufVr27wielI5cQK0lYrag4krcx98AoUdKD09soOfY59jE-IZepg5pqQ4gA5r5J9O7jI2Y3DNS9K7wRN_DBTvrYK6CEii8jP0wu8dIZC/w320-h300/Dragon%20Ball%20Z%20II%20-%20Gekishin%20Freeza!!%20(Japan)_014.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">52. Dragon Ball Z 2: Freeza Saga (Famicom, 1991) - The best of this era's DBZ RPGs, as the Freeza Saga is perfect for this type of game. It also lets you bring more of the Z-Fighters to Namek, like Tien and Yamcha, to fight the numerous hordes of Freeza's army. Unfortunately they fumbled it in the endzone by having the game end with the Super Saiyan transformation, not letting you actually fight Freeza with it until the beginning of the next game. They really needed to not leave final battles for the following games... oh well. Either way I would still call this the best DBZ RPG of the 80's/90's and the NES/SNES era, and worth playing for a series fan. There isn't much else. It's said that the DS got a good action-RPG based on the Saiyan Saga, so even though I haven't played it I'm glad eventually the U.S. got a DBZ RPG worth something. And of course <i>Kakarot</i> was pretty excellent, but that came along much later and it's more of a fighter-RPG hybrid.</p><p style="text-align: center;">51. Final Fantasy Adventure (Game Boy, 1991) - Fun action-RPG romp that handles well and moves at a good clip. Kind of a Zelda game without the puzzles, just wall to wall action with spells and a variety of tools. Probably overrating it, which is a funny because the game itself is pretty underrated. They took a really basic game for the Game Boy and made it extremely appealing.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioufhKBRfUkfYmC32bq-KtPkqOaohmVQhdzt2Gi_IbJxF2m8HcNc6br2N_9Ven-_XasMNUBw6S8rJGBpqUZBQn9ueihplD-bPQrRnn4LRqljKVGaTqmZx83O-euFm1wWlI6V-J4eUwynfGrrn9c1eOS6XY6pBwIbpGXYEbzzLOO-m8G90mqRtX22XMfxJS/s1721/startropics%20NP%20cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1721" data-original-width="1280" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioufhKBRfUkfYmC32bq-KtPkqOaohmVQhdzt2Gi_IbJxF2m8HcNc6br2N_9Ven-_XasMNUBw6S8rJGBpqUZBQn9ueihplD-bPQrRnn4LRqljKVGaTqmZx83O-euFm1wWlI6V-J4eUwynfGrrn9c1eOS6XY6pBwIbpGXYEbzzLOO-m8G90mqRtX22XMfxJS/w295-h397/startropics%20NP%20cover.jpg" width="295" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">50. Startropics (NES, 1990) - Another fun action-RPG romp and I could actually see this making it to the top of some people's NES charts. It really is great, but IMO the sequel surpasses it. It's also one of the few RPGs where you can use a yo-yo as a weapon. And it's responsible for one of the best Nintendo Power covers of all time, which has to count for something.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQmtxjMvbBn68BC3VCwLWqIbay-HbfDt6lFR9EmBbLifKcvnEnXyTNN6rH2PWaIJiK97UA58s8-mc4ippXmRvsn5mRbRoXHAOm32vrfW7ey7P6ELrIDSVRjcZPl6Yk-SAYjyBzzg58PtQt2p2msLmCQKM7Ybn4IhQMfcHm76IBkinHQAigTEZAEdGocKy/s640/164926-saga-frontier-playstation-screenshot-lute-sets-out-to-explore_600x600@2x.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQmtxjMvbBn68BC3VCwLWqIbay-HbfDt6lFR9EmBbLifKcvnEnXyTNN6rH2PWaIJiK97UA58s8-mc4ippXmRvsn5mRbRoXHAOm32vrfW7ey7P6ELrIDSVRjcZPl6Yk-SAYjyBzzg58PtQt2p2msLmCQKM7Ybn4IhQMfcHm76IBkinHQAigTEZAEdGocKy/w371-h278/164926-saga-frontier-playstation-screenshot-lute-sets-out-to-explore_600x600@2x.jpg" width="371" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">49. SaGa Frontier (Playstation, 1998) - Fun game where I could bounce between the seven scenarios and progress all of them little by little until I got the whole game down. It took up an entire PS1 memory card, though. Still, for someone who loved all things Squaresoft in 1998, this game could do no wrong. It also has an incredible soundtrack that elevates it. All of that said, it's still a SaGa game and still has its weird aspects that one needs to be prepared for.</p><p style="text-align: center;">48. Phantasy Star (Sega Master System, 1987) - I really like this one, in spite of it being such an early RPG. It's super charming and has several memorable characters. Plays very well too, though I could do without the 3D dungeons. If I didn't have guides and maze maps, this would be way lower. Another point for it: One of the main characters is an actual cat, and you can fight as him in battles. That's pretty cool.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKdcbPT37c5-i7Dw0eO121RQL1pUylK9TswS1Gsc-9_pBOMpQyJlbzXQzqMi58UeUh5wO1X1eXmWB1fo9IlVAQuhCt6Dd11-aH42KxNyag4Eiai1BPd8JO-RXnq4Wdj-JqPeXgQSB5T9y8wsRnd81IzvVv7FJLaT55B6Q8XsG0lIc5Dh1epcHx0up8oLx/s474/pokemon%20blue.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="474" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKdcbPT37c5-i7Dw0eO121RQL1pUylK9TswS1Gsc-9_pBOMpQyJlbzXQzqMi58UeUh5wO1X1eXmWB1fo9IlVAQuhCt6Dd11-aH42KxNyag4Eiai1BPd8JO-RXnq4Wdj-JqPeXgQSB5T9y8wsRnd81IzvVv7FJLaT55B6Q8XsG0lIc5Dh1epcHx0up8oLx/s320/pokemon%20blue.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">47. Pokemon Gen 1 (Game Boy, 1998) - Iconic game here and one that brought joy to millions of kids. Being trapped on the Game Boy didn't slow this one down at all either. At the end of the day it IS a rudimentary game and the first of its class, so it isn't higher. I loved this one to death and I'd play it again any time, but given how basic the battle system is, how archaic it looks, and how easy it is to fundamentally break the game, it can't get higher than this.</p><p style="text-align: center;">46. Romancing SaGa 2 (Super Famicom, 1993) - Remaster - Played the Switch version of this, which is pretty close to the SFC original except enhanced. It's actually a very good game, and uses the generations system to a much better effect than <i>Phantasy Star 3</i>. If I'm being objective, <i>RS3</i> is a better game than this in some ways, but I never really spent any time wandering around lost in this one. Was always clear what needed to happen next. That gives it a big advantage. I would go so far as to say this is the best of the SaGa games that I've played. It even had some "Proto-Suikoden" aspects to it with your castle and the huge roster of characters that could be found.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYRLv5jlEto1f6eIdxNXJS-Bvvrcqt-yiFfPxURspTkSVrTI4KaXhVUrC_zWotN6xKTdDJs5956aduKoY6lfkakH5lJq9b5lwLqfN2HL4k8XNTwhULhmsDruFWTjgORvKTwRm2efrRe4lWzwsLeEnEs_mw1ZrGMx3W9NbBNqYkPcRxvtyCYuTmNrORz8r/s800/gaia.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfYRLv5jlEto1f6eIdxNXJS-Bvvrcqt-yiFfPxURspTkSVrTI4KaXhVUrC_zWotN6xKTdDJs5956aduKoY6lfkakH5lJq9b5lwLqfN2HL4k8XNTwhULhmsDruFWTjgORvKTwRm2efrRe4lWzwsLeEnEs_mw1ZrGMx3W9NbBNqYkPcRxvtyCYuTmNrORz8r/w397-h298/gaia.png" width="397" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">45. Illusion of Gaia (Super NES, 1994) - Yet another fun action romp. This one lives and dies on having a lot of heart and visiting real-world locations. It's a pretty sad game though, and not something I'd like to play again, so alas it isn't higher. There isn't a ton of replay value either. What's here is high-quality though.</p><p style="text-align: center;">44. Final Fantasy VIII (Playstation, 1999) - A game that I always saw as being better than it actually was, but it's still got a lot of class. One time where I'm down with the overabundance of "military school" settings. Tons of memorable scenes in this one, FMVs, and it takes the technology level of the world further than it had ever been before in an FF (or would be again, until <i>FFXIII</i>). There's been a bit of a backlash against this game in recent years but I still think fairly highly of it. Playing it in-era at release helped with that, because it really was a moment in time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh784x592gHx6dgE4c-l3gLNGNqVbkpfS62MTCnie44oz-3z8U2QBfx10Bta9h8jLlADv6i8FHZcTkWKlxsFnRmYJy0hQ8nyCAgHwx4k86gwF1CMGM5hLxPRkST4SX3PfBYxNlvRD8VDG9_tQfWahNWJRpxRUVcOYWyyKXl2F0gRWJ9Edd9yc5M76CKe-Ni/s1024/Front_Mission_Japan-96-bell.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1024" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh784x592gHx6dgE4c-l3gLNGNqVbkpfS62MTCnie44oz-3z8U2QBfx10Bta9h8jLlADv6i8FHZcTkWKlxsFnRmYJy0hQ8nyCAgHwx4k86gwF1CMGM5hLxPRkST4SX3PfBYxNlvRD8VDG9_tQfWahNWJRpxRUVcOYWyyKXl2F0gRWJ9Edd9yc5M76CKe-Ni/w360-h315/Front_Mission_Japan-96-bell.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">43. Front Mission (Super Famicom, 1995) - Liked this much more than any of its sequels, for whatever reason. It being the only 2D one helps a bit, and I also found the battles to be faster-paced. Only issue is that after a while you find a build that works, put it on all your characters, and then have to tediously manually adjust/equip everyone the same way at every shop. Nobody was making me give everyone the same build though.</p><p style="text-align: center;">42. Terranigma (Super Famicom, 1996) - Was never as into this game as a lot of people. I've heard it called the best RPG that didn't make it to the US in this era. Wouldn't go that far at all. It's a decent action RPG and technically the sequel to <i>Illusion of Gaia</i>. The art design is quite nice/memorable and that elevates the game quite a bit.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYdl4biut_nv4Pnbf4xeESTwC-XA6uwY3AJXsJM_Bk0vDAukEWYuTioY8bW-5zxIe14W-hd89VuKELou3C6tnxCwZc9poMlcpt_0Lpg8BgCMd-4H669F8m3rGf7dtvqv_UUmy-JjXcwTBuvdW_jiY4swLNO2f_c9R3s9G3ZOHYTc2rKDQ85TRAq7-o9Zn/s256/Paladin's%20Quest%2007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFYdl4biut_nv4Pnbf4xeESTwC-XA6uwY3AJXsJM_Bk0vDAukEWYuTioY8bW-5zxIe14W-hd89VuKELou3C6tnxCwZc9poMlcpt_0Lpg8BgCMd-4H669F8m3rGf7dtvqv_UUmy-JjXcwTBuvdW_jiY4swLNO2f_c9R3s9G3ZOHYTc2rKDQ85TRAq7-o9Zn/w377-h328/Paladin's%20Quest%2007.jpg" width="377" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">41. Paladin's Quest (Super NES, 1992) - Good chance this is ranked higher than it should be, but I find this game compulsively playable and fun...until the final boss completely obliterates you...until you figure out the secret. I think this game is pretty good, and definitely underrated in the grand scheme of things. The spell system is interesting and unique, the characters are memorable, the story is actually pretty solid, and the bosses tend to be good fights. Probably near the top of the list for Enix's 90's RPG output.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ9OFzlK5tjvGMPbqkq3Cypy3qnUYkvAVC4Q5UcMB1bgLcJWRKRWp2LWIYBuqm7cbpWTnBxxwGA0Yqemxv9VvGbHkFUlApCbj8tTyHEIDZ3PHni3A6a3OU_W4lsJsorghdUOW1viw3HyAPqMioyd1fJCdBl43xd5VFcRqxAp7oykwXDDaj1QpFKpuOISFs/s400/grandia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="400" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ9OFzlK5tjvGMPbqkq3Cypy3qnUYkvAVC4Q5UcMB1bgLcJWRKRWp2LWIYBuqm7cbpWTnBxxwGA0Yqemxv9VvGbHkFUlApCbj8tTyHEIDZ3PHni3A6a3OU_W4lsJsorghdUOW1viw3HyAPqMioyd1fJCdBl43xd5VFcRqxAp7oykwXDDaj1QpFKpuOISFs/w380-h256/grandia.jpg" width="380" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">40. Grandia (Playstation, 1997) - Another game with heart, and that sets it apart. Like the characters a lot in this one. The "End of the World" is one of the most memorable locations in an RPG from this era, not just because of the location itself, but because of what it means to the characters looking for it. Great boss theme, lots of awesome music in general, and what we have here is a fundamentally decent game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">39. Wild Arms (Playstation, 1997) - This one also has heart, and conveys mood incredibly well. Probably due to the soundtrack being so good. This is one soundtrack that doesn't miss at all.</p><p style="text-align: center;">38. Startropics 2 (NES, 1994) - Outstanding NES game and pushed the system to the limit. Sometimes it's a little hard to tell this game apart from the first one, but it had a much better variety of weapons, areas, monsters, etc.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsPery9EGSFgcEhA5K2fYgXz1r672p1wfDlFERALrI_oxOYqKIr0PCtAXzV8oyYWz_79l_ITsOt9nP3barIjkf_ZS1u_MULiEcq0zGz_Xei5yaN55F3x6mofNIDQ2xqfpDFJWkDLGc9BEdpB-41DzkY_ainiVUyHbThBfHtGh_KyDC2_BbEC1l52iHkv7/s384/destiny%20of%20an%20emperor%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="384" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsPery9EGSFgcEhA5K2fYgXz1r672p1wfDlFERALrI_oxOYqKIr0PCtAXzV8oyYWz_79l_ITsOt9nP3barIjkf_ZS1u_MULiEcq0zGz_Xei5yaN55F3x6mofNIDQ2xqfpDFJWkDLGc9BEdpB-41DzkY_ainiVUyHbThBfHtGh_KyDC2_BbEC1l52iHkv7/s320/destiny%20of%20an%20emperor%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">37. Destiny of an Emperor 2 (Famicom, 1991) - Like the first, but improved. This one gets bumped up substantially by being familiar with the source material.</p><p style="text-align: center;">36. Dragon Warrior 3 (NES, 1992) - Always really enjoyed the class system of this game and it puts it much further on the list than it would have been with a generic party. Though even if it didn't have the class system it would still be a top shelf game. Lots of good memories of this one and there's a reason it's the one getting a modern remake.</p><p style="text-align: center;">35. Seiken Densetsu 3 (Super Famicom, 1995) - I find this game kind of overrated and had to grind way too much to get through it, but it is gorgeous and has a high quality level. Just takes some getting used to. Character movement slowing down once battles started was probably the main thing I had to wrap my head around. This took a lot of what <i>Secret of Mana</i> wanted to do and actually did it, but I found it a lot less user-friendly than <i>SoM</i> overall. All of that said it absolutely deserves to be relatively high on a list like this.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDHMLPyebgW6pneABcFFC7834MvmnN0D-iLhaLKSgndLYsfeS_IS_1VU1gNiwCnJMlpv8SUG-sxZQYosq1uxfy7G6tf6oyuctzv7lX6WEDbhQpsYglRMc5tUV3YvTYmqMJgt0BdaPtvt5_-mfFXXYkW19wbmLVo02dONAaLRUMnJQashZcxriNT5FQFoA/s480/ff5%20exdeath.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDHMLPyebgW6pneABcFFC7834MvmnN0D-iLhaLKSgndLYsfeS_IS_1VU1gNiwCnJMlpv8SUG-sxZQYosq1uxfy7G6tf6oyuctzv7lX6WEDbhQpsYglRMc5tUV3YvTYmqMJgt0BdaPtvt5_-mfFXXYkW19wbmLVo02dONAaLRUMnJQashZcxriNT5FQFoA/w358-h269/ff5%20exdeath.jpg" width="358" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">34. Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom, 1992) - Takes the class system of 3 and refines it. The story and characters aren't great compared to the FF games on either side of it, so the classes carry this game for me easily. It's a fun romp, in any case.</p><p style="text-align: center;">33. Breath of Fire III (Playstation, 1998) - Charming game with cool dragon transformations. Nothing bad about this one. I guess the translation was iffy? Regardless, I loved this game and the soundtrack still plays in my head from time to time. Even with the iffy translation, the story is good and hits hard at times.</p><p style="text-align: center;">32. Lennus II (Super Famicom, 1996) - The sequel to <i>Paladin's Quest</i> (AKA <i>Lennus 1</i>) and a game that was way better than I ever would have expected. Enix really stuck the landing with this one, and it's too bad it bombed / we didn't get the planned Lennus III that was going to tie everything together. They did a lot to set that game up in this one, for naught. In any case you can see from the get-go in this game that the production values are much higher than <i>Paladin's Quest</i>, with some very nice graphics and sound. Bring over the rad gameplay from <i>PQ</i> and the interesting world and you've got yourself a game worth playing.</p><p style="text-align: center;">31. Final Fantasy IX (Playstation, 2000) - The complex pre-rendered backgrounds and three-dimensional look of <i>FF7</i> and <i>FF8</i>, combined with the retro aesthetic of older games in the series (medieval settings, crystals, etc) made for a really magical experience here. I've seen people swear by this actually being the best game in the series. I wouldn't go that far because of the issues with the battle system. It's up there, though.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3OUSIW3WsE_BPofGiLPC3WzUQg1lon_yC1dcpf1R1UNAG52y7dL6ya8zuRd2IB6HWU5PfyhnN-TlqvlpXgC7t9-qKScTck6e62A3rim-EPFURvzJY8go7jd4Xs6mK6jR1eATUN-602sv9gn1sYi5__0_4vZ6WTkqjvrzs7Go7hfEEZHn9s0rFaHChJ_T/s256/Secret%20of%20Evermore_00024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3OUSIW3WsE_BPofGiLPC3WzUQg1lon_yC1dcpf1R1UNAG52y7dL6ya8zuRd2IB6HWU5PfyhnN-TlqvlpXgC7t9-qKScTck6e62A3rim-EPFURvzJY8go7jd4Xs6mK6jR1eATUN-602sv9gn1sYi5__0_4vZ6WTkqjvrzs7Go7hfEEZHn9s0rFaHChJ_T/w310-h271/Secret%20of%20Evermore_00024.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">30. Secret of Evermore (Super NES, 1995) - The second real RPG I ever finished, after <i>Chrono Trigger</i>. This may not be able to hold a candle to <i>Secret of Mana</i> in overall depth and QOL features, but it has a ton of charm, some interesting worlds to explore, and a unique alchemy system that is really cool in paper, even if not as much in practice. This game is very replayable as well due to its shorter-than-most runtime. Out of everything on this entire list, if you said I had to do a full replay of one game right now just for fun, there's a good chance I'd actually pick this.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Am-g2z6vIe0ahS7u-ctyCOoGgQ76H2Sy9tjzHHXeTuPmL9YdB2IJE3yfyN5kdwYkzlsIJBiWL_0qOmcIVTikJwczBdCl-QJABjK4vgvB2PPrqkLK0B7fGcNSjgCwIjI9rD_7U4td8TUYKj5z1Oj5kHFy375LmLMu9bm7g5fGgbZm0SCsZ59OqWVY90Rx/s1600/vagrant%20story%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Am-g2z6vIe0ahS7u-ctyCOoGgQ76H2Sy9tjzHHXeTuPmL9YdB2IJE3yfyN5kdwYkzlsIJBiWL_0qOmcIVTikJwczBdCl-QJABjK4vgvB2PPrqkLK0B7fGcNSjgCwIjI9rD_7U4td8TUYKj5z1Oj5kHFy375LmLMu9bm7g5fGgbZm0SCsZ59OqWVY90Rx/w360-h270/vagrant%20story%204.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">29. Vagrant Story (Playstation, 2000) - Deep game with tons of customization and an interesting setting. There's nothing else quite like this game (except maybe modern Fromsoft stuff). Oh yeah, and the soundtrack in this game is straight-up incredible. There are a ton of different enemy types, weapon types, spell types, elements, damage types... man, it just goes on and on. One of those things that is super-rewarding if you put some time in and get to know it (again like Fromsoft stuff) while being kind of inscrutable if you just take a brief swing at trying it.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6XuT6fc2fB0pLlhSsnYQt9qN5hVX6_MgT-Aq_zHzsamCJJDvGeKkzk2RKFr6U1k10T1BlsQaSQy2X4J83jZMB9tS_FL6ZbqI3zxoStH5YV0XjInL6DsXesnlClvyfS-pKMQDpu-ysn24uLYJqAZ3AU2RSKb8QLSvD4VcgQR-y6iRXQtC0YnN39EkEpcd/s256/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20286.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi6XuT6fc2fB0pLlhSsnYQt9qN5hVX6_MgT-Aq_zHzsamCJJDvGeKkzk2RKFr6U1k10T1BlsQaSQy2X4J83jZMB9tS_FL6ZbqI3zxoStH5YV0XjInL6DsXesnlClvyfS-pKMQDpu-ysn24uLYJqAZ3AU2RSKb8QLSvD4VcgQR-y6iRXQtC0YnN39EkEpcd/w320-h280/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20286.jpg" width="320" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">28. Dragon Warrior 4 (NES, 1992) - Super good game that I've been back and forth on in terms of whether I like it more than <i>DW3</i> or not. The AI in combat brings it down quite a bit, but everything else is pretty exceptional. I miss the class selection and recruitment from <i>DW3</i> but at least this game represents all the classes very well with its memorable set of characters.</p><p style="text-align: center;">27. Lunar: Eternal Blue (Playstation, 2000) - Super good game that I didn't get to until way later. Nothing bad to say about this one. Kind of a basic <i>Chrono</i> style RPG but one with few if any real flaws, great dungeons, great boss fights, great music. I'm counting the Complete version on PS1 here rather than any earlier version (plus, I didn't play anything else).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrX5by1F08HSjfcvj0aC42Nv31-nQW001At58l9qMa7OVcyN17QIleKua_NgJu4XCByVdWW_4zxskbHV_VhKCimf4KZ_IivQZmA8Pf2uYQVgAX7XQ0iqWoFkVWRABUj69qF-6ssoYgc8MUJXZ0ABsfm8yrW-JjijvAkewhNg86FxpTMU5xVxKwLYw8E0D/s320/chrono%20cross.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUrX5by1F08HSjfcvj0aC42Nv31-nQW001At58l9qMa7OVcyN17QIleKua_NgJu4XCByVdWW_4zxskbHV_VhKCimf4KZ_IivQZmA8Pf2uYQVgAX7XQ0iqWoFkVWRABUj69qF-6ssoYgc8MUJXZ0ABsfm8yrW-JjijvAkewhNg86FxpTMU5xVxKwLYw8E0D/w377-h283/chrono%20cross.png" width="377" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">26. Chrono Cross (Playstation, 2000) - Something that really thrives off of its incredible soundtrack and the colorful art design. Wasn't the <i>CT</i> sequel I wanted but it was better than people probably remember it being now. Few games could stimulate the nostalgia gland circa 2000 like this one did. Some of the environments and places you visit are downright incredible, too. Not just visually stunning (for the time) but also creatively stunning. The art direction is off the wall. This is a game that makes you feel. The crazy thing is the fact that it could have been a LOT more with some tweaks and some actual connective tissue to <i>Chrono Trigger</i> besides late-game lipservice. It's a top 30 game that should be a top 5 game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJa3cv16h8l8e5hC9aKNhxIlnXchN6hIvkaHJUmb6yUld49ziB0dshhQGc9VWHPqRRBpY-HWE9Nf-2_9qQhF2IJiNwPQ1MZ3-ZYeUxuNoxhdnmVH1ltg3sdVj0acASX7xDZ08lKYG9eKxvN1TrqMMRIMa_rB81GJnZNvZcJg1venjt10shz4qvtw-AUE_3/s400/secret%20of%20mana%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJa3cv16h8l8e5hC9aKNhxIlnXchN6hIvkaHJUmb6yUld49ziB0dshhQGc9VWHPqRRBpY-HWE9Nf-2_9qQhF2IJiNwPQ1MZ3-ZYeUxuNoxhdnmVH1ltg3sdVj0acASX7xDZ08lKYG9eKxvN1TrqMMRIMa_rB81GJnZNvZcJg1venjt10shz4qvtw-AUE_3/w343-h300/secret%20of%20mana%203.jpg" width="343" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">25. Secret of Mana (Super NES, 1993) - A really great game that I've discussed in-depth over the years to no end. Another one carried by the soundtrack, except this one has great gameplay as well and a very appealing world to explore. Lot of secrets to find here and memorable characters to meet. I just wish the game were truly complete, since about half of it was left on the cutting room floor and it shows. The lack of development for things like The Empire keeps it from being higher on the list. However, I've played this to death and enjoy it every time. It's got some good QOL like weapon/spell leveling affecting all weapons/spells in that category, and abundant MP restores and revives. I just wish we could have seen what this game would have looked like in its actual complete state. A lot of the cut content ended up being used in <i>Chrono Trigger</i>, so that says something.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKJp2shfxMXa1F9IxYfn0wDlhX3qAGI2t1RDu7rXfljiLQUwUumgB4jCQMZGlk2QNiypFMs4NXkLXaYpkkzNoOUqVjh8Tf5Bij42rhOK9PBWy3x67T3cnAo4zlX4IGYJ3YTbtd27HYocsNT-QuvNKQ2jeSFV1CGPXaMUouitUDvNlxUXcHwdanPgBEkcA/s320/Elder%20Scrolls%20Daggerfall%20(18).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="320" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisKJp2shfxMXa1F9IxYfn0wDlhX3qAGI2t1RDu7rXfljiLQUwUumgB4jCQMZGlk2QNiypFMs4NXkLXaYpkkzNoOUqVjh8Tf5Bij42rhOK9PBWy3x67T3cnAo4zlX4IGYJ3YTbtd27HYocsNT-QuvNKQ2jeSFV1CGPXaMUouitUDvNlxUXcHwdanPgBEkcA/w481-h301/Elder%20Scrolls%20Daggerfall%20(18).png" width="481" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">24. Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (PC, 1996) - This game is huge. HUGE. Ridiculously huge. Something unheard-of in 1996. They scaled the full world of Tamriel from <i>ES1</i> down to one single province while adding way more land-area to it. This was done with mostly procedurally-generated zones, but they went above and beyond by having things like biomes being correct in relation to the map. Just an impressive game for 1996. I'd love to rank it higher but when I played the disc version it had an insane amount of glitches. The digital (patched) version didn't, but by then I'd already struggled quite a bit with the game. If I played a fully-patched glitchless version of this, it'd probably be about ten spots higher and above <i>Arena</i>. As it is I enjoyed <i>Arena</i> more despite it being technically less impressive. Still, this game makes a real strong case for PC RPGs in the 90's being actually ahead of their console counterparts in some ways.</p><p style="text-align: center;">23. Final Fantasy IV (Super NES, 1991) - A bunch of iconic characters. Solid FF gameplay. Almost every scene in it is memorable. The visuals have aged a bit at this point, and the gameplay is a little rough around the edges, so it doesn't land as high as I'd like it to. I've also played it to death which brings it down a little. The extremely strong cast really elevates this, in any case.</p><p style="text-align: center;">22. Pokemon Gen 2 (Game Boy, 2000) - Took everything the first did and made it bigger and better. Still to this day probably my favorite Pokemon gen, along with most other people (who were around for it). Johto itself is a really cool province to explore, but what really bumps this up the list is the Surprise Kanto late in the game. About the last third of this game opens up Kanto for exploration, AKA the province from the first game, and this is such an amazing surprise if you aren't expecting it in advance. It harkens back to things like discovering Alefgard in <i>DQ3</i> (and to a lesser extent <i>DQ2</i>) towards the end. Except in this case the Kanto they give you is huge and has a whole smorgasbord of new gym leaders to take on (in any order you want, too). I don't think this generation has been topped.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY418M0IPVsbjcBGlWWm595mj_fI5iJ2O4Jj8YMx90jr8LAsixFKROG3UcR7Syy9K1yaKNqq-u1woq3erIocWJV7a6ZyPjgjerVLDYsAmwzMZ7MWmnb5jzucwiL2dC-FLCYb4tMF8jxwXz-TU9Qw4sP352ahOCeCqAV3CpbWUOP6rOrdaYI7ReoUhg5tbj/s474/suikoden.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY418M0IPVsbjcBGlWWm595mj_fI5iJ2O4Jj8YMx90jr8LAsixFKROG3UcR7Syy9K1yaKNqq-u1woq3erIocWJV7a6ZyPjgjerVLDYsAmwzMZ7MWmnb5jzucwiL2dC-FLCYb4tMF8jxwXz-TU9Qw4sP352ahOCeCqAV3CpbWUOP6rOrdaYI7ReoUhg5tbj/w383-h288/suikoden.png" width="383" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">21. Suikoden (Playstation, 1996) - Solid game with a tremendous aesthetic and soundtrack. Feels different from pretty much any RPG from this era, with a kind of Chinese theme to it. I really liked the rune system and the spells you'd get from said runes, plus the intrigue of the True Runes and how it figured into the overall story. In a lot of ways I actually prefer this over its sequel.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWzGv1xAtMxdI8QZqx3BarWHZ3xH4RbizFXnn3e6XFzdk6VB4iRHAu8D_uA9wLSyIkylLJ7PhWl9bbDQd414w5MDMWqUMPhPlSi-1Q4Mr7ZbIg_2uUbD7QPy9Ofg-YU86PP05I0_E1B_UGw0wUrStuKDPzzQhjrhaTu-9mmkapAgEKN9iH_OIWMv7CQ4d/s1280/suikoden%202%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFWzGv1xAtMxdI8QZqx3BarWHZ3xH4RbizFXnn3e6XFzdk6VB4iRHAu8D_uA9wLSyIkylLJ7PhWl9bbDQd414w5MDMWqUMPhPlSi-1Q4Mr7ZbIg_2uUbD7QPy9Ofg-YU86PP05I0_E1B_UGw0wUrStuKDPzzQhjrhaTu-9mmkapAgEKN9iH_OIWMv7CQ4d/w400-h225/suikoden%202%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">20. Suikoden 2 (Playstation, 1999) - However the sequel wins by being more of the same and adding a much more memorable cast of characters. The one game besides <i>FFVII</i> to really hit me hard with a character death. Also played it with a bunch of friends which makes it particularly relevant to me. Also appreciated that the game dealt with a lot of mature themes without having to sanitize them or immediately follow them with gravitas-robbing jokes like so much of our modern media. No, this was a serious game that made you feel.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtC89w9ZLub8OrxbEIPPm7-VSUMtg9OUpJhg19f70WZB7gIRs9HAkU8tzNfoS0g9aI0X2i7fiFCzzo65h8_mztHQEVP6UrCQnXMwHwU-sW_yXAl-slHWiNAYX5NwFn9xSC9geuk1ouZLk91F0Jg23fCNBchVXr_XpMrMBESjDLv4Syu_hjVB2Ns9Xmni5s/s1024/Super-Mario-RPG-Super-Nintendo-review-1024x896.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1024" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtC89w9ZLub8OrxbEIPPm7-VSUMtg9OUpJhg19f70WZB7gIRs9HAkU8tzNfoS0g9aI0X2i7fiFCzzo65h8_mztHQEVP6UrCQnXMwHwU-sW_yXAl-slHWiNAYX5NwFn9xSC9geuk1ouZLk91F0Jg23fCNBchVXr_XpMrMBESjDLv4Syu_hjVB2Ns9Xmni5s/w367-h321/Super-Mario-RPG-Super-Nintendo-review-1024x896.jpg" width="367" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">19. Super Mario RPG (Super NES, 1996) - It's on the short side, but it still manages to feel like you took a quick tour around the world. Bright, happy, great game. All of the characters are useful and you can't really form a subpar group in this game even if you tried. Well, Mario/Mallow/Bowser might run into some issues at some point, but that's about it. You know it's a great game when every character is both useful and likeable.</p><p style="text-align: center;">18. Lunar: Silver Star Story (Playstation, 1999) - I prefer this over <i>Eternal Blue</i> largely because the cast of characters is one I'm more fond of. I like everybody in this game and the story takes some twists. It was also the first, a trendsetter. One of the better villains in the RPG universe too, and some wildly memorable characters. Again, counting the Complete version on PS1. Favorite Bae: Jessica. I mean Luna and Mia are great and I'mma let them finish, but Jessica is one of the top RPG chix of all time. Of all time!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOo4HiXnahNR4P40NytaqN2UdURaenZbqFHwthvygjrjwtg2HannfNdpx0nhE0dTNccd60Korbjjp6N0pVEm-iI43QU3Pjn4fYQspC4mv-bGi9vIqFwUHTenfySI-JW4pU39Ac6lKJKJ24g2AVjKA-p9KxaI7qVTtKSPsX94TpO-XcLbr0qDubxZEdGfM0/s320/Wild%20Arms%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOo4HiXnahNR4P40NytaqN2UdURaenZbqFHwthvygjrjwtg2HannfNdpx0nhE0dTNccd60Korbjjp6N0pVEm-iI43QU3Pjn4fYQspC4mv-bGi9vIqFwUHTenfySI-JW4pU39Ac6lKJKJ24g2AVjKA-p9KxaI7qVTtKSPsX94TpO-XcLbr0qDubxZEdGfM0/s1600/Wild%20Arms%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">17. Wild Arms 2 (Playstation, 2000) - Large improvement over the first, which was already great, and I think this belongs in the upper echelon of PS1 games. The real depth doesn't shine through until late in the game, especially with the postgame content. IMO that's what kinda makes this one, the robust postgame that gives you a reason to really optimize your party and get them as decked-out as possible. One issue is I could do without the "radar" system of locating things on the overworld. Damn good in any case.</p><p style="text-align: center;">16. Legend of Dragoon (Playstation, 2000) - Sony's big-budget super-RPG. Steals a lot of things from <i>FFVII</i>...and even does some of them better. Also throws in some <i>Mario RPG</i> gameplay with the timed hits. Outstanding game here and even if it is <i>super</i> derivative I think they nailed it. There's an HD port now too. The game is pretty long (probably a similar length to <i>FFIX</i>) but it's worthwhile if given a chance. Lot of people slept on this one but it's astonishingly good at times.</p><p style="text-align: center;">15. Tactics Ogre (Playstation, 1998) - Like <i>FF Tactics</i>, just rougher around the edges and lets you fight with larger teams (which is a step up). Can't rank it as high as <i>FFT</i> though. It's a little more tedious and the classes just don't have the same appeal. Enemy units also tend to block you on the one path upward while the rest of them pelt you. Some of the later fights are so difficult that it becomes comical if you haven't mastered the game and built up your characters. That said, top shelf, again.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LYWENWbsPUMHvSeyoXklxR6H8TJ19VzgXsR4Lixra8Gf_dmexwBKTcc9GxqOO_l1FZ1SHQwmH3SS3SCLnDnH8mKa5yNYCjVauvmYSce7tPbl1xRSac0Zak3LkynxwJVCQclLJGf6ewGszKCljdQkGuc9DaatWNcacMPSBvePK-kIF5HJ-P0VuExzbJ7D/s1440/es%20arena.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8LYWENWbsPUMHvSeyoXklxR6H8TJ19VzgXsR4Lixra8Gf_dmexwBKTcc9GxqOO_l1FZ1SHQwmH3SS3SCLnDnH8mKa5yNYCjVauvmYSce7tPbl1xRSac0Zak3LkynxwJVCQclLJGf6ewGszKCljdQkGuc9DaatWNcacMPSBvePK-kIF5HJ-P0VuExzbJ7D/w423-h317/es%20arena.png" width="423" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">14. Elder Scrolls: Arena (PC, 1994) - The first ES game. Not sure why it's called "Arena" because there's no arena fighting. I think it's a holdover from the original concept of the game, which got completely changed by release. It's only single-player ES game to feature the entire world of Tamriel, before they branched off into making dedicated games for each province. I had an absolute blast with this and it sold me on the promise of the rest of the series. Has it met that promise? Yeah, when they actually put a game out. What's really shocking is we got the first two ES games two years apart. Now it takes them 15 years to crank out a sequel. This was also way less buggy than <i>Daggerfall</i> and I never had any issue playing it. Which is pretty incredible for a game of this magnitude from 1994, with such a huge continuous world. The main knock against this game is that the 3D visuals look pretty bad now, and much worse than <i>Daggerfall</i>. Other than that, it plays well, sounds good, has all kinds of compelling narratives to get involved with, a robust character-growth system where you can level spells/skills/abilities through use, and so on. Another of those big trendsetter games too.</p><p style="text-align: center;">13. Final Fantasy (NES, 1990) - The FF game I've played more times than any other ever. It's funny, I would say <i>Dragon Quest IV</i> is the best RPG on the NES overall from a quality perspective, but here I'm ranking this one above it. In the grand scheme of pre-2000's RPGs, I think the original FF is near the top of the list for its influence and refinement of the concept. It's compulsively playable. The classes are all interesting and useful (except Thief, which at least blossoms into the fairly strong Ninja eventually). The world feels mysterious, though it does lose a lot of that by your 20th playthrough. It also had a heavy D&D influence and that part was pretty rad too.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoP_2OXQw0XOg66dUfMF8288Y78Lh4B2CjX7U6vRzEjRQiRfYHeRl4WP52XVNlTnJcpJk61VDKob924M2xdo3KECWlMpkml9MFRac68sv4GawgnHWhiSXaf321o84zy3IF0JRCwG45Yy3QnQaEH1Tjyw4gqLKWHMKZHpAXH0Hu9ETf0T2Ek2Gk77-hROW/s1920/lufia%202%20snes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZoP_2OXQw0XOg66dUfMF8288Y78Lh4B2CjX7U6vRzEjRQiRfYHeRl4WP52XVNlTnJcpJk61VDKob924M2xdo3KECWlMpkml9MFRac68sv4GawgnHWhiSXaf321o84zy3IF0JRCwG45Yy3QnQaEH1Tjyw4gqLKWHMKZHpAXH0Hu9ETf0T2Ek2Gk77-hROW/w400-h225/lufia%202%20snes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">12. Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals (Super NES, 1995) - The sequels may have been awful, but this game is super. They took the intriguing intro of the first game and told that entire story. It's one of the best RPGs on the SNES, though it might be a <i>little</i> too puzzle-heavy for me at times. It also has an optional dungeon with ONE HUNDRED FLOORS. Plenty of RPGs have optional content. Some of them have a lot of optional content. <i>Elden Ring </i>is basically 90-95% optional content. However, not many games from the 80's and 90's have an optional dungeon with...ONE HUNDRED FLOORS. <i>Final Fantasy X-2</i> of all things would actually kinda mimic this less than a decade later with the 100-floor Via Infinito optional dungeon.</p><p style="text-align: center;">11. Baldur's Gate (PC, 1998) - The D&D-based RPG that revolutionized D&D-based RPGs. You had things like <i>Final Fantasy</i> that were heavily D&D-inspired but had to change a lot of names to avoid being sued. Here, they didn't have that issue, as it was an official D&D game. The first game I ever personally played that really captured the feeling of playing D&D in video game form. It isn't a terribly long game and the visuals are a bit antiquated (even in the more modern remastered port) but it's still good even now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8NONwI9uamUHn5niMh-CDU_EeZQJKnW4J95pW9OqICeAAqo02gjmJdGWAfXXQqdcaCHctoSxpkzpnMSBFXwhGmtG_5-PdU9M75s3WJPFoBSFR85ZhGX1iA501ry3TXZpez9FgPGwem0sm7i0RLFPfVfUQWbiWk1mCdAwEuDvJAeKi_Hi2aZNE08CCO8J/s1223/earthbound.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="1223" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8NONwI9uamUHn5niMh-CDU_EeZQJKnW4J95pW9OqICeAAqo02gjmJdGWAfXXQqdcaCHctoSxpkzpnMSBFXwhGmtG_5-PdU9M75s3WJPFoBSFR85ZhGX1iA501ry3TXZpez9FgPGwem0sm7i0RLFPfVfUQWbiWk1mCdAwEuDvJAeKi_Hi2aZNE08CCO8J/w430-h243/earthbound.png" width="430" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">10. Earthbound (Super NES, 1995) - If I were ranking these solely based on how much they mean to me personally, this would be in the top 3. However, also ranking them objectively, this is a very basic RPG in terms of gameplay, with basic combat and slow walk speed. It's full of heart and messages about life, and I love this game, but much like <i>Chrono Cross</i> and <i>Secret of Mana</i> I can't objectively rank it as high as I would like to. That said it's a damn good game even objectively, and takes you on a journey if you let it. Everyone should play this all the way through at some point in their life, maybe even at a difficult intersection. That seems to be when it has the most to say.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX501-T0eRFX117RXB_eNXEFXH0g4vSJycujFv2I_bSm1zCGxacRiNg151v-Og4KwxM8CxJk-MHG0PoWSwbSob98McSMhCMM3QXoMlXKKdE7bhzvjNydzuZIj4O6vsqDrxPWo1VtZEW7msbJt6nqDOda__e9I6SaoshRycG8PdlhibVCaHNLFFV0lSHuuh/s2720/ff7%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1530" data-original-width="2720" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX501-T0eRFX117RXB_eNXEFXH0g4vSJycujFv2I_bSm1zCGxacRiNg151v-Og4KwxM8CxJk-MHG0PoWSwbSob98McSMhCMM3QXoMlXKKdE7bhzvjNydzuZIj4O6vsqDrxPWo1VtZEW7msbJt6nqDOda__e9I6SaoshRycG8PdlhibVCaHNLFFV0lSHuuh/w430-h242/ff7%201.jpg" width="430" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">9. Final Fantasy VII (Playstation, 1997) - Iconic game that for a long time I would have put much lower (as in, a worse number) in the ranking. Thought it was super overrated. As far as the FF series went it was middle of the pack. Well, it has gained a lot of standing with me over time, since I now understand more of what it was trying to say. As for the gameplay, the materia system is fresh and innovative, and it made Limit Breaks a thing. I'd like to see more games use that concept. It revolutionized the pre-rendered background and felt more cinematic than any game that came before it. While it might actually be a little bit overrated, it's hard for me to say that it doesn't deserve to be in the top ten.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41q8uEP6UO8kCsDXZNJFYJJq0ZTi6VfoMRo_tTLaysEAy22Gmdu9JnXjUilsSndu7HcDsHpsbRowv0WJjsWBjsxkAO4ZhwNL5qkjuzvbOLAtFdpgNUqXpwBiaM6RCTvj9nMWnzWFhbhyEGx7sVqPyCd64AMQys-TtIz0fwv7PcVwl8gv43QLF-VXkPitR/s937/phantasy%20star%204%20zio.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="937" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41q8uEP6UO8kCsDXZNJFYJJq0ZTi6VfoMRo_tTLaysEAy22Gmdu9JnXjUilsSndu7HcDsHpsbRowv0WJjsWBjsxkAO4ZhwNL5qkjuzvbOLAtFdpgNUqXpwBiaM6RCTvj9nMWnzWFhbhyEGx7sVqPyCd64AMQys-TtIz0fwv7PcVwl8gv43QLF-VXkPitR/w348-h265/phantasy%20star%204%20zio.jpg" width="348" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">8. Phantasy Star 4 (Sega Genesis, 1995) - Best game on the Sega Genesis IMO. Only problem with this game is that it ends too soon. I love the setting and how different it is from most games of this era. Traveling from planet to planet and having these completely different biomes to explore is pretty awesome. It kinda feels like <i>7th Saga</i> if that game went Super Saiyan and evolved to its full potential in life. Similar otherworldly setting and levels of weirdness, only here everything <i>worked</i>. Just wish it wasn't so short.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMHZJu_Xx9j5jVsV_lrqGtLl4P5NvbE2osEcC7vVPVOOgc8pscxfilfFYqVd-KOX3lyf6kR8UnQ7vxeBIDtpGydXyUvvIVHXxMKoIwjEjDUKK-7cfcLfNRk_qPA8cIY0ML1CSxrVn9WDfbomqIxYKej2aecnFrJz6UAWp1KpIxGF1y9GCZXZvaVlRiFzz/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome026.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="256" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvMHZJu_Xx9j5jVsV_lrqGtLl4P5NvbE2osEcC7vVPVOOgc8pscxfilfFYqVd-KOX3lyf6kR8UnQ7vxeBIDtpGydXyUvvIVHXxMKoIwjEjDUKK-7cfcLfNRk_qPA8cIY0ML1CSxrVn9WDfbomqIxYKej2aecnFrJz6UAWp1KpIxGF1y9GCZXZvaVlRiFzz/w337-h314/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome026.png" width="337" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">7. Dragon Quest V (Super Famicom, 1992) - The best Dragon Quest of the 20th century. This one stands on its plot and characters, and there's nothing wrong with the gameplay either. It gets a boost from being hugely improved from <i>DQ4</i> just by making AI optional. No classes this time, but I don't think the game needs them. Shows how to tell a multi-generational story correctly. It's just the right time investment too. Matter of fact I'd say it has the perfect level of time requirement for an RPG. Not too much, not too little, and it wraps up before you can possibly get tired of it. There's a pretty good postgame dungeon too if you want more. It's just unfortunate that <i>DQVI</i> didn't build on this and kinda dropped the ball.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXLBhWk5HBlOIQGtqbIMN8wBBDxRK02wnFTXZ3hizQsM8b1IOZW_e7kvEhuZy8Cp4z1-s8ePS4RNAyQdiCDpnoSFoF__Gf3FTw1_xWSL8Mil19_PC5zKlHI7Ok1dcA0flK2z6t3cu5x39zqVQ8OUTGJYh1FWY-Vfv-AwS9BXKPRPMbvkaovoTfuFkpE7f/s474/baldur's%20gate%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzXLBhWk5HBlOIQGtqbIMN8wBBDxRK02wnFTXZ3hizQsM8b1IOZW_e7kvEhuZy8Cp4z1-s8ePS4RNAyQdiCDpnoSFoF__Gf3FTw1_xWSL8Mil19_PC5zKlHI7Ok1dcA0flK2z6t3cu5x39zqVQ8OUTGJYh1FWY-Vfv-AwS9BXKPRPMbvkaovoTfuFkpE7f/w499-h281/baldur's%20gate%202.jpg" width="499" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">6. Baldur's Gate 2 (PC, 2000) - Speaking of building on things, this builds on the first one in a big way and does everything bigger and better. It also looks very nice, with lots of pre-rendered backgrounds and some truly mystical environments. There's also an expansion to the game, <i>Throne of Bhaal</i>, that basically doubles the game length if you're so inclined. It's based on the D&D universe, and gets into some real weeds of said universe, sending you into the Nine Hells themselves before it's all said and done. This isn't just the best licensed D&D game of all time (well, before <i>BG3</i>), it's one of the best RPGs of the 20th century in general.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvnUumc4niC4mv367sOnZMw3fqo_HEl64STUFKwUaRGbYztrQLVG5Vek0v-3LM8Q2I_2bIyb59m6JFlhWtvEvF58mLlRdRU-njAm3KgVornpMENsqkH41f1h6xo03jRVSF4dO_AhGHRT9ZzCRjkk-PMLQGClNw3G_RCmPgU2DT1763sU8SfIippkwAANZ/s1649/everquest%20ranger.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1649" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKvnUumc4niC4mv367sOnZMw3fqo_HEl64STUFKwUaRGbYztrQLVG5Vek0v-3LM8Q2I_2bIyb59m6JFlhWtvEvF58mLlRdRU-njAm3KgVornpMENsqkH41f1h6xo03jRVSF4dO_AhGHRT9ZzCRjkk-PMLQGClNw3G_RCmPgU2DT1763sU8SfIippkwAANZ/w509-h262/everquest%20ranger.png" width="509" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">5. Everquest (PC, 1999) - An MMO on here almost feels like cheating and a case could easily be made that it should be #1 due to its sheer scope and improvements over time. However, I'm only judging it off of its content in 1999-2000. At that time the game was very difficult and unbalanced and hadn't yet developed into the streamlined game it eventually got hammered into. That said, it was still a vast interconnected world and a sight to behold in 1999, with all kinds of quests, battles to fight, and NPCs that seemed to actually have their own lives going on. It also has a heavy D&D influence, some great dungeon-crawling with other players, and over a dozen classes that are ALL useful, interesting, and appealing. Except maybe Rogue, the thief class. Why is it always Thief? Oh yeah, did I mention that this is fully 3D? In 1999 that might have been the biggest deal of all. It wasn't just rudimentary 3D either, it legitimately looked very good in action. Most of all it felt like a real world in a way that I hadn't seen any game pull off before this, and set the bar for what MMORPGs would be. Once you see a boat pull into a harbor for the first time and a bunch of players hop on to go to destination unknown, you get it. Oh, you get it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mxzjGjYq5tuZh_IGh5MEi8PARb77eSi16lyfxMXd1W-3rbdXrDJafRclpmqN3H0C162KYEm6U1wsDZSvFa1_FygO07SmkomehrtEelQr3Utuur2QX6pSv_XuARlUN3Q88z5l9e-1RFom0apRY6ChdgPFSZ9ywIB_6djaGrP5OWLd6M6vqSeUDwvpv2hX/s750/ff6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="750" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7mxzjGjYq5tuZh_IGh5MEi8PARb77eSi16lyfxMXd1W-3rbdXrDJafRclpmqN3H0C162KYEm6U1wsDZSvFa1_FygO07SmkomehrtEelQr3Utuur2QX6pSv_XuARlUN3Q88z5l9e-1RFom0apRY6ChdgPFSZ9ywIB_6djaGrP5OWLd6M6vqSeUDwvpv2hX/w530-h247/ff6.jpg" width="530" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">4. Final Fantasy VI (Super NES, 1994) - Still probably the best game in this series, the top of its class. For a long time it lived in <i>FFVII</i>'s shadow, so I'm glad that in the last decade or so it seems to have gained respect online to the point that it's now regarded as the best by most people. This is probably the first true "epic" RPG that existed. At least that I'm aware of. Yeah, <i>Elder Scrolls Arena</i> in the same year was pretty epic with the massive explorable world, but <i>FFVI</i> goes beyond that and has epic everything else. Story, characters, events. It has a freaking opera. <i>FFVII Rebirth</i> this year has an opera too, and it's pretty awesome to see <i>FFVI</i> getting a tip of the hat even 30 years (Jesus) later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVp8Ns-gDrQjPVsistVXnvzfzYMHrM4m91LaqmU0NnpQekAG8AZGCun2tT2m5N6ov8fLQa9uYk8uI3I7y8UVd8-2BSrqQJGGawbNT5mEuZ_EFvscLFR5VOV_JssIF87x9C6FgRaRt18nO44ak_mpSHhJodfoxU7IHfauWzpRzahvroHk4_4yi5lfbXD_dW/s1280/fft%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVp8Ns-gDrQjPVsistVXnvzfzYMHrM4m91LaqmU0NnpQekAG8AZGCun2tT2m5N6ov8fLQa9uYk8uI3I7y8UVd8-2BSrqQJGGawbNT5mEuZ_EFvscLFR5VOV_JssIF87x9C6FgRaRt18nO44ak_mpSHhJodfoxU7IHfauWzpRzahvroHk4_4yi5lfbXD_dW/w523-h294/fft%202.jpg" width="523" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">3. Final Fantasy Tactics (Playstation, 1998) - Take an interesting story, add very refined SRPG gameplay, add a bunch of classes that are pretty much all appealing in one way or another, and you get this damn fine game. You can lose a hundred hours in this pretty easily, which is way more than most RPGs of the era. This was so good that it basically created a genre (yeah, <i>Tactics Ogre </i>was around first, but this refined the concept and made it more mainstream). For a while it was my favorite game bar none. Oh yeah, and it's also got Hitoshi Sakimoto on the music, and he's my second-favorite game composer (Yasunori Mitsuda being first). Some of Sakimoto's finest tracks are found here too, and I'd put it second only to <i>Vagrant Story</i> as far as his work goes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOhcKmFU-MsWRMbKAtMMAUSrNjoW66Za9D_Poh6FXDgpBOI9RagYOsBQaP4T1k3PJkuOu1GV-pUcnXiszMeXgadHg-ohKg9THjmaMpaiEEuykgdvErKkpvVKOuxMlV43r35k_WmOyYZzx5Vgk_Tj7P9jHqFlv-LFOeHkMA4bi6Dnl0wKWMsa-kM9EuPiL/s817/chrono.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="817" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidOhcKmFU-MsWRMbKAtMMAUSrNjoW66Za9D_Poh6FXDgpBOI9RagYOsBQaP4T1k3PJkuOu1GV-pUcnXiszMeXgadHg-ohKg9THjmaMpaiEEuykgdvErKkpvVKOuxMlV43r35k_WmOyYZzx5Vgk_Tj7P9jHqFlv-LFOeHkMA4bi6Dnl0wKWMsa-kM9EuPiL/w565-h295/chrono.png" width="565" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">2. Chrono Trigger (Super NES, 1995) - What a brilliant masterpiece in every regard. The only thing going against this is the length. It's pretty short, and a from-scratch playthrough could easily be over in ten hours. Same issue <i>Phantasy Star 4</i> has. However, everything else about this game is refined into a solid diamond. I'm actually glad it doesn't have anything else, if adding anything else would have any chance of lowering the overall quality median. A generational game that had several generational talents in the same place at the same time. Yasunori Mitsuda delivered on the soundtrack, as always. It'd be hard to get any better than this, and pretty much requires a lot of the same people teaming up again a few years later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3NNNrdA7rRwescv46XYk22qAbn2lgMk3XOVDFr6FzuSl1eyogkCoeD384p3xFLUPgFw-F6v7rTiV0wbLZsx2C8fFt18tAG8rWGhrtYtO8nf8KGvjWDAzyvCDXIcbLKtN0q5riMVO-oAP1tP-g2SfN1QLH-m5qiXX7eKRsF6QKLiOyuaqttDJR9IINhXg/s1280/xeno.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1280" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB3NNNrdA7rRwescv46XYk22qAbn2lgMk3XOVDFr6FzuSl1eyogkCoeD384p3xFLUPgFw-F6v7rTiV0wbLZsx2C8fFt18tAG8rWGhrtYtO8nf8KGvjWDAzyvCDXIcbLKtN0q5riMVO-oAP1tP-g2SfN1QLH-m5qiXX7eKRsF6QKLiOyuaqttDJR9IINhXg/w445-h312/xeno.png" width="445" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">1. Xenogears (Playstation, 1998) - A true epic like <i>FFVI</i>, only extended outward in all directions. Good gameplay, appealing mechs, a story that could almost be one of the great works of sci-fi, and one memorable scene after another. It hasn't aged as well visually as the several games before this, due to the graphical style being PS1 3D, and could desperately use a remaster of some sort. In-era though, pre-millennium, this looked fine. The story tackles all kinds of things that games just didn't explore back then, like religion, ancient civilizations, human nature, and so forth. The gameplay is nothing extraordinary, but it suffices and it's unique enough to be engaging. And of course the soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda elevates it even further. At the end of the day <i>Xenogears</i> stood head and shoulders above most of its contemporaries.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-91294106100314282782024-03-16T11:25:00.003-04:002024-03-16T22:10:02.065-04:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#268 - 283)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauYJPG48vfD96kDB455_ZiPM722aSUGc3GkwlsVWxpqhonpV5TEwo1iLN1KfQzwQEe3tGnHXuts8xKOWUcF68wirpGXXh7742PXdUIzrfDND_B7qfNbZUUC3U2GuPkKQS69EXfQxOhAXy0r8JaQLYEEMjHuHhs_yjcubT9vnrUAeNG45UcC9Z6fYK4oG4/s1280/darkstalkers%203%20ad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhauYJPG48vfD96kDB455_ZiPM722aSUGc3GkwlsVWxpqhonpV5TEwo1iLN1KfQzwQEe3tGnHXuts8xKOWUcF68wirpGXXh7742PXdUIzrfDND_B7qfNbZUUC3U2GuPkKQS69EXfQxOhAXy0r8JaQLYEEMjHuHhs_yjcubT9vnrUAeNG45UcC9Z6fYK4oG4/w535-h301/darkstalkers%203%20ad.jpg" width="535" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#268 <span style="text-align: left;">Darkstalkers 3 (Playstation) – Summer 2007</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">A game (and EGM ad) that helped a lot of us go through puberty. For my money this is probably the sexiest game ad and cover of all time. Ten years or so after I first saw the game, I finally got ahold of it and played through it. It's a fighting game, it's over fairly quick, and it's just kinda there. But I sure do like the artwork.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Character of Choice: Morrigan, of course. Duh.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZrTAncatI3d1mHn3gqqxvp029hRZzVWQxhCZcFxb5s_a-PXDldyFlWZ4WMRAjA60UnH-2c_8V2x9kX40BUtIvKuUMZxxTzdjMBrpN1HovOgx3Owkl98-A_RLlXTJ73-7gXKA_OpydXdK33WJ9LuGa3PGbtxkBcpxPCP69RVg7ESCBebCRM-MiHgztSzK/s512/darkstalkers%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="512" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZrTAncatI3d1mHn3gqqxvp029hRZzVWQxhCZcFxb5s_a-PXDldyFlWZ4WMRAjA60UnH-2c_8V2x9kX40BUtIvKuUMZxxTzdjMBrpN1HovOgx3Owkl98-A_RLlXTJ73-7gXKA_OpydXdK33WJ9LuGa3PGbtxkBcpxPCP69RVg7ESCBebCRM-MiHgztSzK/w320-h313/darkstalkers%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Seriously Though: Sexiest game cover of all time.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdWlQR2uQ9ht-SO18wo0Mtw5sj4ZBdsdMNuejOTRbnyOkCp_yG9CLrwJvn1Zsl6JFpYkD6zweq0joH7esAuQk0vnmxCkpt_dqewqxbpjwzlX3UoFTh2DmXyxQmAp0nCGfDxa0INIueo-hct_DsUBnA80pGBCNOP3ph9HjHVdUdsizUKOGiJI9HKqtj2-v/s936/mgs%20twin%20snakes.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="936" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdWlQR2uQ9ht-SO18wo0Mtw5sj4ZBdsdMNuejOTRbnyOkCp_yG9CLrwJvn1Zsl6JFpYkD6zweq0joH7esAuQk0vnmxCkpt_dqewqxbpjwzlX3UoFTh2DmXyxQmAp0nCGfDxa0INIueo-hct_DsUBnA80pGBCNOP3ph9HjHVdUdsizUKOGiJI9HKqtj2-v/w400-h268/mgs%20twin%20snakes.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">#269 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (Gamecube) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Remake of the first <i>MGS</i> that brings it in line (visually and play style) with <i>MGS2</i>. The best way to play the game, and I'm surprised it never got much recognition. To this day they keep porting the first one to various collections while ignoring this one. Was cool to get more use out of the Gamecube, which was really winding down around this time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyX8C2o7rZW0xSb9MNDV1lh7atbepQedxJeTjcdbohBKVbPqqZOARv1kLmK7rVyWhmhVK007I-3CRfAEqsKFIcGUW7Thl2cle2k-d7vYFXOpq4HI_4jTemmAcHwBSPBhfAgeeAWECaS6iXmkr7VXtx8MqCuDgmsucgqiJvWxYd2y4Ac00AZ7HwDvsFAqNt/s1280/mgs3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyX8C2o7rZW0xSb9MNDV1lh7atbepQedxJeTjcdbohBKVbPqqZOARv1kLmK7rVyWhmhVK007I-3CRfAEqsKFIcGUW7Thl2cle2k-d7vYFXOpq4HI_4jTemmAcHwBSPBhfAgeeAWECaS6iXmkr7VXtx8MqCuDgmsucgqiJvWxYd2y4Ac00AZ7HwDvsFAqNt/w400-h225/mgs3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#270 Metal Gear Solid 3 (Playstation 2) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">After a quick <i>MGS2</i> replay I finally got to the third game, which had been out for a while. It didn't really interest me because the setting was so different from the others. I liked the refineries and futuristic stuff, while this brought us back to the 1960's and a wilderness setting.</p><p style="text-align: center;">However, I sold the game way short because it ended up being tremendously well done, maybe the best the series ever got. It's atmospheric and pulls you in like none other. It isn't the kind of game you rush through, and you have to like crawling around in the Forest for extended amounts of time, keeping a low profile and sneaking up on your foes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijXPBpjEvEM7fBfhezkJw8MCH2rElZ9uQ1MYuAsxgzYarPY9PjX25ypQY1YQlMbxVLWOBIGlGnDhCg6EFR3pjpMkZHYbZ2PShvFehDs7w1tpvJGigHIa2ZjiMVh-lhkbmKkb6o5IXrO5t0JVYDXyNxGe_vy7fou1dz-MN5q_ZI2ddB60WvOE4r_aVIGxVR/s1020/metal-gear-solid-3-hd-for-shield-tv-screenshot.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="1020" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijXPBpjEvEM7fBfhezkJw8MCH2rElZ9uQ1MYuAsxgzYarPY9PjX25ypQY1YQlMbxVLWOBIGlGnDhCg6EFR3pjpMkZHYbZ2PShvFehDs7w1tpvJGigHIa2ZjiMVh-lhkbmKkb6o5IXrO5t0JVYDXyNxGe_vy7fou1dz-MN5q_ZI2ddB60WvOE4r_aVIGxVR/w400-h225/metal-gear-solid-3-hd-for-shield-tv-screenshot.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Part: The bosses. Each one has a distinct personality and way of doing things, and those traits figure into their combat style. One of them is basically the Predator, one has a hide and seek battle over a large area that can go on for actual hours, one uses a flamethrower and his room has the best fire effects I ever saw on the PS2 or even in the PS2 era. The final boss is an emotional fight in a field of flower petals, something that would later resonate with Fromsoft and their staging of final battles in games like <i>Sekiro</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXhHAQ0p5_jR4XaRdPeoHY14lCP0q9JcntO5U2hFcfDhYiOuYC3hVnjUbSWBLJR8QsV0g7lkjaH5fbNa4he6zMqFqHdP6ruXdh0kYfqKtBIrICQAsFISJRlNBAU85ruWRYy_pf7kcTVfKCbwlFnIF7HKiPvimyUAiEHKJIDQ64Z7j1p8Tx_nk3ZKGiyFI/s815/ff12%20giza%20plains.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="815" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXhHAQ0p5_jR4XaRdPeoHY14lCP0q9JcntO5U2hFcfDhYiOuYC3hVnjUbSWBLJR8QsV0g7lkjaH5fbNa4he6zMqFqHdP6ruXdh0kYfqKtBIrICQAsFISJRlNBAU85ruWRYy_pf7kcTVfKCbwlFnIF7HKiPvimyUAiEHKJIDQ64Z7j1p8Tx_nk3ZKGiyFI/w400-h303/ff12%20giza%20plains.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#271 Final Fantasy XII (Playstation 2) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Thought this game was awesome, but at the time it got a lot of flack for some reason. Yeah some parts of it don't seem finished, but it took some risks that paid off with the new Gambit system. Really liked setting that up and accounting for any problems the party might run into. I actually started this in Fall 2006 and fell off with it fairly early for some reason, so this was my run at finishing the game. In 2007 I was making a notable effort to finish off a lot of things that had been piling up for a while, to varying degrees of success. Had an entire stack of things that I needed to finish and was slowly going through it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">This game has a very unique style and look that no other game has. I don't think it's anyone's favorite FF game, but I respect it a lot for trying new things. It gives the player a lot of freedom, and you can set up the party in pretty much any way you want. For instance, I quickly dumped main character Vaan and led with noted hot girl Penelo.</p><p style="text-align: center;">This game has six characters and they're mostly pretty great, with Vaan (the purported main character) being the weakest character by far in terms of being interesting or well-defined. Matter of fact I'd say he's the least interesting potential lead of the six. The other five could all in theory be the main character of a different game, especially the likes of Balthier and Ashe. I heard that Basch was supposed to be the MC of this game originally and they changed it to Vaan to appeal to The Kids. No idea if this is true but it seems like it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9wIoPn3jVRdH1TrmhxG56Xy6gBtotewXBt8DxVyqqNoWBCqDvagjSX2xbVG4wIX6a__DMIvkpqSiwZvtWtsQRXBrbg1o5F1WoTgGbovJDH0pWGfLSoTf5PXxMEuPtEtcAj86SzU4xmwDxtAL6e7hSXcH5-86BAvI4wgl7bVgFJzOem5e_PkAbFoQPMTF/s957/ff12%20yiazmat.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="957" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9wIoPn3jVRdH1TrmhxG56Xy6gBtotewXBt8DxVyqqNoWBCqDvagjSX2xbVG4wIX6a__DMIvkpqSiwZvtWtsQRXBrbg1o5F1WoTgGbovJDH0pWGfLSoTf5PXxMEuPtEtcAj86SzU4xmwDxtAL6e7hSXcH5-86BAvI4wgl7bVgFJzOem5e_PkAbFoQPMTF/w400-h249/ff12%20yiazmat.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Optional Postgame Part: Yiazmat and its 50 million HP. Even at level 99 this fight took a couple hours. The good news is it pretty much plays itself, you just have to make sure it doesn't fall apart. Over that duration of time a lot can go wrong though, and it's an epic odyssey. Or an exercise in tedium, depending on you. Omega MK12 is actually a much more complex fight, but only has a small fraction of the HP that this guy has so I'd put it at #2.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Main Story Part: The battle with Doctor Cid. About, what, 80% of the way through the game you fight Cid, and he's got a damn minigun. I remember that fight more vividly than the final boss itself because it totally whooped me a number of times.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OYsW2sjBxF4" width="320" youtube-src-id="OYsW2sjBxF4"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Giving Chase, which plays in the various fights with the Ba'Gamnan gang. However what I remember it more for is the airship fight with Doom Gaze, the 4th-strongest of the game's roughly 10 postgame uberbosses.</p><p style="text-align: center;">This would be a good time to mention that Hitoshi Sakimoto did the OST for this game. He's my second-favorite composer besides Yasunori Mitsuda, so this elevates the game quite a bit for me. However, this is also one of his weaker soundtracks, by and large, with far fewer memorable tracks than things like <i>FF Tactics</i> and <i>Vagrant Story</i>. There are a few impactful, driving tracks though, like this one. It actually kinda sounds more like an unused track from <i>Vagrant Story</i> and stands out from the generally low-key <i>FF12</i> soundtrack.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cO5KnFUS2u3fNfhxoDxY3lEs3TXmmrDgwQJJHICt2d1Hi7NbVhRcg-8DhtwpYXj3i_X14rgy2_olT_5vFngVY6jywC5GGHoD2IC0o2UFueTSXI6r5G_rkf5pM0gmSnQZfLJrGTqcacNf4rmYBfitKP17hmd4ozILwXC7fTxA78Fit9Fkx0QoNxPZ2GUE/s400/Rockman%207%20FC%2002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="400" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cO5KnFUS2u3fNfhxoDxY3lEs3TXmmrDgwQJJHICt2d1Hi7NbVhRcg-8DhtwpYXj3i_X14rgy2_olT_5vFngVY6jywC5GGHoD2IC0o2UFueTSXI6r5G_rkf5pM0gmSnQZfLJrGTqcacNf4rmYBfitKP17hmd4ozILwXC7fTxA78Fit9Fkx0QoNxPZ2GUE/w320-h280/Rockman%207%20FC%2002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#272 Mega Man 7 FC (PC) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is a de-make of <i>Mega Man 7</i> that puts it in-line with the NES games in the classic series. Later someone made <i>Mega Man 8 FC</i>, so you can actually play 1-10 of the classic series all in NES style now instead of having 7/8 be different-looking outliers. I do like <i>Mega Man 8</i> as it is, but it's pretty cool that these de-makes are a thing.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Personally I'm finding de-makes more and more intriguing as time goes on, like the Game Boy version of <i>Elden Ring</i> that has the first two major bosses. Or the PS1 <i>Bloodborne</i> with the first two bosses. Or the <i>Metroid Prime</i> 2D demake that...I think got C&D'd? There were a couple of NES <i>Final Fantasy VII</i> de-makes too, and one of them was actually really good. Covered the whole game and used <i>FF3</i>'s engine. Demakes are something that intrigue me and that I've barely ever gotten around to checking out. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPseSX7_ECxM40L-PMRFoukTidh9pUA7s2vOIzZUgzbTiz5-w_ooAJhUBzLdrwWskcUdhprrRvUlpqYTyg34TjLPt3R6owwVXdVTLYUA8VSV1NrKPYNGwHzQhyphenhyphenUPjdX4hyphenhyphengh9C2W9mBPbxxrUuluiEUQ6IWBl-z2dd3EIbX1hO_K6QCDGSglQnhyphenhyphenJdC74/s400/22.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="400" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTPseSX7_ECxM40L-PMRFoukTidh9pUA7s2vOIzZUgzbTiz5-w_ooAJhUBzLdrwWskcUdhprrRvUlpqYTyg34TjLPt3R6owwVXdVTLYUA8VSV1NrKPYNGwHzQhyphenhyphenUPjdX4hyphenhyphengh9C2W9mBPbxxrUuluiEUQ6IWBl-z2dd3EIbX1hO_K6QCDGSglQnhyphenhyphenJdC74/s320/22.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">As for this actual game, for a fan project it's very high-quality and certainly worthy of counting as a real game. Everything looks just like it would on the NES. Only potential issue with it is that the backgrounds aren't nearly as detailed as <i>Mega Man 6</i>, so this looks more in line with the early series. Which could be a little distracting if one plays through them in order. Other than that one minor blip, this is a rad game that more people should know about.</div><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2016/05/rockman-7-fc.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWLO55NvmP8GfXEK-q_8H0DvBG-NoQjtZFC6PlH2mO_nQ2AwiCRaMqw30MF3kj-mG9PKwfhyphenhyphen0AJib0Ufz5ilZCixWLK_WicuR-8xoKHaFDtWUEcJfsJ2ALhJ0-mNvKSJOt_G3Nbl6TUxC0FwpDFg88IDxh_Ie6oKCBx2zBbHR-gKTUmfTHTqk8R2fMYVW/s1049/ogre%20battle%2001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1049" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWLO55NvmP8GfXEK-q_8H0DvBG-NoQjtZFC6PlH2mO_nQ2AwiCRaMqw30MF3kj-mG9PKwfhyphenhyphen0AJib0Ufz5ilZCixWLK_WicuR-8xoKHaFDtWUEcJfsJ2ALhJ0-mNvKSJOt_G3Nbl6TUxC0FwpDFg88IDxh_Ie6oKCBx2zBbHR-gKTUmfTHTqk8R2fMYVW/w400-h266/ogre%20battle%2001.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#273 Ogre Battle (Playstation) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Could have sworn I played this way sooner / already covered it in the 90's, but it doesn't look like it? I think I ironed out all the duplicate entries in the list a while ago. It appears that I didn't actually play through it until 2007. I vaguely remember having this game for a while before I got to it, and think I got it on a really good deal at Let's Play before it closed. Probably one of the many things I got for $10 there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hBe6i5dzuei7nv4FoiitxSb_gemep1Vi6srIM1mSEwbDV3xnImIDPNrQHZkX-3wwXDVEoT2YcI5fE2rIYRsgbEScNVtnSoaYKkk_c2EOlQY1EcRc7MOLICW4TYnE58ng7sO6b8O5v6YDvhH2KbFr2fOJ0fJXCTHtjx8vOGqqG_APtOyi-m7WwusHqzKu/s640/ogre%20battle%2002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6hBe6i5dzuei7nv4FoiitxSb_gemep1Vi6srIM1mSEwbDV3xnImIDPNrQHZkX-3wwXDVEoT2YcI5fE2rIYRsgbEScNVtnSoaYKkk_c2EOlQY1EcRc7MOLICW4TYnE58ng7sO6b8O5v6YDvhH2KbFr2fOJ0fJXCTHtjx8vOGqqG_APtOyi-m7WwusHqzKu/w400-h300/ogre%20battle%2002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My main strategy in this game was just to consolidate all of my best units (usually unit leaders) into one or two power groups and just have them mop up everything / overlevel. Usually my main hero unit would be the one thrusting into enemy territory while the backup team guarded the base. This strategy won every battle in the game without any fuss. Things did get a bit tedious after a while because the game got so easy, however. I'd just point and click and watch it play out, one battle after another, until I eventually got to the end. Tanked my ingame reputation meter by doing this, and didn't get a good ending, but it was certainly easier than playing as intended.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreNB8kaDdwwovS4SwbH2fBdDcAd0Jbob43RPefn2l9hK1braowr_KCECwQI3TjqXYjv_Rvj3MTGytpqDv2W1H41AM6SDRv6Id3yDA1UwKvpirSatz7STLEgIWrLkJIeioR_l0ptrOCz3gbN3Pe2MVduhvOEsislwrJWPUtRHuEU_GtFC33329Qoh67mqn/s1000/front%20mission%204%20box.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="658" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhreNB8kaDdwwovS4SwbH2fBdDcAd0Jbob43RPefn2l9hK1braowr_KCECwQI3TjqXYjv_Rvj3MTGytpqDv2W1H41AM6SDRv6Id3yDA1UwKvpirSatz7STLEgIWrLkJIeioR_l0ptrOCz3gbN3Pe2MVduhvOEsislwrJWPUtRHuEU_GtFC33329Qoh67mqn/s320/front%20mission%204%20box.jpg" width="211" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not So Honorable Mention: Front Mission 4 (Playstation 2)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I tried with this one, I really did. The game is so slow and so boring that I just couldn't get through it, and this was at a time where I got through basically everything. This and <i>Xenosaga 2</i> got shelved because even during my 2007 finish-a-thon I couldn't stomach either of them. <i>Xenosaga 2</i> I eventually got back to and found the good in, while this one... well, I don't know what happened to it. Probably got sold, or given away, or is in a box somewhere. But yeah, this was one of those rare games that made me wonder what I was doing with my life. Long, plodding, dull. Even liking mech combat, this was as tedious as a Tactics style game can get.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVpw7pvRJFITQmh0J8GphEG6Mfg58_mfEzYCKlFXjF42EKbPI2WMDpwYz5VM-ByuDAn5YfKRkSmHZeKywlZwh_t2XGNPp11iuhR1CrgUGn51qkdlSNAiRa7JlyhqVTODi4if3wniBm_bimbGkuRA1zcjjaReVzJNRe87Deybw98bie3-lL5UYiM11huXM/s1000/elite%20beat%20agents.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1000" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitVpw7pvRJFITQmh0J8GphEG6Mfg58_mfEzYCKlFXjF42EKbPI2WMDpwYz5VM-ByuDAn5YfKRkSmHZeKywlZwh_t2XGNPp11iuhR1CrgUGn51qkdlSNAiRa7JlyhqVTODi4if3wniBm_bimbGkuRA1zcjjaReVzJNRe87Deybw98bie3-lL5UYiM11huXM/s320/elite%20beat%20agents.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#274 Elite Beat Agents (Nintendo DS) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was the first DS game I ever played/beat. My friend Amanda gave me a DS and <i>Pokemon Diamond</i>, while my other friend Danica gave me this game, and I played this first. There's a lot of licensed music in this game and it's one of the few rhythm games I could ever get into. It also makes use of the DS stylus for tap gameplay that actually feels like a good use of the system. One of the few times where the DS' Waggle-Motion controls really felt worth it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1gn2PxP_ekw" width="320" youtube-src-id="1gn2PxP_ekw"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory, Toughest Part, and Favorite Tune: The final level is the toughest challenge, and a ton of fun trying to get right. Only part that I remember having any real battle to finish. Particularly like the song for it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxV9Feg8pE3YOPCpRxbzs9gc-X8HINrQDQN4lwjQcAndKH2eVqRs56WtwPNNp3f09WAPcKNAUH37PP-Hgqqa9PnGohyNAiPoKn8YBSCDGUxR_uPK8kYrSzfcqBSgKsDc-mJ6GvnpfNlG67e1Ej_9VVY90temU9W-cQNBdSAR7S56jdcZhDH87G98FqIYYS/s474/minish%20cap.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="474" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxV9Feg8pE3YOPCpRxbzs9gc-X8HINrQDQN4lwjQcAndKH2eVqRs56WtwPNNp3f09WAPcKNAUH37PP-Hgqqa9PnGohyNAiPoKn8YBSCDGUxR_uPK8kYrSzfcqBSgKsDc-mJ6GvnpfNlG67e1Ej_9VVY90temU9W-cQNBdSAR7S56jdcZhDH87G98FqIYYS/w400-h266/minish%20cap.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#275 Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Probably the best portable Zelda up until <i>Link Between Worlds</i> if we're being objective, though I'll probably always prefer <i>Link's Awakening</i> and the two Oracles. This game is really good-looking, uses the GBA to its strengths, and is certainly better than the two Zeldas on DS. Really had fun with this one. Does this mean I revived the almost-finished Zelda Crusade? Nope, and I was like four games behind now (3 after this one).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JhBddUWEx0E2kt2H1D4v5Pkmqyjb-QKDX4gaufWd2dWSWeKVbd_hqK7GkZaQHKyy2lJB9ch9NETTAnsKoMnvKbXRmzcs_DqaQ_anvTk2ZBMLFCmNKuk_8jH0HQvi6gB5E3NaWB7A0GEDNb6n-QYrdD5gv8FziaoNOiZWiCLTYXZPH4BIkj0ERCwRd1Ou/s240/Legend%20of%20Zelda%20The%20Minish%20Cap%2021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JhBddUWEx0E2kt2H1D4v5Pkmqyjb-QKDX4gaufWd2dWSWeKVbd_hqK7GkZaQHKyy2lJB9ch9NETTAnsKoMnvKbXRmzcs_DqaQ_anvTk2ZBMLFCmNKuk_8jH0HQvi6gB5E3NaWB7A0GEDNb6n-QYrdD5gv8FziaoNOiZWiCLTYXZPH4BIkj0ERCwRd1Ou/w400-h267/Legend%20of%20Zelda%20The%20Minish%20Cap%2021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Much like the Oracles, this one revolves around having a power that lets you transform the world around you between two different states. Instead of seasons or past/present, now it's micro and macro. In other words you can shrink down and engage with the world in a totally different way. This allows regular common enemies to become bosses since your character is tiny in comparison.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Friend of mine playing this on an actual GBA while I played the first couple hours of <i>Metroid Prime 3</i> on his TV. Funny thing is I didn't get to finishing that game, or get to the Wii at all, until years later despite being such a massive Metroid fan. However I was all about emulating <i>Minish Cap</i> right around when said friend was playing it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OvZfSXVnHtQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="OvZfSXVnHtQ"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Minish Woods is a super memorable and timeless tune.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Minish%20Cap" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispO7Ua8vFKaALEe76SwTzO7OV7q6Nmz767o94GAOgNVxIHTjW19SwDynEpXvk1eIqv0OzxMbrFOiDsYfifll1TgnlObteCBt2SQ-_FIAOd5MWdUAD0Qp5JMchilP7gB5WgNGudQy72XvRPP_wB-l4q_LWXVP791KXuczizcFOHlUfRRziw42LGVXA5RzQ/s640/Mega%20Man%20X7%20(6).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="640" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispO7Ua8vFKaALEe76SwTzO7OV7q6Nmz767o94GAOgNVxIHTjW19SwDynEpXvk1eIqv0OzxMbrFOiDsYfifll1TgnlObteCBt2SQ-_FIAOd5MWdUAD0Qp5JMchilP7gB5WgNGudQy72XvRPP_wB-l4q_LWXVP791KXuczizcFOHlUfRRziw42LGVXA5RzQ/w400-h238/Mega%20Man%20X7%20(6).png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#276 Mega Man X7 (Playstation 2) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Oh hey, I finally got around to finishing this one, which was on the agenda for years. It wasn't the only not-great "7" that I got to this year either. 2007 was, after all, the "finish things" year and I was wading through the pile.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I was still on Wily Alert at this point, waiting for the series to get to the point with that whole deal. Well, no Wily in this game. With him definitely present in <i>X5</i> and <i>X6 </i>and it being clearly indicated that he was the one building Sigma's new bodies, it was logical to think this is where he'd finally make his presence known to X.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Well, he doesn't. But get this, the final battle theme is called "The Professor". Like Wily? Yet the final boss is just Sigma again. Sigma, who isn't a professor and has never been referred to as such. Makes me wonder if the original plan was a Wily fight at the end and they just dropped the idea for some reason. They changed the name of "The Professor" to "Our Blood Boils" for the American version, probably because by then somebody realized that there was no Wily fight at the end.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nugJBnupDnY" width="320" youtube-src-id="nugJBnupDnY"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: "Our Blood Boils" (also known as "The Professor" depending on the version). What an absolute banger of a battle theme, and makes one wonder what they were doing the rest of the time during the game's development. Because this track is waaaaay better than anything else in this game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/10/mega-man-x7-playstation-2-2003.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnan27ecspk6MQZ2Zr-6ydwgOR02bl4uIyIOb8RxPdv7-LUzvxVOJGKVwfnNEiOfeA3Jj3bsWm0j7vXeu5Wjm130CQSgSYgdclO08b4JYBNw3iAUWUVWHT2ug9EO0N9pqKkBJQTJbt3gO4f4P807OV1teUVNoCQRwe_C7fEi6OswuBZYXG4L7pzLU9Xvhh/s640/Mega%20Man%20X8%20(151).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="640" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnan27ecspk6MQZ2Zr-6ydwgOR02bl4uIyIOb8RxPdv7-LUzvxVOJGKVwfnNEiOfeA3Jj3bsWm0j7vXeu5Wjm130CQSgSYgdclO08b4JYBNw3iAUWUVWHT2ug9EO0N9pqKkBJQTJbt3gO4f4P807OV1teUVNoCQRwe_C7fEi6OswuBZYXG4L7pzLU9Xvhh/w400-h236/Mega%20Man%20X8%20(151).png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#277 Mega Man X8 (Playstation 2) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Significant improvement over the terrible previous game, but still not the X series of olde that I really missed by this point. Very different from the other games. Several of the stages are duds and I pretty much never go back to this one, but after <i>X7</i> it looked great in comparison.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Biggest WTF For Me: After building up Wily in the background for most of the X series...we reach the final X game...and finally have a game where Sigma <i>isn't</i> the villain...and they gave the spot to some random guy we've never seen before, with no mention of Wily at all in the game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/10/mega-man-x8-playstation-2-2004.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz58mt6TLSgDhkTYEe7B_5uFfNUMBiIs9SzA1o4-arejZX5zS4nkcV7_G__YVSHyceJoQAtMKSAnOJn-RIqpU33rVX8avKzJSczb23gxWX5rrgm4o42Q8sUfSsc02YaN7NbmFXc_CxS8rft0srnyGgeGJxHHcGtYqNdiVO3nfJI-fGbebzRZ0b0GjILmzq/s1024/gta3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz58mt6TLSgDhkTYEe7B_5uFfNUMBiIs9SzA1o4-arejZX5zS4nkcV7_G__YVSHyceJoQAtMKSAnOJn-RIqpU33rVX8avKzJSczb23gxWX5rrgm4o42Q8sUfSsc02YaN7NbmFXc_CxS8rft0srnyGgeGJxHHcGtYqNdiVO3nfJI-fGbebzRZ0b0GjILmzq/w400-h300/gta3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#278 Grand Theft Auto 3 (Playstation 2) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is something I'd rented a couple of times but never got super far with it. Around this time I made a bid to actually finish the game because I really liked it (and I think <i>GTA4</i> was out so I probably wanted to get to that...funny thing is I never got to <i>GTA4</i>).</p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>GTA3</i> is in a class of its own for the early 2000's in terms of being a sandbox game like nothing before it. You can play this for hours and have a blast without actually accomplishing anything. I just liked how the city in the game felt like a real-world city, something I don't think any game had done before this.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Radio Station: Probably the MSX one. Was it called that? I think it was. It was pretty much all Drum & Bass genre, which wasn't really a thing yet when the game came out in 2002 but was getting fairly popular by 2007. Favorite Drum & Bass song? "Sun King" by State of Mind. It isn't in this game though.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvdlmw26tyeaVq2xoZcJb3NfjCPluQ93Igx7rLyUZ5WPCpTDHqfJoKvj95b8WTxgcCXwVa7nSba-B7b2C_A6GVEP2q5nCQ2A4-woyY5ZeuqlDplqEfBrC6pdebLrb7EEz8fSqjYREyGl6np9n914Ph2AEKnppL2XyoSxzfBX59oevvEvdWqfg4oDStaIm/s1280/fire%20emblem%207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbvdlmw26tyeaVq2xoZcJb3NfjCPluQ93Igx7rLyUZ5WPCpTDHqfJoKvj95b8WTxgcCXwVa7nSba-B7b2C_A6GVEP2q5nCQ2A4-woyY5ZeuqlDplqEfBrC6pdebLrb7EEz8fSqjYREyGl6np9n914Ph2AEKnppL2XyoSxzfBX59oevvEvdWqfg4oDStaIm/w400-h320/fire%20emblem%207.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#279 Fire Emblem 7, Rekka no Ken (Blazing Sword) (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was my first FE game, and the first one we got in North America anyway. In the U.S. it was a standalone game, but in Japan it was a prequel to the previous game in the series. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I always wanted to play the SNES Fire Emblems and here was my chance to play one in English. Never got to the SNES (or NES) installments but I did play everything from <i>FE6</i> onward, just about.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: A lot of the women in this game are straight-up gorgeous. I mean they really knew what they were doing with the artwork. The armor and outfits are all pretty awesome too, across the board. Every character is appealing, just about.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMS_9yaZJVQqzaolQiErwfMbDKvsV_B0VsfiJ-yC-LAB-y94NqkSkJicRN-bmk24jRaxiUSflElSKmstV2hmTkGdY1Ly5nRjaTbZ68QsG5rqO2-uTyQajjpjGhsX766T2dGkzSB_NbehnqbdF2AV_Zq1_A74vrC-bdEr469DdlrPyCy7XrElPYDQmGMad/s1024/fire%20emblem%206.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMS_9yaZJVQqzaolQiErwfMbDKvsV_B0VsfiJ-yC-LAB-y94NqkSkJicRN-bmk24jRaxiUSflElSKmstV2hmTkGdY1Ly5nRjaTbZ68QsG5rqO2-uTyQajjpjGhsX766T2dGkzSB_NbehnqbdF2AV_Zq1_A74vrC-bdEr469DdlrPyCy7XrElPYDQmGMad/w400-h300/fire%20emblem%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#280 Fire Emblem 6, Fuuin no Tsurugi (Sealed Sword) (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">The sequel to <i>FE7</i> funnily enough, and a Japan-only game at the time. Luckily a fan-translated ROM existed, which was a great turn of events because after <i>FE7</i> I really wanted to see what happened next in the story. So this was a huge pleasant surprise. It's a better game than its prequel, as well. This was a lot like the <i>Wild Arms 2</i> situation back in 2000 where I finished a game and then found out I could continue the story. Pretty amazing surprise, the once in a blue moon when it happens. This one moves forward in time quite a bit, and a naive boy from <i>FE7</i> is the ruthless emperor in this one. Kind of interesting how for American audiences with emulators this would be a sequel to <i>FE7</i>, but for Japanese audiences who already had this, <i>FE7</i> is a prequel. Kinda crazy that this never got an American release, as well.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwW5GCyCs7c7Nq-4h1FeK4Lar9X2uF0Rd1SoHvONB1zvJQQkLx41ycgrrtvh_NYzh838xjlptTuDwDyBbzbeqnxqmgJL6rh_5-r-Jz63g0n0AlLqoKTs5Bklygc91Ezn4qVc_3XJturJqiaCCGDXlMll8vH7GM6JS8yi-J_I097_omnvJS2wZvAIfmbSX/s1280/ys%206.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBwW5GCyCs7c7Nq-4h1FeK4Lar9X2uF0Rd1SoHvONB1zvJQQkLx41ycgrrtvh_NYzh838xjlptTuDwDyBbzbeqnxqmgJL6rh_5-r-Jz63g0n0AlLqoKTs5Bklygc91Ezn4qVc_3XJturJqiaCCGDXlMll8vH7GM6JS8yi-J_I097_omnvJS2wZvAIfmbSX/w400-h225/ys%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#281 Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim (Playstation 2) – Fall 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">A Blockbuster rental that I think was very spur of the moment. I think this is the first 3D Ys game (in terms of having 3D-looking visuals, not actually a 3D landscape, which wouldn't be until <i>Ys VIII</i>). I liked this game a lot and it ended up being the first Ys game I'd ever beaten (or really played, for that matter). This opened the door for me to check out others in the series later on.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LsNRnRo6hXc" width="320" youtube-src-id="LsNRnRo6hXc"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The final boss theme is a genre I don't know the name of, kind of a chill-techno like 90's sensation "Dubmarine". I liked this tune a lot though, it's moody and atmospheric and feels both alien and technological, like you're fighting a foe you can't really identify. This might be my favorite tune in this entire post, for some reason.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_U4SxS18BsUS4ZvZMV97zXhzjkg_Yz-heGtGFhG4qq_W_ghw6KoGKkPDjF0e7Im6dUdLJJlBy_bNNkvPDTl27pbqAOTtTwo9FMXvpqTPZPOTCzrJNCHQteR_HSmB-o5jjmIf29OXARtCusHN2Hd0j6zXodn6D_xVaVsmt0RYEKPH388uVnQaH0zZYMRD/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_U4SxS18BsUS4ZvZMV97zXhzjkg_Yz-heGtGFhG4qq_W_ghw6KoGKkPDjF0e7Im6dUdLJJlBy_bNNkvPDTl27pbqAOTtTwo9FMXvpqTPZPOTCzrJNCHQteR_HSmB-o5jjmIf29OXARtCusHN2Hd0j6zXodn6D_xVaVsmt0RYEKPH388uVnQaH0zZYMRD/w337-h316/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_001.png" width="337" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#282 Shadow of the Ninja (NES) – Fall 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was one of the first 3 console video games I ever played, in a doctor's office when I was like 7 years old. They had an NES set up with <i>Super Mario Bros</i>, <i>Destiny of an Emperor</i>, and this game. I played all 3 of them, probably for like 10 minutes each. <i>SMB</i> was the one I went back to on follow-up visits, but I liked this game too. There was a stage select code for it in one of the first Nintendo Powers I ever read, and I wanted to go revisit it and see what the last level looked like. I don't think that ever happened. Speaking of Nintendo Power, it's really weird, but NP never covered this game. I checked the issues up and down from 1990 and 1991 (released August 1990) and it's nowhere to be found. Not even a mention of it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">In any case, I got around to emulating it in 2007 and beat the game pretty quickly. It's basically a lesser <i>Ninja Gaiden</i> in most ways, while still being a quality game. It's easier too, so that helps. Also you can choose between a male and female protagonist at the outset, which is something you didn't see very much with the NES.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2024/03/shadow-of-ninja-nes-1990.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_y1CdTDNKLbZtpdksDdPLRCOTsG5a-0S-Sql9g5TiQBRsnaYWgwEkZzzYvnMsQiyHMJQtCwhB-lqOD726zKC0F_FV5MRRq8jRLRtSegoFPpTmh3EHKqmIZIrXOfbukiYnv6VEy8EubeWbKrMIttTUp1Aak6Ot7mXBCEBzCbfBhuQ5lrYSBGt9MEh_xAwL/s831/dragon-warrior-vii-playstation-front-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="831" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_y1CdTDNKLbZtpdksDdPLRCOTsG5a-0S-Sql9g5TiQBRsnaYWgwEkZzzYvnMsQiyHMJQtCwhB-lqOD726zKC0F_FV5MRRq8jRLRtSegoFPpTmh3EHKqmIZIrXOfbukiYnv6VEy8EubeWbKrMIttTUp1Aak6Ot7mXBCEBzCbfBhuQ5lrYSBGt9MEh_xAwL/s320/dragon-warrior-vii-playstation-front-cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#283 Dragon Quest 7 (Playstation) – Winter 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Finally, I wrapped up 2007 with this. On the third major run at the game (all of which took place in Winter seasons, for some reason), I finally powered through to the end. Most of my memories of this game involve level-grinding in overworld plains endlessly. I think I got lost for a while a couple times when I had like, one missing shard and no idea what to do. While I didn't find a whole lot to like here, it's cool for a while and I actually like that it takes two hours to even fight a single battle. It's unique in that regard. Going to try giving it a second shot and see how that goes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5hg6Wlv4Jh_BmbDxdIAZzcfWkqnzG9zUA3FBEyNiutS_zY9S_cYg5iE4PARY11U1dbh4KurM8M1zDnHE-zUpWXuzemLvwcID_gtJcwX_sCd8Clpv8oxTxk6VOVFmKtCIADb7-Zd0DWGbl2qlNm3LUQhnHA2JXUdwk1ED5rYtWXPvfzHH6M6JqFe-r33V/s1280/dragon%20warrior%207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq5hg6Wlv4Jh_BmbDxdIAZzcfWkqnzG9zUA3FBEyNiutS_zY9S_cYg5iE4PARY11U1dbh4KurM8M1zDnHE-zUpWXuzemLvwcID_gtJcwX_sCd8Clpv8oxTxk6VOVFmKtCIADb7-Zd0DWGbl2qlNm3LUQhnHA2JXUdwk1ED5rYtWXPvfzHH6M6JqFe-r33V/w400-h225/dragon%20warrior%207.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Hell Cloud. Early(ish) game boss that is a huge leap in difficulty from everything before it. Not sure anything after it ever posed the same level of challenge. I never did the postgame or fought the super-boss because I was mostly just ready to move on the minute it was over.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7aQ55_kfoW4" width="320" youtube-src-id="7aQ55_kfoW4"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The boss theme is really good, but I'll give the duke to the shrine theme. This is the hub area of the game and where I probably spent the most time. There isn't a lot to do there besides place shards (and look at all the shards you've found) but whenever I was lost, I'd sit in there and look things up. So I remember this theme pretty vividly. Unfortunately the 3DS version kinda messes with this theme by speeding it up, which gives it a very different vibe.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest%20VII" target="_blank">HERE</a> (If I get to it)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">Before we go, more versions of The Professor / Our Blood Boils from <i>Mega Man X7</i>:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AaRbdqjSylQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="AaRbdqjSylQ"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Sega Genesis soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ygnSeN3sOns" width="320" youtube-src-id="ygnSeN3sOns"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Mega Man X</i> soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q1nFoenfIMs" width="320" youtube-src-id="q1nFoenfIMs"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">NES soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lenDwb5GnuQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="lenDwb5GnuQ"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Mega Man Zero</i> <i>2</i> soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YvEYgCO42w8" width="320" youtube-src-id="YvEYgCO42w8"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Arcade soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l-KwTy_j8nM" width="320" youtube-src-id="l-KwTy_j8nM"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Mega Man X3 </i>soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BBHDw5ZRSEo" width="320" youtube-src-id="BBHDw5ZRSEo"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">BW2 soundfont!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wXCa1XLSMRY" width="320" youtube-src-id="wXCa1XLSMRY"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Modern Pokemon soundfont! I think this might be my favorite of the group, either this or Genesis.</p><p style="text-align: center;">That's it for 2007. Next up: 2008</p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-68917365548183764992024-03-15T08:37:00.001-04:002024-03-15T08:37:12.595-04:00Shadow of the Ninja (NES, 1990)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BumjKG7QuuonzMeMZrsBq6r_gVCD-MPYQFd8KRhlwfyRIFy9A8LSOGbeKUE6pKZdr7Kr4wnOJ3LHNe1uXX4sNw4ZNTHawiQrGF6zM-a11r_bEuRWb0NVo8FwHwMEa4lG2-b1S_wpRlHFcUFoQUjAMA9Lv_YQgiO5SEqweHFZjTtQGz_SOu_p4oyensU8/s800/4550663-shadow-of-the-ninja-nes-front-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="552" height="423" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1BumjKG7QuuonzMeMZrsBq6r_gVCD-MPYQFd8KRhlwfyRIFy9A8LSOGbeKUE6pKZdr7Kr4wnOJ3LHNe1uXX4sNw4ZNTHawiQrGF6zM-a11r_bEuRWb0NVo8FwHwMEa4lG2-b1S_wpRlHFcUFoQUjAMA9Lv_YQgiO5SEqweHFZjTtQGz_SOu_p4oyensU8/w292-h423/4550663-shadow-of-the-ninja-nes-front-cover.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">One of the trio of games I got to play (some of) the first time I ever saw an NES. Which makes this...possibly the first NES game I ever played. It was either this, <i>Super Mario Bros</i>, or <i>Destiny of an Emperor</i>. Then in 2007 I actually played through it. It's been ages, so it's high time I took a gander at it. Going to see if it brings back any memories of that first time holding an NES controller. I bet this WAS the first one I played, because it had "ninja" in the title and I was like 7. Definitely would have reached for this first out of the three games. Also it's from Natsume, so that's pretty cool. Without further ado...</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHjooNJEGfQa-4BQpDa93DBmfOObFwMhyphenhyphen5OMYxvrEvDdl2NCz7elC8GrdF8wOJcUW_0rByDrqr9C3zy2NbjdFfyBhz4FgyzHJ1wyB1va5zJTmOk4hwgd_6Q-sFOBJFHjuHeiOmDxqbolWDnHumEcAMRcm6qHZk-i66Hk1n1h-c64IkaOpgW2pUykGXKiB/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHjooNJEGfQa-4BQpDa93DBmfOObFwMhyphenhyphen5OMYxvrEvDdl2NCz7elC8GrdF8wOJcUW_0rByDrqr9C3zy2NbjdFfyBhz4FgyzHJ1wyB1va5zJTmOk4hwgd_6Q-sFOBJFHjuHeiOmDxqbolWDnHumEcAMRcm6qHZk-i66Hk1n1h-c64IkaOpgW2pUykGXKiB/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_001.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's 2029 A.D. and the twin towers are still standing. Looks like pretty much all the other buildings in Lower Manhattan don't exist though. Weird city planning but whatever. For a kid who had only really seen <i>Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego</i> on the 1st grade school computer, these had to be pretty cool graphics.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtIVAmcBqeScrmVEwa8a30CL-leUt51l2FGDSNNea1Co244325uGzUBQ2g1-Ea_Szu8U3Wg_-7FH1ka_GC_x2AWLdMarHU08KiRLe9mnp8iExtdEiBLgjjIcxG2sXnr3phl8pYlDZjxMaaNyzdDcvnj8hlaCDZVRlLnICVhOhoPHAPX8Udwz2w9uARvy7_/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtIVAmcBqeScrmVEwa8a30CL-leUt51l2FGDSNNea1Co244325uGzUBQ2g1-Ea_Szu8U3Wg_-7FH1ka_GC_x2AWLdMarHU08KiRLe9mnp8iExtdEiBLgjjIcxG2sXnr3phl8pYlDZjxMaaNyzdDcvnj8hlaCDZVRlLnICVhOhoPHAPX8Udwz2w9uARvy7_/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the funny thing about stuff like this. The dictator is always some gruff, evil-looking bad guy. As if someone like that would ever be dictator of America. No, when we get a dictator it'll be some handsome young guy who looks like he rolled off a Handsome Politician assembly line and has the full support of the media, establishment, and our institutions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Come on, Natsume.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_qRp-D14CoeZuhg-maxsePYdWFVKmSrQCwMWMFkBg6IyJVfasFl3SNuZ7KMa7hn2pV4OLVy5M3R64q1DCAV0OThCIcECGkkvKy3xU4WA73i5JRdQV6MUJRI6BHb5yRxGBk6vWeN5sh50AGjPxiT0WjiZafj8a6HMToN8ElCBz2sxSZtLvpc0V7MUawtp/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_003.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_qRp-D14CoeZuhg-maxsePYdWFVKmSrQCwMWMFkBg6IyJVfasFl3SNuZ7KMa7hn2pV4OLVy5M3R64q1DCAV0OThCIcECGkkvKy3xU4WA73i5JRdQV6MUJRI6BHb5yRxGBk6vWeN5sh50AGjPxiT0WjiZafj8a6HMToN8ElCBz2sxSZtLvpc0V7MUawtp/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A number of lives? What kind of number are we talking here? Zero? Zero is a number.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NQcZn_ojgCkOcgI_huI97-WmFawEwglByfUvxp0lrAjLZH5sWkD0yXMaMl3-_0CPcR5-FRA95YceDOnSl9CG0xvLA-KjZAQbY0NgJh3WH2POMTrXGz6XUKUmCkyErDw661ORz08Z-d-YrxlUwddOHGnT7vCKzIwmG6BlETecZxet40DsJaT4_lYV1IRg/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_004.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8NQcZn_ojgCkOcgI_huI97-WmFawEwglByfUvxp0lrAjLZH5sWkD0yXMaMl3-_0CPcR5-FRA95YceDOnSl9CG0xvLA-KjZAQbY0NgJh3WH2POMTrXGz6XUKUmCkyErDw661ORz08Z-d-YrxlUwddOHGnT7vCKzIwmG6BlETecZxet40DsJaT4_lYV1IRg/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_004.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We've got two playable characters here and you can pick either of them, which is pretty cool. Not many NES games had a female protagonist at all at this time much less an outwardly female character (because let's be honest, you can't really tell with Samus)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07RNPG7L1dBH7uNPttrmGHS5mz92FrGY7in6uKwdnbgup_lAzrk_AqhPEjhcw_hQSVBV4z0IxpKvIm0WiTsrMVo5UujVZ4OwNKkjq_BCGlfdMvr2Fi_MXrj8Fem2i8taMIjEmbKEZeqR7ktW8BsU4K7bGFDu7-FGsMGyFXBsGN-MqWOYyxEe9S1lYHmhN/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_005.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh07RNPG7L1dBH7uNPttrmGHS5mz92FrGY7in6uKwdnbgup_lAzrk_AqhPEjhcw_hQSVBV4z0IxpKvIm0WiTsrMVo5UujVZ4OwNKkjq_BCGlfdMvr2Fi_MXrj8Fem2i8taMIjEmbKEZeqR7ktW8BsU4K7bGFDu7-FGsMGyFXBsGN-MqWOYyxEe9S1lYHmhN/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_005.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This and <i>Super Mario Bros 2</i> come to mind really. I go with Hayate since that's probably who I picked in 1990, but let's see Kaede real quick.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5NNxxIryPB8N9YWBQXcv2sa-AdWappXDJ5iaDMCypWw15PS6-Q_cM0KNNdtSlLMDRh7OC8eZn7SNJ80v8BzZ2pPzUSmrbUxN1TquolDWnNUApE6nXydeqawbOq6g_fTgb2DrXvrsSd8O7DjHss7PDQBtk3RetgouZEx3rgUyYAPCKA0zx2Pmzfj8qIja/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_006.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5NNxxIryPB8N9YWBQXcv2sa-AdWappXDJ5iaDMCypWw15PS6-Q_cM0KNNdtSlLMDRh7OC8eZn7SNJ80v8BzZ2pPzUSmrbUxN1TquolDWnNUApE6nXydeqawbOq6g_fTgb2DrXvrsSd8O7DjHss7PDQBtk3RetgouZEx3rgUyYAPCKA0zx2Pmzfj8qIja/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_006.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yep, there's Kaede. Far as I know both characters play the same, but I didn't get far enough to see if their powerups were different.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxMSi7gheq720Dh8NBfKOsgDJ-gsVx-EZw8T7YikujBcZu5f_F7wHrgRsb_u3qZx7Hq5rrBgTiPU46SffZ3T1NI6x4ArfWnTxqtUhsd6xA8RLeCozjcQKw1xIfQCp1WauouxQCmnGrVNhXI74qmWXN2BI-Yex7p4x35x3FxXcNTdnT3jUCiIVPyOt9klj/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_007.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxMSi7gheq720Dh8NBfKOsgDJ-gsVx-EZw8T7YikujBcZu5f_F7wHrgRsb_u3qZx7Hq5rrBgTiPU46SffZ3T1NI6x4ArfWnTxqtUhsd6xA8RLeCozjcQKw1xIfQCp1WauouxQCmnGrVNhXI74qmWXN2BI-Yex7p4x35x3FxXcNTdnT3jUCiIVPyOt9klj/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_007.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Hayate. Much like <i>Shatnerhand</i>, powerups are obtained from these white boxes that spawn in.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xL9bnQD4-ntmcWYeQoOTc7SWaxc2ufD6IzgazqAtqmwYeoa7beNEtLpuooCGvf7EYzh4xzrB7OzSU51A_aGFGz2vk9h9WtV5gsZAMfm6m5LwJKYzQ3D8tPR_6tUU7AoOA4RI704XBZz9j7gFrSbHsWUe3ievGZC1IF6Mb3NjCNRUGLYmbAh5vbZvICuI/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_008.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xL9bnQD4-ntmcWYeQoOTc7SWaxc2ufD6IzgazqAtqmwYeoa7beNEtLpuooCGvf7EYzh4xzrB7OzSU51A_aGFGz2vk9h9WtV5gsZAMfm6m5LwJKYzQ3D8tPR_6tUU7AoOA4RI704XBZz9j7gFrSbHsWUe3ievGZC1IF6Mb3NjCNRUGLYmbAh5vbZvICuI/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_008.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This plays a lot like a knockoff of <i>Ninja Gaiden</i>, and you can cling to ceilings and walls. The sword swing is very short-range, like <i>NG</i>. You get special weapons with a few limited charges, like <i>NG</i>. However it lacks the awesome cutscenes, intriguing story, and polish. They tried though, for sure.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnaQ-obyqIUq9lCmvcD3D8-oSd_7hWVW51UQr4wkkjMXdp-0uXGI0wNdjeONBMKnaYOHajJ7eKmbyAclCUTsd7v58QHzrrvWMitM9pMhfgQjjIqcYwqh9tTP_680q3eJzKYTDNvynquD937P1jpcu9Ik9WwXCDxCSPartyrpSjpzt8iSB-erSLQ0GAdsP/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_010.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTnaQ-obyqIUq9lCmvcD3D8-oSd_7hWVW51UQr4wkkjMXdp-0uXGI0wNdjeONBMKnaYOHajJ7eKmbyAclCUTsd7v58QHzrrvWMitM9pMhfgQjjIqcYwqh9tTP_680q3eJzKYTDNvynquD937P1jpcu9Ik9WwXCDxCSPartyrpSjpzt8iSB-erSLQ0GAdsP/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_010.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">First boss is this guy who throws punches and you end up just sorta standing and banging it out until you win. I think I beat this guy the first time I played in 1990 because I actually remember it. Kind of surprising that level 1-1 has a boss to begin with, but it isn't much of a boss. There are 5 worlds altogether and each one has 2 or 3 levels, for a grand total of probably around 12 levels. They're all pretty short too.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc7InC7kXMWvj9iIRp0kmVeVUGGQpns27AiFabniqMfM5D9Q7MnDaVgrbfc8gP_7TZ4_HlVTfoA1R95garzuj6rRar66RalDLxkH2M7-13p79M5hpRU5ThF8iuLXUzj1VEfpCQnnMPNQuUvQofvY0N-EVrCoTnorRUxEso6UsJ9vVcFgfbVSkaFbG9Yvs/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_013.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbc7InC7kXMWvj9iIRp0kmVeVUGGQpns27AiFabniqMfM5D9Q7MnDaVgrbfc8gP_7TZ4_HlVTfoA1R95garzuj6rRar66RalDLxkH2M7-13p79M5hpRU5ThF8iuLXUzj1VEfpCQnnMPNQuUvQofvY0N-EVrCoTnorRUxEso6UsJ9vVcFgfbVSkaFbG9Yvs/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_013.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The rest of World 1 gets into some platforming, but it's short-lived and the rest of the game doesn't really have stuff like this. Think the designers just kinda gave up on designing platformer levels quickly. Oh yeah, and this would be a good time to mention that <i>pits don't kill you</i> in this game. That's right, an NES game where pits aren't lethal. You take some damage and reappear wherever you fell from.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxO1YEpEQEfGP4YTcm4mniFIrP7WBT4-Uc39X0yFXNqQzvPa-JryInRlLy4ygY2S6f5ZeOe7Pz5qrpix7Dm3fATRFkpGG_TpOuZz8dKF7Uv8sSPWLuTCEqfYyR1LHwIdwdWoj2lCYZFEVUBkgZmcdiFxrvdELZ3KIvLV_JJO7jiZko1EBVXQF8Xi1BTEg/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_015.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtxO1YEpEQEfGP4YTcm4mniFIrP7WBT4-Uc39X0yFXNqQzvPa-JryInRlLy4ygY2S6f5ZeOe7Pz5qrpix7Dm3fATRFkpGG_TpOuZz8dKF7Uv8sSPWLuTCEqfYyR1LHwIdwdWoj2lCYZFEVUBkgZmcdiFxrvdELZ3KIvLV_JJO7jiZko1EBVXQF8Xi1BTEg/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_015.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's the sword in action. Behold the short range! Have to basically be right up next to things to land hits. Luckily there's enough range to not bump into them, and bosses don't move around horizontally too much. Unfortunately regular foes DO, and it's not uncommon to have an enemy just running all over you while you try to get enough distance on it to slash.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAPf58YfNlmEBw2245WoEffvcwbXkSrL-fchHzTVU-Kp4ouaPgN3Wl-u3WOJhRnCRtsd0AxhFqyXjohMrxZ6s0deMQ8yATRSE7agO4q2Js2iYpavj8Y6_xQVPtWOzdhn0KOUaSZ27kYibPqkW1qMQgdlIXM04O8atYxA_sLtLER0v56bY98EF9sbMFW76/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_016.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmAPf58YfNlmEBw2245WoEffvcwbXkSrL-fchHzTVU-Kp4ouaPgN3Wl-u3WOJhRnCRtsd0AxhFqyXjohMrxZ6s0deMQ8yATRSE7agO4q2Js2iYpavj8Y6_xQVPtWOzdhn0KOUaSZ27kYibPqkW1qMQgdlIXM04O8atYxA_sLtLER0v56bY98EF9sbMFW76/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_016.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This big boss is some kind of giant construction machine, and you win by getting up here and wailing on it. Pretty cool fight. I definitely didn't get this far in 1990. I think I beat the first boss and then switched games. In <i>Destiny of an Emperor</i> I went and fought a couple random battles, got confused (though I did like the HP meters), and turned it off. <i>Super Mario Bros</i> was the one I got the furthest with. I got all the way to World 1-4 somehow on my first go and I'm not sure how. I even saw Bowser at the end of the level, lost, and from that point on was intrigued by not just Bowser himself, but video game bosses in general. I went and asked people at school who that was at the end of World 1 and people told me it was one of the Koopalings. Back then some people legit thought <i>SMB1</i>'s world bosses were all Koopalings too.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Anyway back to the ninja game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLUmFkleNlfQVY9m3SuQ2rXFERCiozuQ64FN0snuDEcjGWiqIRiv5cC-XSElEJ6bLnu3WQqsFlPOYWHtpLo-e_qXoiRECGben-2GEuBFnSMMuj-X_dLhvgggDtZhA4mLVwGCboVdVchpyQRwHnWwQJLYK3uXZxl1beWSqjqel4ZsnVuu-IM2W5AMjDAIn/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_017.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcLUmFkleNlfQVY9m3SuQ2rXFERCiozuQ64FN0snuDEcjGWiqIRiv5cC-XSElEJ6bLnu3WQqsFlPOYWHtpLo-e_qXoiRECGben-2GEuBFnSMMuj-X_dLhvgggDtZhA4mLVwGCboVdVchpyQRwHnWwQJLYK3uXZxl1beWSqjqel4ZsnVuu-IM2W5AMjDAIn/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_017.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the power-ups turns the sword into a whip/grappling hook/not sure weapon that functions just like the whip in <i>Castlevania</i>. So yeah, this game is very derivative. This particular weapon is good because it gives you much-needed reach.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rKEX88kfYt9OKwsBr25SEa8Ik03pZ0dRHoMa7ZD-Zv9vA5jhMO7VQkRpgkAjvauXkeki8FkcW51aANx44p5f1c6D1Lk9YnlLFWr-Wnc1qQRHJMlVZ8crMvTYQ1ZhBtIrt9Zshpi5qQkELm5uBPx-09QiNo9DVAZ5-tYc-rQgZob6A8ThokwK2AZA_cpv/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_018.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-rKEX88kfYt9OKwsBr25SEa8Ik03pZ0dRHoMa7ZD-Zv9vA5jhMO7VQkRpgkAjvauXkeki8FkcW51aANx44p5f1c6D1Lk9YnlLFWr-Wnc1qQRHJMlVZ8crMvTYQ1ZhBtIrt9Zshpi5qQkELm5uBPx-09QiNo9DVAZ5-tYc-rQgZob6A8ThokwK2AZA_cpv/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_018.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And you need it for stuff like this, where you can't really reach foes with your sword without getting shot. At least you've got a life meter and don't just poof in one hit like <i>SMB</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOUM6b0CGFrRXHa6gfLDJRdd_p3BN5XYBHg7ZUJfd3aVGyV9iMTg2q-LZ3xZNGynPc5V_QarjLxN5fkbXwRGrAC_aKoS47vYRB07nCPGFWvIiydCfiyMyYp4uFKwpuyobe7kOwGiDk65WHm-5CUvnYgCXXE9BVgg-V3JJ6LjP0ufRZ26xsZJOz0iVHeAB/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_019.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicOUM6b0CGFrRXHa6gfLDJRdd_p3BN5XYBHg7ZUJfd3aVGyV9iMTg2q-LZ3xZNGynPc5V_QarjLxN5fkbXwRGrAC_aKoS47vYRB07nCPGFWvIiydCfiyMyYp4uFKwpuyobe7kOwGiDk65WHm-5CUvnYgCXXE9BVgg-V3JJ6LjP0ufRZ26xsZJOz0iVHeAB/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_019.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next boss is this bad dude with a sword. At this point bosses start having more health than one life meter, so their life meter just stays full until you do enough damage for it to change color and start ticking down. It's a little confusing at first because it seems like you aren't doing any damage.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxpXbJAJgaPNPMUb8EgZ6Mdsty3DUNcgFr5K_Utv74fcNa7ngXw3E1-TDw-2mw3dSMSy8AJm5DCplPr_WOlKtEIohkZf5DffF8d_rR06GFK4kLR3TdkW29H6taZQIJn2Azaa2_ncg2YibADkSiC_gU8DtiHKbJaLn5QaTuFIca20O0qN7vJhnUc54NqX_/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_003.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjxpXbJAJgaPNPMUb8EgZ6Mdsty3DUNcgFr5K_Utv74fcNa7ngXw3E1-TDw-2mw3dSMSy8AJm5DCplPr_WOlKtEIohkZf5DffF8d_rR06GFK4kLR3TdkW29H6taZQIJn2Azaa2_ncg2YibADkSiC_gU8DtiHKbJaLn5QaTuFIca20O0qN7vJhnUc54NqX_/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mid-game the levels start getting more complex and we get a little bit more platforming.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0qyQD-NddtomoNe0jcSYZIgBX90jIAGp7AugpDG6hzWexeH9RrBPRmAju0cCeRi8fZnOaiRVju5KNQx9GVjY7NR475ZM1y6Qmme4QNsZ1hVp4nvVh9GJcqnR-0lIA80ZoWFJl7vgEYzCvIX3lmtWxzSjo4R4UDh_okHkoVMwqzSEKA20eawDgAH9YTXp/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_005.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0qyQD-NddtomoNe0jcSYZIgBX90jIAGp7AugpDG6hzWexeH9RrBPRmAju0cCeRi8fZnOaiRVju5KNQx9GVjY7NR475ZM1y6Qmme4QNsZ1hVp4nvVh9GJcqnR-0lIA80ZoWFJl7vgEYzCvIX3lmtWxzSjo4R4UDh_okHkoVMwqzSEKA20eawDgAH9YTXp/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_005.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">There's also this freaking gargoyle boss! I like that the boss health meters match their color.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL5XDk6kR7jP-xqIzcGblD5ghBw_23Z_5LL0Xm9NbLAYMVOTHu6Nk1zx7nEKcHsfBD0yBdwDH2bOQoJifeKF_Y3KrgII7ff2Df2PAWB8aS2Smdc3CY6dmC44wzL6jKs5c5G6DwXpNfJ8FBHnmEW1D_XErpdTlvYX8GrQqK8Ao3wjUiGQN2hFCUBTLtqinx/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_006.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL5XDk6kR7jP-xqIzcGblD5ghBw_23Z_5LL0Xm9NbLAYMVOTHu6Nk1zx7nEKcHsfBD0yBdwDH2bOQoJifeKF_Y3KrgII7ff2Df2PAWB8aS2Smdc3CY6dmC44wzL6jKs5c5G6DwXpNfJ8FBHnmEW1D_XErpdTlvYX8GrQqK8Ao3wjUiGQN2hFCUBTLtqinx/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_006.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is it, World 5, the last one. This is a good time to mention that one of the first Nintendo Powers I read had a stage select code for this game. I remember seeing that and writing down the code so I could jump to World 5-2, the last level, next time I had a chance to play it. I really wanted to see what the last level looked like, and assumed the last levels of games were where all the best parts were.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwUp5EPcCp67eLDE-NR2OBELzC6AP51W7LCg2wkPS8MH0KpwBj30Sx-4RYbrM8wX4GFQWA0VTKJEj7x6ereJrLs8Go1jZzqO3FP-2S0SVXbYEoO6SopKKvA5pB1Fef72SMEjyDqARNGyEVANkruQ7JY-jZuOa8TIsfvww9J4R1SlNmlDqLU7Nr5wnMTNPT/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_008.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwUp5EPcCp67eLDE-NR2OBELzC6AP51W7LCg2wkPS8MH0KpwBj30Sx-4RYbrM8wX4GFQWA0VTKJEj7x6ereJrLs8Go1jZzqO3FP-2S0SVXbYEoO6SopKKvA5pB1Fef72SMEjyDqARNGyEVANkruQ7JY-jZuOa8TIsfvww9J4R1SlNmlDqLU7Nr5wnMTNPT/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_008.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That...isn't the case obviously, but this game does have a pretty cool last level. I never did a chance to use the code though. For old time's sake I tried punching it in on this playthrough, and couldn't get it to work. Like at all. Either the code (from GameFAQs) is wrong, or you have to enter it super duper fast. It's like 15 button presses long, which is ridiculous.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXE8uPrSUkCWTcx5sc9oFm2wHgNTuvHR_21FM6CMnxF-Im8O2PMftGvrekNbAUuDiQc2zyIjtGRuEbs9YaKAKd79U6KCTEjLh1B0So8lhTx4ZkIMBtFLyCYOt2Fej_GLBPbi8Mzoz6dKFF_2kqrNJ2AWv-ZNrnY7zY80UJx8ICUPwhohXWDmFFLhv4mNgu/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_007.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXE8uPrSUkCWTcx5sc9oFm2wHgNTuvHR_21FM6CMnxF-Im8O2PMftGvrekNbAUuDiQc2zyIjtGRuEbs9YaKAKd79U6KCTEjLh1B0So8lhTx4ZkIMBtFLyCYOt2Fej_GLBPbi8Mzoz6dKFF_2kqrNJ2AWv-ZNrnY7zY80UJx8ICUPwhohXWDmFFLhv4mNgu/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_007.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The last level is full of these bombs that can't be dodged and detonate when you get close. At first I thought there was no way around these damn death-traps, like the mines in that Game Boy <i>T2</i> game, but I did find a trick to it. Get close and then immediately run away and you can trip them without getting hit.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPmLTcQcGezLofJP_ccxffYZMNxjOlk9VltDXiMd9w66AcajtJuIyG4PGpzGWhU1UUa2rWadhLCQzFe-A2SNPLEyT1XPBVA__ODfXB9N8O86f2_qhW7jVjv_qVoYteo6xIOApDsfwTdTNo5SyaINVXQlbcp-KzB_KCUC11H6lNd8t9SBab94qBYyGkKkw/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_009.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPmLTcQcGezLofJP_ccxffYZMNxjOlk9VltDXiMd9w66AcajtJuIyG4PGpzGWhU1UUa2rWadhLCQzFe-A2SNPLEyT1XPBVA__ODfXB9N8O86f2_qhW7jVjv_qVoYteo6xIOApDsfwTdTNo5SyaINVXQlbcp-KzB_KCUC11H6lNd8t9SBab94qBYyGkKkw/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_009.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Final boss, Garuda himself. You need to git gud at the mines on the way here because losing this fight sends you back to the start of 5-2. This game isn't that hard at all overall but this last level is. I'd have probably made the Garuda fight 5-3 by itself to be in line with the rest of the game's trickiness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2YpMk-0Dem-6QZivtshxUwXloCkqJmufVaYTVlKaXi3cbvxmD6x_0cdc3cvQSMdh1ODcyDDJNI3JH4JDTxnL3cldhv5fLmK48GNgj5GUvGi0Ezr_bQ0jj1vZv4cZwX9lx60Wi04kB3P_CzSvXxW1WM3UAknGr1Sy30IMFvenl9vfUkGRcYjX_ZwDvfmq/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_010.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj2YpMk-0Dem-6QZivtshxUwXloCkqJmufVaYTVlKaXi3cbvxmD6x_0cdc3cvQSMdh1ODcyDDJNI3JH4JDTxnL3cldhv5fLmK48GNgj5GUvGi0Ezr_bQ0jj1vZv4cZwX9lx60Wi04kB3P_CzSvXxW1WM3UAknGr1Sy30IMFvenl9vfUkGRcYjX_ZwDvfmq/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_010.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This fight is easily the toughest thing in the game, as Garuda busts out some kind of samurai battle armor. You can hide on the ladders, but if you do that the dragon statues start belching fire at you.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhaPHZNcdWljQZ7wzD-yupPBC6oIwTUzUdthchuFEcMAIiEYiG-3zJIIIkrRcNabi1IWbaseSbQWgIdEBQ24RplR9r5-LdcODYUAv_QRwfeniN8F7qWqailqCAGkB8QPcfBRqN9WSpLImsIrrJQGWdJxku_1HLbUkpDjQFwjVCzE2Ynt7v9xqoWqFqaUs/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_011.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrhaPHZNcdWljQZ7wzD-yupPBC6oIwTUzUdthchuFEcMAIiEYiG-3zJIIIkrRcNabi1IWbaseSbQWgIdEBQ24RplR9r5-LdcODYUAv_QRwfeniN8F7qWqailqCAGkB8QPcfBRqN9WSpLImsIrrJQGWdJxku_1HLbUkpDjQFwjVCzE2Ynt7v9xqoWqFqaUs/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_011.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The keys here are: 1. Bring the Whip</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXvWrkMIFQhYkAsH7ehibpWcv3LcKsvU9xt3Jk0_JNsEwgnOmyqFJ6IDlT4mRro_Uos1qVVF-D_f4rdm4H8HWQYPWno0FqBAPzIEfz9HzLukOz9S4Tv9QkX_5ShV87qZI_kiySWz_L_u51n30kRNlPyU72JkaOVUJA566MIAk6ACMnNIAg7nShZMMHpAp/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_013.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBXvWrkMIFQhYkAsH7ehibpWcv3LcKsvU9xt3Jk0_JNsEwgnOmyqFJ6IDlT4mRro_Uos1qVVF-D_f4rdm4H8HWQYPWno0FqBAPzIEfz9HzLukOz9S4Tv9QkX_5ShV87qZI_kiySWz_L_u51n30kRNlPyU72JkaOVUJA566MIAk6ACMnNIAg7nShZMMHpAp/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_013.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">2. When he jumps into the air, STAND STILL. He drops 3 exploding bombs when he jumps, and if you try evasive maneuvers you probably get hit. Stand perfectly still and they miss almost 100% of the time. Once you realize this, it's just a matter of following his pattern and whipping when he's standing still.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRFZK8nNHpZx8oZL39ZfwDBZVlFu7F-RXGlPAF9AFtiQuvOp0X-gXIK_ckGEjTH8b0gImRBPTl_GRXxE6lx_IoSbAbZsP0uEdeM9e3gvN02Uv80FO3IHJK2jqxHEDoGEG3Svjo1cFks-ebTx45F4Jq_hOfgcJXG6gIezKdNr9icavFhidKg_YhIM_VlNC/s256/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_014.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNRFZK8nNHpZx8oZL39ZfwDBZVlFu7F-RXGlPAF9AFtiQuvOp0X-gXIK_ckGEjTH8b0gImRBPTl_GRXxE6lx_IoSbAbZsP0uEdeM9e3gvN02Uv80FO3IHJK2jqxHEDoGEG3Svjo1cFks-ebTx45F4Jq_hOfgcJXG6gIezKdNr9icavFhidKg_YhIM_VlNC/w400-h375/Shadow%20of%20the%20Ninja_014.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alright! This would be a great moment for me if I didn't already knock this game out back in 2007. Still, it's cool to revisit something from my kid-hood. And not just anything, probably the first NES game I played. Which means this helped get me into games in the first place <strike>and thus helped ruin my LIFE</strike> which is awesome. It's a very derivative game that clearly copies several major NES games that were already out there, and isn't as polished as any of them, but it's decent and a fun thing to run through once.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Weird thing is, this game was never covered by Nintendo Power. I checked the 1990 issues, skimmed various back-catalog listings for other years, looked it up online... nothing. Zero coverage in Nintendo Power at any point. That's super weird considering the game was from a fairly major publisher and is of decent quality for the time. Not sure why this was the case, but now I'm curious. Ninjas were all the rage in 1990, another thing that makes its omission odd. Maybe Konami was mad and thought this game would take sales away from their ninja games, and Nintendo Power didn't want to upset them? I have no idea. Konami was pretty much the NES king, so I'd probably bow to them too.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-70653109496244084042024-03-13T09:44:00.005-04:002024-03-13T10:09:42.989-04:00Shatterhand (NES, 1991)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemcYrYTIXEtdf2Pum7ThgWAzsG5BJM_X8VzxBGu4RTMscbBgj6s8SPM42Y5IFkfAdeszi3Ob3i9kH1qiJ3vQIfLuix1ZAgoBfFqdngbOvWC694ZPbmmHNYWT6YiRyn15iCj3qTk7WuGscOhOt7hSDh480Nv6vzTwYCQGbH2k_KyiCBbxToq1imRzuIubE/s1324/Shatterhand.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="952" height="445" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemcYrYTIXEtdf2Pum7ThgWAzsG5BJM_X8VzxBGu4RTMscbBgj6s8SPM42Y5IFkfAdeszi3Ob3i9kH1qiJ3vQIfLuix1ZAgoBfFqdngbOvWC694ZPbmmHNYWT6YiRyn15iCj3qTk7WuGscOhOt7hSDh480Nv6vzTwYCQGbH2k_KyiCBbxToq1imRzuIubE/w321-h445/Shatterhand.png" width="321" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's time for the baddest game on the NES: Mutha-fuckin' <i>Shatterhand</i>! This is one of the most underrated games on the system. In it, you play as a Not-Terminator and punch your way through a bunch of platforming levels. Why is it called that? Apparently the guy's name is Shatterhand, which is a crazy coincidence considering he grew up to have a metal hand. I hope that's his last name at least. First name is probably something like Dave. This guy is so metal, he punches out his own God Damn logo! Brought to you by Jaleco!</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtbCOHs_mKVHuzFdmT5_ztvktr6FBDr2xbkyIg1rzLcLWcjyfE5yAd7nPSxo8YGWPhR-L6GLL29FGQqUGV1JcLlxct3SlKVPePpH-ZZFnpN1Ivj35D8kc-EvFvGiahrlqpYnsfE5XSYSQbC6U8W9CsdxwJYFjWB57SgJ5eB_bqA_v7s6ffRqdvMNJij9f/s3229/20240303_222135.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="3229" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtbCOHs_mKVHuzFdmT5_ztvktr6FBDr2xbkyIg1rzLcLWcjyfE5yAd7nPSxo8YGWPhR-L6GLL29FGQqUGV1JcLlxct3SlKVPePpH-ZZFnpN1Ivj35D8kc-EvFvGiahrlqpYnsfE5XSYSQbC6U8W9CsdxwJYFjWB57SgJ5eB_bqA_v7s6ffRqdvMNJij9f/w640-h370/20240303_222135.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This was in one of the first Nintendo Powers I ever read, Volume 29. So it's kind of a formative game for me the same way <i>Power Blade </i>is. They're very similar games in general. Note how NYC is in the background and it's all shredded. No word on if that was caused by a nuclear war or Dave Shatterhand just losing his temper at the housing prices.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJJfBLZRaBFOJfoHwGqjLa4PqSRBUaW5ypuLL8KJy19UQ4FFePkyGs2Mh5LOckMr3bp1GlmQCex6bSQVDRqgHQ6cVeHRwy7yGTF8mfcjf7YX_4qa1664993byBofZFU4YSGgpocZqGk2gKl_gXP-5zTl5uOBbhwLPIbEQ7vd1C_zuoSKEo6uzBcBII-NB/s3232/20240303_222156.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="3232" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeJJfBLZRaBFOJfoHwGqjLa4PqSRBUaW5ypuLL8KJy19UQ4FFePkyGs2Mh5LOckMr3bp1GlmQCex6bSQVDRqgHQ6cVeHRwy7yGTF8mfcjf7YX_4qa1664993byBofZFU4YSGgpocZqGk2gKl_gXP-5zTl5uOBbhwLPIbEQ7vd1C_zuoSKEo6uzBcBII-NB/w640-h370/20240303_222156.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The cool thing about this one is that you can summon these robot drones as a sort of pet and they unleash all kinds of different moves depending on what symbols you pick up in what order. You can control what symbols you get, so once you know which drones work well, you can get them pretty often. If they take a few hits, they poof until you collect 3 more symbols. It's kinda like the Fire Flower concept on steroids. Some of the drones are really good, some aren't. The best one is probably the ricochet bot.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">You can also get a power suit by collecting the same set of symbols while you already have a bot out. This blocks damage temporarily and lets you launch a really potent fireball. It's a lot like the suit in <i>Power Blade</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcT0pMmsBIjVwlGkbUnf3E9r8bT6sKnQPyTkMrc2GvksXUU5lLmdFh_Co2LHFlsh1EQocmEELEp_IMW17Y5xVACfnifJYMvnrG2fwjQD9rSnH0BPTzOYdpi2gRBQJnqj4Oq-gpa8QxT_xVnunDb30hA3BySRvk0I81D5aczBLYGvO31kfEshtcAzflnBe/s3408/20240303_222214.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="3408" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCcT0pMmsBIjVwlGkbUnf3E9r8bT6sKnQPyTkMrc2GvksXUU5lLmdFh_Co2LHFlsh1EQocmEELEp_IMW17Y5xVACfnifJYMvnrG2fwjQD9rSnH0BPTzOYdpi2gRBQJnqj4Oq-gpa8QxT_xVnunDb30hA3BySRvk0I81D5aczBLYGvO31kfEshtcAzflnBe/w640-h350/20240303_222214.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course, we get the typical Nintendo Power maps that give you a heads up on what's going on in these levels. There's a stage select (with a very unorthodox five levels to choose from) but it has an intro stage before that. TBH I'd have just made the intro stage into a regular stage and had the stage select be six choices. One of the positives about a stage select in this era is that you usually don't have to go through a stage to get to that choice. Especially in a game with no saves or passwords. Having a stage before it every time you play takes some steam out of it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">More Nintendo Power in a bit.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWLXgjMZsjVWuYTWX__0KFqkWQ-owkBQFTgaL443TkeOvKUxbwhHOrcisduoXJO7Rv_zZ6ITGq4mTw0MEVHteqQJY_dz_i-oZNwjG4z9joKI6MOGYqM96r853L2iDFznrGaCNVw2PpNM4_U_ACKv5fk1En70L3ZmKdDJCMQqESZ5dLHnXv446DsXJniYs/s256/Shatterhand_002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoWLXgjMZsjVWuYTWX__0KFqkWQ-owkBQFTgaL443TkeOvKUxbwhHOrcisduoXJO7Rv_zZ6ITGq4mTw0MEVHteqQJY_dz_i-oZNwjG4z9joKI6MOGYqM96r853L2iDFznrGaCNVw2PpNM4_U_ACKv5fk1En70L3ZmKdDJCMQqESZ5dLHnXv446DsXJniYs/w400-h375/Shatterhand_002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Intro movie! Well it's really just this one shot. This dude will punch a solid steel robot right in the face! Dave Shatterhand gives no fucks!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93dfgITrlOcfhjlvxtaIeHISFs3oao8oL6mYsyeQlZmTIKEVjFCXJtSMXjNLuDk35kIMvgc0q1iUY15ak94Lb62n0b7iAl7cnpOM1GZUpnl8jZI0H9Qq3kFrWIPBWBU_D-se3-9FhyphenhyphenRBcW2QW0_clugw47TAlGPVGgNXZ75SIQrK63r-S8lQ3aK530MYa/s1920/lance%20henriksen%20terminator.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh93dfgITrlOcfhjlvxtaIeHISFs3oao8oL6mYsyeQlZmTIKEVjFCXJtSMXjNLuDk35kIMvgc0q1iUY15ak94Lb62n0b7iAl7cnpOM1GZUpnl8jZI0H9Qq3kFrWIPBWBU_D-se3-9FhyphenhyphenRBcW2QW0_clugw47TAlGPVGgNXZ75SIQrK63r-S8lQ3aK530MYa/w453-h255/lance%20henriksen%20terminator.jpg" width="453" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Guy's just on PCP. Probably broke every bone in his hand."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY28a8D-vhVKRr7LQly7CvZSxX_zRDHSK1A0Sf9Rb1GsdBJxl_mf0z0I9U0cku_q4vJykL205fJQ9mhcrx3UIXCl17FWK6Qcj7KxCni90qvE2EdikAizUcTmBq9oz5P1P2uMVJd1JeZ1Xcb7kd8Y3xjRTRcndiSkKz2CsLDC_TUYnV6BWi9APOwzYe1amC/s256/Shatterhand_003.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY28a8D-vhVKRr7LQly7CvZSxX_zRDHSK1A0Sf9Rb1GsdBJxl_mf0z0I9U0cku_q4vJykL205fJQ9mhcrx3UIXCl17FWK6Qcj7KxCni90qvE2EdikAizUcTmBq9oz5P1P2uMVJd1JeZ1Xcb7kd8Y3xjRTRcndiSkKz2CsLDC_TUYnV6BWi9APOwzYe1amC/w400-h375/Shatterhand_003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our hero (?) primarily attacks with punches. ...actually that's all he attacks with until he finds enough symbols to summon a drone. While potent, these short range attacks are kind of hard to work with. This game is definitely at its toughest in the first third or so of every level when you don't have a drone pet. Those white block things give up the symbols needed. They innovated on putting them in the air like Mario, plus this gives you something else to punch.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWf97ENcRtJ_TJR6KPD2LHv8PNvtECpDK7BlYlkh7LCFC6O9VqVHrFZHsN7KAxsNJr7EWodObChckP-yDVh7LjdWW3jz4o7oAjIMMkNhjUgvfOaa1SneC1giXtPWH0wi3yiU6rDDl_NIaes8htOHYbgCXt5hBRX26Xbz-mzG_pWQQM3Ei_OV_NWOrY19rF/s256/Shatterhand_009.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWf97ENcRtJ_TJR6KPD2LHv8PNvtECpDK7BlYlkh7LCFC6O9VqVHrFZHsN7KAxsNJr7EWodObChckP-yDVh7LjdWW3jz4o7oAjIMMkNhjUgvfOaa1SneC1giXtPWH0wi3yiU6rDDl_NIaes8htOHYbgCXt5hBRX26Xbz-mzG_pWQQM3Ei_OV_NWOrY19rF/w400-h375/Shatterhand_009.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I get my first drone pet. This one shoots lasers! I was totally winging it at this point and not referring to NP to make sure I got the best ones. Which was fun because I didn't know what I'd get.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxoVlqPR5dTWI8kl1OdFKQ6GkF_s0W4d2mnq5OD1yBAhFOUGT7QHl7WhLUbQiEt23-Gx4zKChn6IIfKlch2eRvkS9vXFP3mHf_KLHjaLYp3XZd_NZZCBh9bRxBkBxyV8ZZjz9eR_eI1nBpmejpmJTlicpkgTsoTHiFFeB4WmYqsL2hkpRklYAEZTqYpa1/s256/Shatterhand_010.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIxoVlqPR5dTWI8kl1OdFKQ6GkF_s0W4d2mnq5OD1yBAhFOUGT7QHl7WhLUbQiEt23-Gx4zKChn6IIfKlch2eRvkS9vXFP3mHf_KLHjaLYp3XZd_NZZCBh9bRxBkBxyV8ZZjz9eR_eI1nBpmejpmJTlicpkgTsoTHiFFeB4WmYqsL2hkpRklYAEZTqYpa1/w400-h375/Shatterhand_010.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">If the background has a fence, you can hang onto it and use it to vault up onto platforms. Or just climb along the fence. <i>Super Mario World</i> might have gotten something from this game! Tit for tat, Jaleco! ...probably not.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8O6PUtCG85dYV7mzsOe6SQMfnQ_XQetPyi7ZpZcuU8jIomQ8rwvIxdughar0w6PnsAKw2qlxB01khjVWuDkxS9pkXfgb1odHyNfMWNTx6f3mJ5ndUAEiSM6B7V41sDXn0U7HpsyZx3IztLRG6tFJW26yy7_q_CKKRV5XcTQ2MiGfnW_nWLMXnp6FqugNd/s256/Shatterhand_012.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8O6PUtCG85dYV7mzsOe6SQMfnQ_XQetPyi7ZpZcuU8jIomQ8rwvIxdughar0w6PnsAKw2qlxB01khjVWuDkxS9pkXfgb1odHyNfMWNTx6f3mJ5ndUAEiSM6B7V41sDXn0U7HpsyZx3IztLRG6tFJW26yy7_q_CKKRV5XcTQ2MiGfnW_nWLMXnp6FqugNd/w400-h375/Shatterhand_012.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">First boss is ::checks NP:: Balzire. The only man with the BALZ to take on Mike Shatterhand! I keep a distance and pelt him with lasers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFE6IBoXe6lUEXMealeD_HmbzKX6g0qs6RmzeKOphNOdtGSWrJPXMzp5sPvDyr_Si8YuaQOOOec9TvRtzdwgKR3fQlwZZGDNmqcENgYuoQAxMLd2PvP5CjKeUKhyEH_se433xDimtLsBWra9E6CQ0c2I9HPKl2KXSYZhy4Bu0BM_svSDXg83ilgQjoPqfu/s256/Shatterhand_014.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFE6IBoXe6lUEXMealeD_HmbzKX6g0qs6RmzeKOphNOdtGSWrJPXMzp5sPvDyr_Si8YuaQOOOec9TvRtzdwgKR3fQlwZZGDNmqcENgYuoQAxMLd2PvP5CjKeUKhyEH_se433xDimtLsBWra9E6CQ0c2I9HPKl2KXSYZhy4Bu0BM_svSDXg83ilgQjoPqfu/w400-h375/Shatterhand_014.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">All of that finally gets me to the stage select, and it's one of the better stage selects on the NES. Each screen gives you a rough idea of what you'd be dealing with in that level. Get through all of these and you're rewarded with a steel Muay Thai knee right in the nether-regions because the final stage is ridiculous.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WHFPugL3Zcrakdlt3-U_0-tqro9buHCd4oVIIfj6-Z8mazZMMLPdFojpnEYaPiJ1h03r67LQCqEEJFxOHJorlFYBGkgoYvFLy2-1Xx_pAfT_3qtjhz1DL2fNXKxTczBJrb35hki64ED1ogJWZxJC_KzEWycyTW4PKpo_DPTajoUb894NkwpOLeKopqTx/s256/Shatterhand_015.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1WHFPugL3Zcrakdlt3-U_0-tqro9buHCd4oVIIfj6-Z8mazZMMLPdFojpnEYaPiJ1h03r67LQCqEEJFxOHJorlFYBGkgoYvFLy2-1Xx_pAfT_3qtjhz1DL2fNXKxTczBJrb35hki64ED1ogJWZxJC_KzEWycyTW4PKpo_DPTajoUb894NkwpOLeKopqTx/w400-h375/Shatterhand_015.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">First stage of that group is the Pollution Zone, Act 1. Now I've got an important question. Is this dude entirely terminator endoskeleton underneath, or is it just his arms that are metal like Jax? I need the instruction booklet.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHWJUDATx4FOD5tA1Iw58xI2920hKgDBCbOYUhM2EJLwcjo31EfxfW6zy_S39fn_4pn06R2hq9Em-ZOmCwunyp56Wv7d1h_duO_gp8v5XYHtxdfxaBIVaoXkyqF6TwUMM20x7XwctpcfvOG4SfkIRauZ46NCnIpi77PknUJdRNd-lozmfd3IICUxhMiV4/s1399/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1399" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaHWJUDATx4FOD5tA1Iw58xI2920hKgDBCbOYUhM2EJLwcjo31EfxfW6zy_S39fn_4pn06R2hq9Em-ZOmCwunyp56Wv7d1h_duO_gp8v5XYHtxdfxaBIVaoXkyqF6TwUMM20x7XwctpcfvOG4SfkIRauZ46NCnIpi77PknUJdRNd-lozmfd3IICUxhMiV4/w400-h281/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2001.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This dude is even punching out the title on the instruction booklet! He gives zero Fs!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alright this pretty much explains everything. Looks like Mike Shatterhand's real name is... Hermann. Welp:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMGj7nXT0nUSQA35ZTAHEO1doOlQEsBpQp7SA8ZRwQ0Qhbk82Caluu7BfcXOX7tld94AskLouXc5YNeE8ZbgNBV9xYI8t7o8hkoLCXIkQAyjgV8Au8UAatYiQf-vszPp8G7nLY5ToneC1DMKxsY98Q9K0ylikNkFLD16xOHu2ZUlnP8NAFzp50zGXLuLN/s1340/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1340" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiMGj7nXT0nUSQA35ZTAHEO1doOlQEsBpQp7SA8ZRwQ0Qhbk82Caluu7BfcXOX7tld94AskLouXc5YNeE8ZbgNBV9xYI8t7o8hkoLCXIkQAyjgV8Au8UAatYiQf-vszPp8G7nLY5ToneC1DMKxsY98Q9K0ylikNkFLD16xOHu2ZUlnP8NAFzp50zGXLuLN/w400-h314/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamdc4eqPq-hMzZpUEWRlCU8to8Hxai7OoqAzjqGohoCMzK0jp_DbDZSXLgLpOAQMajrJqhJAoqHWbkU4oV0vE6G5rdq77zsl7U6dAxXUSyedFvWE4-V8ihuL7lmsA-faP-h6iv8US_QF3tZZKFSeqZ71Z3UZHXz2E7U0Sc69-ZZ0FYPZrNJF-SIKAxjEu/s1324/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2003.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1324" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjamdc4eqPq-hMzZpUEWRlCU8to8Hxai7OoqAzjqGohoCMzK0jp_DbDZSXLgLpOAQMajrJqhJAoqHWbkU4oV0vE6G5rdq77zsl7U6dAxXUSyedFvWE4-V8ihuL7lmsA-faP-h6iv8US_QF3tZZKFSeqZ71Z3UZHXz2E7U0Sc69-ZZ0FYPZrNJF-SIKAxjEu/w400-h313/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrph6Rx-nWsiMHFGlSFhNSQVA7nEylng5RZ8hP_aISvSncK6rOnj7sH5g4VGddRJvLFsZrR4FG6rY9_2bF_q_f0T3CLPa4CdbRxJ1Ch2AK7F5jufreUJcvqx7pDpFtkaqLmya52OxqBrplRdwsy581fZD1bms_zJEoWNuWkz-bIFRJddciTwyG29Rg_mz/s1360/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2004.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1360" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigrph6Rx-nWsiMHFGlSFhNSQVA7nEylng5RZ8hP_aISvSncK6rOnj7sH5g4VGddRJvLFsZrR4FG6rY9_2bF_q_f0T3CLPa4CdbRxJ1Ch2AK7F5jufreUJcvqx7pDpFtkaqLmya52OxqBrplRdwsy581fZD1bms_zJEoWNuWkz-bIFRJddciTwyG29Rg_mz/w400-h309/shatterhand%20instruction%20booklet%2004.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The metal is only his fists, nothing else. Glad we cleared that up. They're still definitely Terminator-inspired...and Robocop-inspired. Because this storyline is basically <i>Robocop</i>. So the next time they do a Robocop Vs Terminator game they should have both of them stop fighting and just start beating down Dave Shatterhand. Then have Harlan Ellison sue him!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK72IltgnoxhNjOrc1GU-zPLtUDO_ksNWrb_euye_ntErCiV8lO4F02SFPC7cmUolKJWaKPnapfJFIDzT5G9Q5KoIhkuY16aNJPuBlkvgghf1RXw1hR7q606pIXaPBHOvnAIW6L9a2c7x4qHbxqQUP8bdiV1imLnoB75oABnBR_IVeN5exJv3p4sBudX1m/s256/Shatterhand_016.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK72IltgnoxhNjOrc1GU-zPLtUDO_ksNWrb_euye_ntErCiV8lO4F02SFPC7cmUolKJWaKPnapfJFIDzT5G9Q5KoIhkuY16aNJPuBlkvgghf1RXw1hR7q606pIXaPBHOvnAIW6L9a2c7x4qHbxqQUP8bdiV1imLnoB75oABnBR_IVeN5exJv3p4sBudX1m/w400-h375/Shatterhand_016.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some loot boxes don't have any symbols at all, but rather grenades that detonate almost instantly and damage you. This game isn't playing! Imagine if occasionally in Mario, you hit a ? block and it just EXPLODED. Is this how he lost his hands? Stuff just randomly has grenades in it in this world? You order a burger, open the box, and BOOM.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMsH2lRzvq-l9LIzlQDjlB8xJuvTNKPietCh5Ewwu2vnCKbZA-u1LkSgI4qDiAoSbFnjijHHmmcV9t-j9Npw1EKDqHCRDxzPSwnzhEWOFq8ICzWGaRZQOuNqNmb4XsarCAndHQSiXgEwGclrgrsIUXKetB5KVCTi7E2WJpz1LxJ1saILr7ozwCgEFNPX-/s256/Shatterhand_018.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMsH2lRzvq-l9LIzlQDjlB8xJuvTNKPietCh5Ewwu2vnCKbZA-u1LkSgI4qDiAoSbFnjijHHmmcV9t-j9Npw1EKDqHCRDxzPSwnzhEWOFq8ICzWGaRZQOuNqNmb4XsarCAndHQSiXgEwGclrgrsIUXKetB5KVCTi7E2WJpz1LxJ1saILr7ozwCgEFNPX-/w400-h375/Shatterhand_018.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This next part has a somewhat obnoxious section where you have to use fencing to jump across a gap without falling in lava. At least the lava isn't instant death, and you can take quite a few hits. For the most part the level design in this is decent for the era.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkAqEDb6SUdl8id8tkHGBfYp3ihrQnDVQtiTz1EgHHxKP0CNwH1nM2JXqHms_Z2FmtU4Jm0d6d8SW4DaUY9WoLTzarM9aUx6xFw371x7syQ5B9tR1NAdO7pkwlkjI9zYraTjRbZ-rmSxG095acDj-OYZqtMYMcHjn4SdKM_v_7Z1mfHrmXeYKhNfoWw6ro/s256/Shatterhand_019.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkAqEDb6SUdl8id8tkHGBfYp3ihrQnDVQtiTz1EgHHxKP0CNwH1nM2JXqHms_Z2FmtU4Jm0d6d8SW4DaUY9WoLTzarM9aUx6xFw371x7syQ5B9tR1NAdO7pkwlkjI9zYraTjRbZ-rmSxG095acDj-OYZqtMYMcHjn4SdKM_v_7Z1mfHrmXeYKhNfoWw6ro/w400-h375/Shatterhand_019.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next boss is a pair of robots that don't move in sync like a Gemini Man, so this fight has the potential to go real bad.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvTyudAzWahDMenzR6OWS85tgRfPAQHABpUfHh2PlLJkPW2vnRfBDCSulgTEl4JDNG7wVrfiZrscTQ9MUfdrm1KtnHWLEDSa5XpU9-UbBX5G6aukHMEin8UPeovneNxRmqlcohqG5eP27EVPugYHL1ZhVoPUpx3I8bAr_3BfHbe5LhDcwY-O_re4NvhM3/s256/Shatterhand_021.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvTyudAzWahDMenzR6OWS85tgRfPAQHABpUfHh2PlLJkPW2vnRfBDCSulgTEl4JDNG7wVrfiZrscTQ9MUfdrm1KtnHWLEDSa5XpU9-UbBX5G6aukHMEin8UPeovneNxRmqlcohqG5eP27EVPugYHL1ZhVoPUpx3I8bAr_3BfHbe5LhDcwY-O_re4NvhM3/w400-h375/Shatterhand_021.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">However, I found that you can stack them up against the side wall and just wail on them (turbofire helps) while they jump up and down.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2i1Q35LTCt65k66hou1SGqtFUYScUthRwPr7t000fU2S8CqZwNHRcIKfURMSryXgVruggjO11d_zqW8gsSqIpSdkdrVdJC5JLoFVXofwo8cMNEVmMYHY4UxPJbyzmULV-eynS8veoZsYT7QSoizfIi6yvWIYstBxUxXhaLD_NZ2kXkGW4vz22D2opufm_/s256/Shatterhand_023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2i1Q35LTCt65k66hou1SGqtFUYScUthRwPr7t000fU2S8CqZwNHRcIKfURMSryXgVruggjO11d_zqW8gsSqIpSdkdrVdJC5JLoFVXofwo8cMNEVmMYHY4UxPJbyzmULV-eynS8veoZsYT7QSoizfIi6yvWIYstBxUxXhaLD_NZ2kXkGW4vz22D2opufm_/w400-h375/Shatterhand_023.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After all that they turn into this giant snake thing, but again turbofire makes short work of it. For a second I thought it was comedy gold that the game was throwing another boss at the player here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtO_qmjpJAMc9-0elTj40_7XL-6FkXMRGh4SvDEYxWMJYQbq4Bf5zT8tkgZOVnWjcK9TAvqivtx3iitI2ys8SeOi5UTB99hmvmz3MjBHhvN-od9mAmkv6_3cJDzYAdinYtjdZiPBRZfv2Wsx6YOfcnecQ-KdBd-1JYSksAx8PofylbToNAEgw9pq1V_5Um/s3158/20240303_222245.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="3158" height="378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtO_qmjpJAMc9-0elTj40_7XL-6FkXMRGh4SvDEYxWMJYQbq4Bf5zT8tkgZOVnWjcK9TAvqivtx3iitI2ys8SeOi5UTB99hmvmz3MjBHhvN-od9mAmkv6_3cJDzYAdinYtjdZiPBRZfv2Wsx6YOfcnecQ-KdBd-1JYSksAx8PofylbToNAEgw9pq1V_5Um/w640-h378/20240303_222245.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div>Let's see what's left. There's some verticality in these stages. They're very linear. I mean it's a pretty standard NES game, but it doesn't do anything particularly wrong.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZND3lcW18XCm36jreaKfXap23etSpbKnKOCSAUdJRMV-GpgD64Z0qUDavz5RFkugJeXb1_n64mYXn6mkHlxSTeDoFropzOLZT-So96u8Hfb71jcalCCHnuwgypCL81Z3obijy70MTyAKPt22MPFexyZvQtfvEP1vfzu3InKe1c-PjsrqCkxxONXW0-EtT/s3251/20240303_222340.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="3251" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZND3lcW18XCm36jreaKfXap23etSpbKnKOCSAUdJRMV-GpgD64Z0qUDavz5RFkugJeXb1_n64mYXn6mkHlxSTeDoFropzOLZT-So96u8Hfb71jcalCCHnuwgypCL81Z3obijy70MTyAKPt22MPFexyZvQtfvEP1vfzu3InKe1c-PjsrqCkxxONXW0-EtT/w640-h368/20240303_222340.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div>The game managed to get the back of the poster for Volume 29. Only the raddest and baddest games get the back of the poster!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTS_YR3kPxWy71Q3hfkAxvu_UF-W7xvz3fEQryw5HZm7_V6hISj0AyuzF5HJs_e4AqQ_RC0nNN6L_bo-pKGp55FxFGoGzRadQoglYszqMOPAN3uNlfpcU8NCLAfy3rkViK1NzymPSvvvJ-5l9ZIRS3PFt4yeBEjEzjOi_e0nIZiamfRuS4F0dPRmF8Qvec/s2882/20240303_222356.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="2882" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTS_YR3kPxWy71Q3hfkAxvu_UF-W7xvz3fEQryw5HZm7_V6hISj0AyuzF5HJs_e4AqQ_RC0nNN6L_bo-pKGp55FxFGoGzRadQoglYszqMOPAN3uNlfpcU8NCLAfy3rkViK1NzymPSvvvJ-5l9ZIRS3PFt4yeBEjEzjOi_e0nIZiamfRuS4F0dPRmF8Qvec/w640-h414/20240303_222356.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div>Looks like it shows all of the levels besides the final level. They really went all out for <i>Shatterhand</i>. That's 'cause this game is rad to the MAX and they knew it. The dude is wearing sunglasses and everything!</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftfFKO6G7rTzXUC1Hwa4t4tRzlrsZ0r1ADOvbipYlEQy68a-UyNQfkNIuUaI3p1Nhfg7GR-CtmBAKj-49c2VIGAWNS-LpjZHFycB39wMHWZcl8CfKZrL2OfcbG0NTSHsDWmxoDe6h_oZ9HHDHjoVqdNxExIykb6kF-RsF9Kn_kCmAeqrtM8waGfU-wfgZ/s1091/01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1091" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftfFKO6G7rTzXUC1Hwa4t4tRzlrsZ0r1ADOvbipYlEQy68a-UyNQfkNIuUaI3p1Nhfg7GR-CtmBAKj-49c2VIGAWNS-LpjZHFycB39wMHWZcl8CfKZrL2OfcbG0NTSHsDWmxoDe6h_oZ9HHDHjoVqdNxExIykb6kF-RsF9Kn_kCmAeqrtM8waGfU-wfgZ/w400-h350/01.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next I get the flamethrower bot, which is illegal under the Geneva Conventions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgk_IFqd722AIWIkZrAv0iEBAd1eltfnCvh_yRFPzuiAlojeJ2G345aF8t0gqD9XdVuKiL4V1NSTo-OGh4tqsM3p7mFcGH3fsnV5Mt6utnqKR8H4DnMFAZXaKYnfE0G3sPBoM1wgynJ2RzKctkdZda-YLVok5nb_m4kXQXmpW1sRYT-p-9MZmU7rVxD-x/s1089/02.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1089" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsgk_IFqd722AIWIkZrAv0iEBAd1eltfnCvh_yRFPzuiAlojeJ2G345aF8t0gqD9XdVuKiL4V1NSTo-OGh4tqsM3p7mFcGH3fsnV5Mt6utnqKR8H4DnMFAZXaKYnfE0G3sPBoM1wgynJ2RzKctkdZda-YLVok5nb_m4kXQXmpW1sRYT-p-9MZmU7rVxD-x/w400-h350/02.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What the hell is this <i>Doom</i> refugee doing here? MAC WANTS THE FLAMETHROWER.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXst26kh97tF4lLpPlKkvT4qd-gfy5ij4vd7RBXz8gJCeY3_PtWRdFumlSmfwnntRtKKSha8XnGm_oBabKMROPTntfYqsd9I0s0RRqsrM5ifFGZQYX_7jUIHPfLoMqz4aM0WKlUtEZtASRnhgGu0rmTaZ306OGHdf9yjAGfdZUK4py8pJq5eMP05e4vGP/s1090/03.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1090" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiXst26kh97tF4lLpPlKkvT4qd-gfy5ij4vd7RBXz8gJCeY3_PtWRdFumlSmfwnntRtKKSha8XnGm_oBabKMROPTntfYqsd9I0s0RRqsrM5ifFGZQYX_7jUIHPfLoMqz4aM0WKlUtEZtASRnhgGu0rmTaZ306OGHdf9yjAGfdZUK4py8pJq5eMP05e4vGP/w400-h349/03.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next boss has the ability to cling to walls and zip around, like Neon Tiger in <i>Mega Man X3</i>. ...just like that. Huh.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRN3ARsf4lZ2c91Eo39JuIGpRGjWAeM4VfzU2H6Xf80aIfNDfJA-PhCjFPHhE6NgbQtELgQ3s4QZ8TdzCfBejKJX_zUtlHRuMoh6LLfYj6Z8eVf5wWSVx-yfFB42O-qwEnkIkBkz2rRPr3H78h98v2XGkjXaXbakK_xIoQtmff2jeD06fUgVJf_BXUwma_/s1087/05.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1087" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRN3ARsf4lZ2c91Eo39JuIGpRGjWAeM4VfzU2H6Xf80aIfNDfJA-PhCjFPHhE6NgbQtELgQ3s4QZ8TdzCfBejKJX_zUtlHRuMoh6LLfYj6Z8eVf5wWSVx-yfFB42O-qwEnkIkBkz2rRPr3H78h98v2XGkjXaXbakK_xIoQtmff2jeD06fUgVJf_BXUwma_/w400-h350/05.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next stage has a lot of underwater sections, with no Rush Marine to help out either.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8o7hUyBpxk8Q0kvps_hzHj18euaTuOakR9UgnFr0QlLqQKBrVBoxSKbzyVXwTPZdz53GH41zknjd-oA2vlYw0DwN5Bq4PVb_GXECiHuWbSdv0oo0Jz-47r0_sIQgfs_Q6T20kDTWRp0Zp3X9JR-v4p6E8UlIwBz50zl1z6yXu95H080MKvW0UzGBzZd3W/s1091/06.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1091" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8o7hUyBpxk8Q0kvps_hzHj18euaTuOakR9UgnFr0QlLqQKBrVBoxSKbzyVXwTPZdz53GH41zknjd-oA2vlYw0DwN5Bq4PVb_GXECiHuWbSdv0oo0Jz-47r0_sIQgfs_Q6T20kDTWRp0Zp3X9JR-v4p6E8UlIwBz50zl1z6yXu95H080MKvW0UzGBzZd3W/w400-h349/06.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I find that yes, you can bring the power suit into boss fights if you get the right symbol right before the boss room. This helps a ton, obviously.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwsVbNcA_5zuD6aNc9oq-68AbuX3oURqvl0ZyAT3JF1iSke2LWMEjRTSeSeFkJcaRvUod5-UW0IGRbvJV8qsPD5j6gzDRXUgsgPXU249LZAuLhRXKkPtVSjQmjUHXrRHOmFh6EgvOfenk0TaTU6s85yxR8I5OGFaJ22TruYPL03XnarCCLQU2-MHdHY1X/s1088/07.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1088" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwsVbNcA_5zuD6aNc9oq-68AbuX3oURqvl0ZyAT3JF1iSke2LWMEjRTSeSeFkJcaRvUod5-UW0IGRbvJV8qsPD5j6gzDRXUgsgPXU249LZAuLhRXKkPtVSjQmjUHXrRHOmFh6EgvOfenk0TaTU6s85yxR8I5OGFaJ22TruYPL03XnarCCLQU2-MHdHY1X/w400-h350/07.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next stage is a cave that isn't offensive at all. Speaking of inoffensive, definitely looking forward to the much-needed Sweet Baby Inc rewrite of <i>Shatterhand</i>. There will be no shattering, no hands, and the robots will all be built off of Google Gemini.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8f5OVXpoOfr_BxckYIeaxHlxRR7vukJ0wp61VmYE5IoGDWvjxmvZ7Au3mV8CcY9wWJzwqca9sc5Wh2u1NQa1H0cLkK5KYY-sVLAh0SBWjiNpePqBW4pF8ylvFrHL1zTx3V1QdXiukWw3HpCvqKEYrIk1y9t8OrGcKCjT8yaV9OeYbtKLBfP4Tngo0Og2/s187/04.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="172" data-original-width="187" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC8f5OVXpoOfr_BxckYIeaxHlxRR7vukJ0wp61VmYE5IoGDWvjxmvZ7Au3mV8CcY9wWJzwqca9sc5Wh2u1NQa1H0cLkK5KYY-sVLAh0SBWjiNpePqBW4pF8ylvFrHL1zTx3V1QdXiukWw3HpCvqKEYrIk1y9t8OrGcKCjT8yaV9OeYbtKLBfP4Tngo0Og2/w139-h128/04.png" width="139" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Whirrr. Elon Musk is worse than Hitler!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6VtqxsgORwE3YMfkDNK_b-2F3SIfquHD9rSR7Z3I_7noK4vRD4WRWY2H_8iFnLH376UW-H0WN8XLuHOcZsKxJ6Zn6o7Y4qTqVVCtiufOzZb3M3VGZ9eQtXa762Aa8lqdBln118v4T-S7ofjJnQFOguK-XmUL-sge3QYr8soYgrHRVs4a_U5i_YE-0ilj/s1083/08.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="1083" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6VtqxsgORwE3YMfkDNK_b-2F3SIfquHD9rSR7Z3I_7noK4vRD4WRWY2H_8iFnLH376UW-H0WN8XLuHOcZsKxJ6Zn6o7Y4qTqVVCtiufOzZb3M3VGZ9eQtXa762Aa8lqdBln118v4T-S7ofjJnQFOguK-XmUL-sge3QYr8soYgrHRVs4a_U5i_YE-0ilj/w400-h350/08.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">There's also a Gravity Man style section where you can run on the ceiling. I don't even know who's copying who at this point! <i>Mega Man 5</i> was a year after this. Did Capcom copy Jaleco? Who does number two work for??</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEoPkwRaJXtpiQWbZqccdiGtKr5cDWz1vYU0bpd_uIwBzoTvaACOv5GhEPCMyawfecLgiY1BkLPMV94r9pefLABwRQIRa8_QV0aBterywkc5jpAEvfvIBzAS5JE9m49mgNL4EOI0yv4UicGvEoLXFFshtlD3KuAyukApl63ynFjkXJ_C5y0HqtpfRaGIv/s1083/09.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="1083" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvEoPkwRaJXtpiQWbZqccdiGtKr5cDWz1vYU0bpd_uIwBzoTvaACOv5GhEPCMyawfecLgiY1BkLPMV94r9pefLABwRQIRa8_QV0aBterywkc5jpAEvfvIBzAS5JE9m49mgNL4EOI0yv4UicGvEoLXFFshtlD3KuAyukApl63ynFjkXJ_C5y0HqtpfRaGIv/w400-h350/09.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next boss is a cool idea, some sort of ghostly apparition. In practice it's a super easy foe because you can just knock it off the screen repeatedly. That's right, Bill Shatterhand PUNCHES GHOSTS.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3fHe-GJyjIuW627WbRnVz-fxvC9cgirUjzyxPOiKIuaabNajcJmf5onUv8xntZBF9IWIUISNW6PqGUTvNcWVkhTzxMHOaGwlQqK7KzLOo5F5l2q9xurQc1bsZOhk_aQtIvvVDnzYRHBf3yNn4EywzGTiK7NsWQkrQgxNU6vP8SmYVzFdiwXoYIxvcpkj/s1088/10.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="953" data-original-width="1088" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk3fHe-GJyjIuW627WbRnVz-fxvC9cgirUjzyxPOiKIuaabNajcJmf5onUv8xntZBF9IWIUISNW6PqGUTvNcWVkhTzxMHOaGwlQqK7KzLOo5F5l2q9xurQc1bsZOhk_aQtIvvVDnzYRHBf3yNn4EywzGTiK7NsWQkrQgxNU6vP8SmYVzFdiwXoYIxvcpkj/w400-h350/10.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The last (center) of the five stage select levels takes our hero to a city being cluster bombed. What's with all the Geneva Convention violating?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuad8W_UDZDEoMmdVVAYK12MnSvzx9VkBEfvX2CgZ7qYpferl6iAxyE2rVxY9snQDHue4y4IrOHMye_uUZW5uijUbG5lFS1qZopeiu3Lsh2nnE25vsgpzAdVpX6xvgP7u9Kvl3yGPAK-Oj3NGlQVtrTb_gC1sQhp31mx_4HfZ0t1omy0-56tipQmpqPj_/s1084/12.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1084" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKuad8W_UDZDEoMmdVVAYK12MnSvzx9VkBEfvX2CgZ7qYpferl6iAxyE2rVxY9snQDHue4y4IrOHMye_uUZW5uijUbG5lFS1qZopeiu3Lsh2nnE25vsgpzAdVpX6xvgP7u9Kvl3yGPAK-Oj3NGlQVtrTb_gC1sQhp31mx_4HfZ0t1omy0-56tipQmpqPj_/w400-h351/12.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The sword-bot is cool in a very NES sort of way. Thing would be at home in <i>Ninja Gaiden</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9K3lKAVO9YNB93cek0aigYcdIiR05_DZDNVXViI57MRGBMGX-R6ubMfa2Q-BE6ch7NaK8kuuaQfANHpgLWtGftM8wc5JFU46BnplndLYDRxFBbw_p0zHezXfPXLo5gKp-qcrHVITI538vVa9utlcbrTYJtrv17wN06_Xuq00kOLycyFbOgZaeAo5ELFw4/s1085/13.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1085" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9K3lKAVO9YNB93cek0aigYcdIiR05_DZDNVXViI57MRGBMGX-R6ubMfa2Q-BE6ch7NaK8kuuaQfANHpgLWtGftM8wc5JFU46BnplndLYDRxFBbw_p0zHezXfPXLo5gKp-qcrHVITI538vVa9utlcbrTYJtrv17wN06_Xuq00kOLycyFbOgZaeAo5ELFw4/w400-h350/13.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fitting that I brought a sword because the boss here also has one...and it's as big as mine. Let's see how he uses it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcFwyfwVvBHRL3RJjAhHBG5NE3za03MonZUF2jDCdEAAQKgKcph4TkFjuJ_Ts5rhF_VaYeaIHsHt-A4BpTx8ktdhprdi1aESX0qfaOxZCizlu_X7cMxEI-TdKUUxx5PX7fWavmorlOuwzhZTEDNhTpkr1AZNyeHnDc5wXFJnQKcywwjL43kQX0Htf9EmT/s1093/15.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1093" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIcFwyfwVvBHRL3RJjAhHBG5NE3za03MonZUF2jDCdEAAQKgKcph4TkFjuJ_Ts5rhF_VaYeaIHsHt-A4BpTx8ktdhprdi1aESX0qfaOxZCizlu_X7cMxEI-TdKUUxx5PX7fWavmorlOuwzhZTEDNhTpkr1AZNyeHnDc5wXFJnQKcywwjL43kQX0Htf9EmT/w400-h349/15.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After getting through all of those tough-but-fair levels, you arrive at the final level. And oh man. This is where <i>Shatterhand</i> just decides it's time to F the player in the A. This level has a bunch of instant death traps, and sends you back to the beginning of the level if you die at any point. No checkpoints here, where you really needed them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXbvzNpXaKQ-2Fv4vrSjjvZEYhDnzQBAn7peZzwSCMl5gbTGkz45AxNaMfCCZ8FgM2K-SO2q6ZLgahBgo2EYuY0BaUMF5u-ng51dgHFqTA2VKVlXk57xInYRD_rmxC5X3dF-gNh-o-fkNosSe_6WI-1qFL_wuQM4Vaodk35QABiTl1UxiYxLHh2d0xnD7/s1086/16.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1086" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXbvzNpXaKQ-2Fv4vrSjjvZEYhDnzQBAn7peZzwSCMl5gbTGkz45AxNaMfCCZ8FgM2K-SO2q6ZLgahBgo2EYuY0BaUMF5u-ng51dgHFqTA2VKVlXk57xInYRD_rmxC5X3dF-gNh-o-fkNosSe_6WI-1qFL_wuQM4Vaodk35QABiTl1UxiYxLHh2d0xnD7/w400-h354/16.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not only is the level itself a lot more challenging than the others, it also makes you go through ALL of the bosses before fighting the final boss. Yeah, seven boss fights throughout the level, in one level, on one life. Bear in mind that you're not any more powerful than you were when you fought them the first time, don't have weaknesses to use against them, nada.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This last level desperately needed to be divided into 3 levels. Two boss reduxes in each level. Or better yet 3, with the final boss having a level to himself. Putting seven bosses in one level, with dangerous hallways between them and no checkpoints... What were they thinking?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXlzPODc5on2ZKLw0xKymuSRVo5S7gim4yFuzVE0pXQ8eUsEbehh-92OzdM7_mK786Jjxb5m5gWGkPVZB7kml5BQamCwwzdNsVVr5CEY9dohQbdEKZGTnR3mPWiBWr3QjQyP8mU3fUlZRigGYXqYBenYESqYHrAml20NBJN9OnabPxhAqWrr30HSb0ID1/s1079/17.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1079" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXlzPODc5on2ZKLw0xKymuSRVo5S7gim4yFuzVE0pXQ8eUsEbehh-92OzdM7_mK786Jjxb5m5gWGkPVZB7kml5BQamCwwzdNsVVr5CEY9dohQbdEKZGTnR3mPWiBWr3QjQyP8mU3fUlZRigGYXqYBenYESqYHrAml20NBJN9OnabPxhAqWrr30HSb0ID1/w400-h353/17.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Get past all of that and the final boss is Balzire...in a power suit! So yeah, you fight him twice in this level technically. The key here is to bring your own power suit and just slug it out. Would be helpful if bosses in this game had a life meter. Their lack of life meter really stands out in its omission, given how many other NES games of this type made sure to include a boss meter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFj5DaqXJCLeHEtj6tACxosYsCOvCI4dOeqtYeB1dXfL7pl0V6wcVr1gCa6_BbpiOCV4H-McWnK5pRvK3tMGgsG412_jB41fLvKjEnjWwdCcEX6HwhjVhHTwOLyRTxT70zJbNb3XFcMM2y43Qw74pQickzIYDt_m6mlQeFdV2jyeNThBnLY5F0FDOHQIy-/s1083/18.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1083" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFj5DaqXJCLeHEtj6tACxosYsCOvCI4dOeqtYeB1dXfL7pl0V6wcVr1gCa6_BbpiOCV4H-McWnK5pRvK3tMGgsG412_jB41fLvKjEnjWwdCcEX6HwhjVhHTwOLyRTxT70zJbNb3XFcMM2y43Qw74pQickzIYDt_m6mlQeFdV2jyeNThBnLY5F0FDOHQIy-/w400-h349/18.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Doug Shatterhand arrives after a long journey, holding his arm. Did he just blow up a pipeline? What is he, the CIA?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">He then turns to the camera and gives a thumbs up. It's kind of like that one meme with the little kid and the house fire.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rad to the max game here that'll put hair on your chest, or make you ovulate if you're a woman. Would recommend, but I think <i>Power Blade</i> does most of what this does only better. Still, this is a real classic and the Nintendo Power entry for it is like quintessential NES-era NP. The only way this could have been better is if it was called Shatner-Hand and starred Captain Kirk giving people double-chops.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDNQw2yIw6c7MXnw44U9zKCZ7HJ-3e3-EKaWbPU4uSlVtfkSg-HXwxBzY_2OJd7HZQYXOrvyPK8St7G7BNkIZha-xOCexVjoO_qClvc7UsChkCC2BEO5Z81Rvllum_-dK6cJl-LG45ojMgqiCTSO6T3rajL6Nph7UxWLdfBBQN9hkWxfQnsa5-IBAQXve/s1324/Shatnerhand.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="952" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSDNQw2yIw6c7MXnw44U9zKCZ7HJ-3e3-EKaWbPU4uSlVtfkSg-HXwxBzY_2OJd7HZQYXOrvyPK8St7G7BNkIZha-xOCexVjoO_qClvc7UsChkCC2BEO5Z81Rvllum_-dK6cJl-LG45ojMgqiCTSO6T3rajL6Nph7UxWLdfBBQN9hkWxfQnsa5-IBAQXve/w311-h432/Shatnerhand.png" width="311" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">SHATNERHAND is fuckin' metal as fuck!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-62237228747798409472024-03-12T03:02:00.004-04:002024-03-14T06:20:27.330-04:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#256 - 267)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjj5HjOERnDKIrgVkMpE0g3ZKgDRcQISj5QVHCaSywLQzP7Itkc4qazAXQ9n3G91MCYyNwx0X4NSo7Jp4Yc4ORaqw-rWU9FyCXBQtIYASDFyiQk_6l0ZZuqta3kOW4-lLPL5EBnOz0LHQsoqeaHdWIeTblMgHt80DWQnk-Th7fz2mzsiB4ZmWMr6nc9tUg/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%20102.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjj5HjOERnDKIrgVkMpE0g3ZKgDRcQISj5QVHCaSywLQzP7Itkc4qazAXQ9n3G91MCYyNwx0X4NSo7Jp4Yc4ORaqw-rWU9FyCXBQtIYASDFyiQk_6l0ZZuqta3kOW4-lLPL5EBnOz0LHQsoqeaHdWIeTblMgHt80DWQnk-Th7fz2mzsiB4ZmWMr6nc9tUg/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%20102.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">#256 Mega Man Zero (Game Boy Advance) – Winter 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">An interesting and respectable spinoff series begins here. Having Zero be the main character of a series was a no-brainer, and controlling him is nearly as fun as it is in the X series. I say nearly because the game's a little slower than the PS1 X games, and I'm not crazy about Zero's redesign. Yeah, I know there's a story reason for it, and also the story reason kinda sucks. If they'd just gone with the existing Zero design and moveset for this, the series would have been better off for it, so there was no good reason to change it up. The guy you play as is barely even recognizable as Zero.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;">Speaking of the story, they deserve a ton of props for having this game actually take a nuanced approach to events and have you question whether your side is actually justified or morally correct. Few games have the balls to do that. I don't expect any kind of high social commentary from (99 percent of) games, but the X series has always flirted with it a bit via X's heavy-handed approach to persecuting his enemies. This game actually has you questioning whether the good guys go over the top in this series (they do).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGmYbdNY3Qe0ZUqPxS-8kPytGV6OnWDQJn30CJIVURBZg5sIZHkTZvLmzSaOuQ3C6QDBfNSU8CWxb4RKcbzVz_lvbegSikXUu6odz2xvZIWzfPri_3a-QKarSn8W6qLtokX6hFV3n2qZbbdDGSWgO3Y4Ju6zIsoUyiW_v0dI2U76_40VGiVEB7KlDqQTC/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%20064.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGmYbdNY3Qe0ZUqPxS-8kPytGV6OnWDQJn30CJIVURBZg5sIZHkTZvLmzSaOuQ3C6QDBfNSU8CWxb4RKcbzVz_lvbegSikXUu6odz2xvZIWzfPri_3a-QKarSn8W6qLtokX6hFV3n2qZbbdDGSWgO3Y4Ju6zIsoUyiW_v0dI2U76_40VGiVEB7KlDqQTC/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%20064.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">It isn't all good though. This game is HARD. And it was designed specifically to BE the most challenging game in the series up to this point, so it was fully intentional. The game absolutely crushed me, but with all of my Mega Man experience (and Dash mapped to the right shoulder button for easy combination with jumps) I was able to get through it.</p><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jj10rZ4GMOw" width="320" youtube-src-id="Jj10rZ4GMOw"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The final battle theme is pretty serious, but it's damn good. And fitting for the fight with the evil version of X.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: I associate this with 24 season 6, which was starting up about this point. It ended up being a pretty weak season, but coming off of season 5 and at the height of the show's popularity, it felt like anything could happen.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fun Fact: The bad guy in this is called "Copy X" for some reason, but originally he was supposed to just be X himself. There's really no reason to change it to some rando doppleganger, and doesn't make much story sense, and he's fine after the fight anyway. They probably only did it so hypothetical kids wouldn't get upset. Alrighty then.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/03/mega-man-zero-game-boy-advance-2002.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVIKQMHzRjE5mMXdimpqCnz83Py3HqPioEqyzSl79ugcg5NXPGC-sjRgS273IZCuMPfc4gsNEK3AYpIH4S8uSdPDrPJofZAoTfw8CGFCiyiwzZXwdDYH449BLUT68THz_0WlUHMopmsvPqNi8tY8eK4o78e2AOo-hfieSfAg3nc78V_LmOYiom3_X7skc/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%202%2004.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKVIKQMHzRjE5mMXdimpqCnz83Py3HqPioEqyzSl79ugcg5NXPGC-sjRgS273IZCuMPfc4gsNEK3AYpIH4S8uSdPDrPJofZAoTfw8CGFCiyiwzZXwdDYH449BLUT68THz_0WlUHMopmsvPqNi8tY8eK4o78e2AOo-hfieSfAg3nc78V_LmOYiom3_X7skc/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%202%2004.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#257 Mega Man Zero 2 (Game Boy Advance) - Winter 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is my least-favorite of the four. They're all good, they all use the same engine, so none are any particular step down. However I found <i>Zero 3</i> to be the most polished, <i>Zero 4</i> had the most story developments, and <i>Zero 1</i> was fresh and new. So <i>Zero 2</i> occupies this kind of mid ground where it doesn't really do anything new and isn't all that polished yet.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9R4_OJ2H4IQfb85KqJfsnNH248ajag1nDYLT6RI4qyINvkHBBGlrZef6_glONe0OQvuhkZfQXPvuHaxB78R2fOHgQ95QT_Y-Y3foNLgd3CCQDidTe4pONw3B_AJxbC2Rzi5ZoWAcIcuTZxvl9bktJTdPw-BnabcnOXCdHRiI4-P5hqeZtWIbA-BIg-94/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%202%2056.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd9R4_OJ2H4IQfb85KqJfsnNH248ajag1nDYLT6RI4qyINvkHBBGlrZef6_glONe0OQvuhkZfQXPvuHaxB78R2fOHgQ95QT_Y-Y3foNLgd3CCQDidTe4pONw3B_AJxbC2Rzi5ZoWAcIcuTZxvl9bktJTdPw-BnabcnOXCdHRiI4-P5hqeZtWIbA-BIg-94/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%202%2056.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Also the villain for this game is a one-off and he's kinda lame. He's so obviously a bad guy right from the get-go, even though they pretend he's good for like half the game. His name is Elpizo, which is Spanish for... The Pizo. He has very little significance to the overarching story, so if this game had been dropped from the series entirely and it was just a trilogy, I think it'd be totally fine. That said, it was fun and there's nothing bad about it (outside of the difficulty still being real high, though playing on emulator mitigates some of that).</p><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VnPmafeR3xE" width="320" youtube-src-id="VnPmafeR3xE"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The intro stage theme of this game is probably my favorite track in the whole Zero series. This track is what I think of when I think of the Zero games. Probably the one thing about this game that really stands out to me.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/03/mega-man-zero-2-game-boy-advance-2003.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdhxXNwczWfaYxSxc8Yd9WwqGoF2wla-ciNBFZXpVkUyNaUtRPbpDO48qbIU_lXhE3h7D-QUegjVw_vCvhLa62RNBI4YVOXzbnLn4cYGmjW7nOOY0F4LYzNX9N0Qpq5GB8GIv5y6-efi85wc7TFUd9i4CC2ToUF3w32yhErz6wA7WtLIAfEbcfRsmTGTe/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2064.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdhxXNwczWfaYxSxc8Yd9WwqGoF2wla-ciNBFZXpVkUyNaUtRPbpDO48qbIU_lXhE3h7D-QUegjVw_vCvhLa62RNBI4YVOXzbnLn4cYGmjW7nOOY0F4LYzNX9N0Qpq5GB8GIv5y6-efi85wc7TFUd9i4CC2ToUF3w32yhErz6wA7WtLIAfEbcfRsmTGTe/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2064.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#258 Mega Man Zero 3 (Game Boy Advance) - Winter 2007</div><p style="text-align: center;">Most people agree on this being the best of the four, and it's certainly the most polished. I like <i>Z3</i> and <i>Z4</i> a lot more than the first two, but <i>Z4</i> is shorter and does feel a bit more like it was rushed to wrap things up. <i>Z3 </i>on the other hand is brimming with polish and effort. They even brought the difficulty down a bit compared to the first two. It's still a challenge and fun, but not nearly as frustrating.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wwl0V0QwqQ0jwjqJfN8LD19FBHfHs36rWDtOeU7cBT32CD7ZYwI2cGp8ItzQIIw0GbmsofCi4LraRFSvVI14OQxtFyMFT_Celv3oCd4u3pechtj9g7vrgIjaWqnpVIrgcpkp-ls5o0-Q5qDuL7hEXge2g5WKYgmQLKfo7FcHbGsLMNX9j-7N47-gIFAN/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2014.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3wwl0V0QwqQ0jwjqJfN8LD19FBHfHs36rWDtOeU7cBT32CD7ZYwI2cGp8ItzQIIw0GbmsofCi4LraRFSvVI14OQxtFyMFT_Celv3oCd4u3pechtj9g7vrgIjaWqnpVIrgcpkp-ls5o0-Q5qDuL7hEXge2g5WKYgmQLKfo7FcHbGsLMNX9j-7N47-gIFAN/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2014.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">You've got a rad new super-boss here in the form of Omega (who is supposed to be an evolved form of the original body of Zero, cause you're playing as a copy of Zero or something (dun dun DUN), but also looks nothing like Zero...why did they even bother making everything so convoluted) and the evil higher power mastermind behind events over the series finally makes himself known here. Wow this was a terribly-constructed paragraph.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/03/mega-man-zero-3-game-boy-advance-2004.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijEDnanejp48Tz_UPTYvzeNkVyJHlgQ-064SQD3DXhPs798HT9eAOwlrM5fEaQIg17sCJIWbcq-KUaIH-BD9EFGs65nfn48sqJ8G4NXZRLCNqbYJbyDEYtfgXja_dx_Fx-rAR2t6qc_zBXTHi0bIrxsK2JLpunYgyP7edj_tDEcIRnYzKRyqKGUG8HyJYD/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2074.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijEDnanejp48Tz_UPTYvzeNkVyJHlgQ-064SQD3DXhPs798HT9eAOwlrM5fEaQIg17sCJIWbcq-KUaIH-BD9EFGs65nfn48sqJ8G4NXZRLCNqbYJbyDEYtfgXja_dx_Fx-rAR2t6qc_zBXTHi0bIrxsK2JLpunYgyP7edj_tDEcIRnYzKRyqKGUG8HyJYD/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2074.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#259 Mega Man Zero 4 (Game Boy Advance) - Winter 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">The last one, probably the easiest, and one I really enjoyed...though I wish the story had made a little more sense and/or taken some risks. They made this one more colorful, the bosses are all great fights, and the whole thing feels like an event. Great game here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_NJVu-Y-jtjLwktBAXP2814I3ggpjkNuKYA8eDTnRE4AavlpI0PqmdlJB6Y8eQ8-0Rz_OuozWYs5qIMH3SEOKLMr908UK9cxKfrTnwwbnb7ByTZ3Y3sIzRmtwajkS3xdqAZA4r1WnU8eppzZGk3SJ6AIGmqt56iAUdhIxOWAEIpVEC-xto4SJ_0NiuXF/s240/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2084.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH_NJVu-Y-jtjLwktBAXP2814I3ggpjkNuKYA8eDTnRE4AavlpI0PqmdlJB6Y8eQ8-0Rz_OuozWYs5qIMH3SEOKLMr908UK9cxKfrTnwwbnb7ByTZ3Y3sIzRmtwajkS3xdqAZA4r1WnU8eppzZGk3SJ6AIGmqt56iAUdhIxOWAEIpVEC-xto4SJ_0NiuXF/w400-h267/Mega%20Man%20Zero%2084.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Disappointing: The bad guy and string-pulling Higher Power for the whole Zero quadrilogy, "Dr. Weil".... isn't Dr. Wily. Even though it would make 100% sense for him to be Dr. Wily and the series has the nerve to build him up like he is. He knows all about Zero, he's Zero's final antagonist, and he's "centuries old"... and then they opted to make him some random old guy. Like "Copy X", the thing that hurts the story in this series the most was just the way they kept chickening out when they had the opportunity to do something truly monumental.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Whatever. I'm over it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/03/mega-man-zero-4-game-boy-advance-2005.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dRbUN5RpZIUaPP3Lq3VEh2HIGimyU8oMtZRbh2K_ho2SX32D5xIXTQS0vcsmNILmE-z0I0GfchZOMyC_iEVgJvZDxlEIvZw020312dO_E0C8qaQebKr2UBi8aznBz4EwjWL1kncI1vyr7Qw8SpzWI1WHF4t3m_xGIY8GJyMhsOtW2znbRly_-cYf62Vq/s256/7th%20Saga%2041.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dRbUN5RpZIUaPP3Lq3VEh2HIGimyU8oMtZRbh2K_ho2SX32D5xIXTQS0vcsmNILmE-z0I0GfchZOMyC_iEVgJvZDxlEIvZw020312dO_E0C8qaQebKr2UBi8aznBz4EwjWL1kncI1vyr7Qw8SpzWI1WHF4t3m_xGIY8GJyMhsOtW2znbRly_-cYf62Vq/w400-h348/7th%20Saga%2041.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#260 7th Saga (Super NES) – Spring 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Game I'm a big fan of even though it's kind of rudimentary, very grindy, and even kind of unfair. I rented this circa 1994 or so (pre-RPGs) and didn't make much progress in it. Didn't understand that I had to grind levels to progress and was just trying to progress the game normally, so I kept running into brick walls. I met my end with the dastardly Red Pison, which is very early in the game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Come 2007 I finally got around to emulating this game and giving it a real run. It took a while and I had to make heavy use of emulator speedup functions, but I got it done...and really liked it. I especially like the character choices and how completely different the game can be depending on who you pick.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxaGkMAcsPhJxP3CEjBPEabqxZChiwChA9q7NBAxBY6WGmrCjyNtSu1iBPS3NuHoq85rpXdq57hXz-eFgNQxwKuaG3p4mNrbEuhyju_qkkbc2JodXnIGwSDM0tC6t_01tIqNLDcNR6MtJBQU1hLAumZgM9Xlt_qRYPtWeSVGR_6NDxajrtZ5oAUNkb2Oj/s256/7th%20Saga%2018.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVxaGkMAcsPhJxP3CEjBPEabqxZChiwChA9q7NBAxBY6WGmrCjyNtSu1iBPS3NuHoq85rpXdq57hXz-eFgNQxwKuaG3p4mNrbEuhyju_qkkbc2JodXnIGwSDM0tC6t_01tIqNLDcNR6MtJBQU1hLAumZgM9Xlt_qRYPtWeSVGR_6NDxajrtZ5oAUNkb2Oj/w400-h348/7th%20Saga%2018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Much later in time I played the Elnard Patch version of the game, which evens out your level-up stats and makes the game significantly easier as a result. While that version might be better for a first-time player to avoid getting stuck on OP apprentice fights, I myself found it actually a lot less fun than the normal version. It's too easy, the grinding doesn't feel as needed or fulfilling, and the balance is a bit weird. My character, Wilme, basically steamrolled everything and hardly ever even took more than 1 damage from enemy attacks... until he got hit with a magic spell and took like double damage from it, gouging his health.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Fighting other apprentices in the normal version of the game, where they'll always be two levels higher than you. Depending on who you're playing as, these fights can be maulings.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party I Chose In 1994 When I Lost: Kamil (average hero guy) and Lux (vibrating robot)</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party I Chose In 2007 When I Won: Esuna (black mage) and Olvan (the dorf), with some early help from Valsu (the priest)</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party I Chose In 2023 For Elnard Version: Wilme (monk) and Lejes (battlemage)</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/7th%20Saga" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLausY2EhkwIRNM9_NRISkHhyphenhyphenx7REWcJLPBZei12vaJ-_sLiNpDQH-QABo6SsAW2ph-VodlGFSCLzpEqkb0QZ-AEeZjLMSTSSz5BxLft8shlxB2zqLExP2XU4jHXps28SX3HlYWfKlzKWyR0INBgAHU1Ynnl8BH4RoQiluc-yCyueXAPGgtG4L2fhQlTL/s480/ff1%20dos.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLausY2EhkwIRNM9_NRISkHhyphenhyphenx7REWcJLPBZei12vaJ-_sLiNpDQH-QABo6SsAW2ph-VodlGFSCLzpEqkb0QZ-AEeZjLMSTSSz5BxLft8shlxB2zqLExP2XU4jHXps28SX3HlYWfKlzKWyR0INBgAHU1Ynnl8BH4RoQiluc-yCyueXAPGgtG4L2fhQlTL/w400-h300/ff1%20dos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#261 Final Fantasy: Dawn of Souls Edition (Game Boy Advance) – Spring 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Terrific remake of the original NES game that smooths things out a lot, makes all of the classes and spells useful (or at least work), and adds four new dungeons to the game. The four dungeons unlock after each of the four Fiend battles, and you can do them as they unlock or leave them for the end. They're significantly tougher than the point where you get them in the main game and thus it's better to wait.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The water and wind dungeons in particular are basically postgame since they're at least the same level as the final dungeon. The coolest part is that each dungeon is themed around, and has bosses from, a different FF game. They go from <i>FF3</i> to <i>FF6</i> and everything in-between. It was cool to see all of that stuff and cool to play a more in-depth <i>FF1</i> that could actually test your party choices a bit more. Things like Shinryu, Omega, Death Gaze, and (surprisingly) Phantom Train all posed what were essentially postgame challenges.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: There really isn't any if you have characters that can cast Temper, since it's stackable. Drop a Haste on a fighter and several Tempers and you can win any fight. When it comes down to it though, Shinryu and Omega are probably the toughest fights, as is tradition.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yRyt_iOuaMaXMdfIh6ZkYho9m4FC0QmupqjZi_uF-E1JeLAMaHntG8Ql_L5G3NEi-1OTfK3u2bOJvbuqWNj-i9a5xknR4-P_nmBz8OMXJBKeL2jIOBLajvZwZrbgTLbTWSDwUIvwvWJGJR-UK2EMsyMscYcoRkTqHc5Ncljcn32Y-wXh1Idw_vwupGAB/s1280/ff2%20dos.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2yRyt_iOuaMaXMdfIh6ZkYho9m4FC0QmupqjZi_uF-E1JeLAMaHntG8Ql_L5G3NEi-1OTfK3u2bOJvbuqWNj-i9a5xknR4-P_nmBz8OMXJBKeL2jIOBLajvZwZrbgTLbTWSDwUIvwvWJGJR-UK2EMsyMscYcoRkTqHc5Ncljcn32Y-wXh1Idw_vwupGAB/w400-h225/ff2%20dos.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#262 Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls Edition (Game Boy Advance) – Spring 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is another big improvement, and I'd say it's the best version of <i>FF2</i> except that the PSP versions of <i>I</i> and <i>II</i> came around later. Those are basically HD ports of these two, with even more optional stuff added. I'd take the Pixel Remasters for four out of six, but I'm going PSP for these two.</p><p style="text-align: center;">As opposed to the first one sprinkling four new areas throughout the game, the new optional content added to <i>FF2</i> was all stacked up in the postgame, and debatably better than the main game. You play as the playable characters that died during the story, as they traverse Hell to fight the Emperor one more time down there. They even have the same stats they had when they died in the main game, so if you're like me and powerleveled Minwu and Josef a bit, you'll be in good shape to crush this.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Emperor (final boss) or Astaroth (second-to-last boss) if you don't use the Blood Sword against them. That weapon does megadamage on both. Fight them normally and they're surprisingly nasty, almost up there with <i>FF3</i>'s notorious final boss.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_qviNZvHTXqCUnZXpFJrc9A9rFevO42MF8k8lBKwXRuWU7HUA0zvoPBtCkHUbLrcPAPWOisCDPwIUPfChOpSY1SFoZngjKoEJgSKInTCeaX9OoQ4ccI5meCSAai2kjaMPVUdYr2qF0nWf0levmV8JK6GZvCR5nu9-WMyMhHOoVN25_PKAVzgSICTYHZ8/s640/lord-of-the-rings_-the-two-towers-screenshot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8_qviNZvHTXqCUnZXpFJrc9A9rFevO42MF8k8lBKwXRuWU7HUA0zvoPBtCkHUbLrcPAPWOisCDPwIUPfChOpSY1SFoZngjKoEJgSKInTCeaX9OoQ4ccI5meCSAai2kjaMPVUdYr2qF0nWf0levmV8JK6GZvCR5nu9-WMyMhHOoVN25_PKAVzgSICTYHZ8/w400-h300/lord-of-the-rings_-the-two-towers-screenshot.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#263 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Playstation 2) – Spring 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Don't remember much about this, just that it was a Blockbuster rental and it culminated with the Battle of Helm's Deep. It's an action game where you play as Aragorn/Legolas/Gimli (my favorite LOTR trio) and beat things up to gain exp and learn new combat techniques.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6arF0EN2Q8LsEpZThBwUmnIdMpTWZ4lr-hPqmyzTZgLQVpDLxj_TCZoZr-9KK_rJhyphenhyphenVUGWaPtC8SB87x8HNvZ6dIvWEO9mkET8Oy4D0kBUMBgsmPf30YMj9mUGGEGxmKbpfAWYHc_YYw0HcZh8FoQJEXLu5NHZwj3KZHJbUWITstu_SsPUtjhS6MSjG1/s960/153722-Lord_of_the_Rings,_The_-_The_Return_of_the_King_(Europe)_(En,Nl,Pt,Sv,Pl)-1480294537.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif6arF0EN2Q8LsEpZThBwUmnIdMpTWZ4lr-hPqmyzTZgLQVpDLxj_TCZoZr-9KK_rJhyphenhyphenVUGWaPtC8SB87x8HNvZ6dIvWEO9mkET8Oy4D0kBUMBgsmPf30YMj9mUGGEGxmKbpfAWYHc_YYw0HcZh8FoQJEXLu5NHZwj3KZHJbUWITstu_SsPUtjhS6MSjG1/w400-h300/153722-Lord_of_the_Rings,_The_-_The_Return_of_the_King_(Europe)_(En,Nl,Pt,Sv,Pl)-1480294537.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#264 Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Playstation 2) – Spring 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Don't remember much of this either, besides that it was more of the same and covered the remainder of the story. Oddly enough, <i>Fellowship </i>just sorta got left out when they were making these games, likely because it's less conducive to the amount of battles and fighting needed for making an action-RPG of this nature.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSdk1FHcrn6FEtb3zZEcPmDZeIR_24MufOr97Is7R-IyQv8uahIFPoFAQouOn-_SmQnEuJUn_rqTm7FY4WArSE3VgLQsSwqGbWwTPjeSa2b4a0wUME06uEVTbcRHCduvG5sb4_JK5uwV2ImyzQChV9qg9Dya0Q-QXVDSB4Oniki6ebagomwa6mJz-IJKG/s640/15732486-baten-kaitos-eternal-wings-and-the-lost-ocean-gamecube-the-game-.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="640" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSdk1FHcrn6FEtb3zZEcPmDZeIR_24MufOr97Is7R-IyQv8uahIFPoFAQouOn-_SmQnEuJUn_rqTm7FY4WArSE3VgLQsSwqGbWwTPjeSa2b4a0wUME06uEVTbcRHCduvG5sb4_JK5uwV2ImyzQChV9qg9Dya0Q-QXVDSB4Oniki6ebagomwa6mJz-IJKG/w400-h280/15732486-baten-kaitos-eternal-wings-and-the-lost-ocean-gamecube-the-game-.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#265 Baten Kaitos (Gamecube) – Spring 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Interesting game here that reminded me a lot of <i>Chrono Cross</i>, just without the incredible soundtrack. It's got a mystical vibe to it and some nice visuals, as you travel to all kinds of interesting worlds. Later it got a prequel and I tried to get into that, but it seemed a bit dull in comparison. Can't remember many details about this one besides that I liked it and it made an impression.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite World: Mintaka. I just liked the name. I think it was green and mystical.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdK7NTpTk4OquCeemXioPXgw7hB2iqpBhLPBOaFmyaFVek0_X5Hs7OeZaTeo4Pt1kqSjUhf9OGft_d37isu2gRUU5ZowxLZkgWrA1n8lxZl7IMs5sv12jfHrGZJ6NBFQv6xza3f8NjUnmJla9tWaDjZyy3UcPVs6s6VLhtaofB_L5QkftG6GKq971vQ4o4/s256/Shatterhand_002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdK7NTpTk4OquCeemXioPXgw7hB2iqpBhLPBOaFmyaFVek0_X5Hs7OeZaTeo4Pt1kqSjUhf9OGft_d37isu2gRUU5ZowxLZkgWrA1n8lxZl7IMs5sv12jfHrGZJ6NBFQv6xza3f8NjUnmJla9tWaDjZyy3UcPVs6s6VLhtaofB_L5QkftG6GKq971vQ4o4/w400-h375/Shatterhand_002.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#266 Shatterhand (NES) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">Very solid NES action game in the vein of things like <i>Power Blade</i>. This was another one that looked awesome in old-school Nintendo Power issues. I liked the stage select and the large variety of robo drones you could get to assist you. Some were way better than others, like the boomerang-disc drone. One of those great NES platformers that people fondly remember.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitb4grQIfxBBEHpaqPN9TD5OqhdHboImZUZQ1n1zMl2UuoTms8ezZ7hlV0Jy54eD3vHsNe_j0WQCQZsvm6B1HJMHIC4BTl1Y8w6HZ2CLmEc4V9QDnuufV3ZG_RB3-KebTn3wbJwUt47dJ5E8D1oH6EHsdStf_k3ACMZgG0PlCghX_SELuJ3O2LmXp1Zedz/s1079/17.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="1079" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitb4grQIfxBBEHpaqPN9TD5OqhdHboImZUZQ1n1zMl2UuoTms8ezZ7hlV0Jy54eD3vHsNe_j0WQCQZsvm6B1HJMHIC4BTl1Y8w6HZ2CLmEc4V9QDnuufV3ZG_RB3-KebTn3wbJwUt47dJ5E8D1oH6EHsdStf_k3ACMZgG0PlCghX_SELuJ3O2LmXp1Zedz/w400-h353/17.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Stage 7, AKA the last level. After a tutorial-ish intro level, the next five levels are all available via stage select. Kind of cool to have it be five instead of four (or a multiple of four) like most games. They're all similar levels of difficulty as a result of being all available at once, while the final level brings things up about ten notches. You have to fight all the bosses again and do some treacherous platforming between them. Lose all your lives and it's back to the start of Stage 7. HAVE FUN. Well, the rest of the game was pretty rad.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2024/03/shatterhand-nes-1991.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8GHujAaaYAjjfgaDIjIfvoLCJ9sxglIR-dtHmprrawSfs-TB8zf4npt0o1QrZoqHtKOZJ-SOzWXMboZFX4X1zo30J8EaPZ2dZqhzmzPdmMcbaqLpPDCSPTfF2yWqrpnpwGmzxMGS72Zxhe1PBK-xO1TH-efFxO_O5CYEBLMhid_hZNaEEsREI9VEaNeB/s1027/xeno%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1027" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh8GHujAaaYAjjfgaDIjIfvoLCJ9sxglIR-dtHmprrawSfs-TB8zf4npt0o1QrZoqHtKOZJ-SOzWXMboZFX4X1zo30J8EaPZ2dZqhzmzPdmMcbaqLpPDCSPTfF2yWqrpnpwGmzxMGS72Zxhe1PBK-xO1TH-efFxO_O5CYEBLMhid_hZNaEEsREI9VEaNeB/w400-h283/xeno%203.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#267 Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra (Playstation 2) – Summer 2007</p><p style="text-align: center;">The last, and best, of the XS trilogy. Also the one that most closely lined up with the backstory of <i>Xenogears' </i>Episode One, finally giving (what was left of) that audience what they'd been wanting. Also a bunch of very nice Gears in this game, including several that were lifted straight from <i>Xenogears</i> (usually presented as a Proto version of the design).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSdVud6kUSCpUaX8zKx6VMsNPEbEU32nb0sOQdtWolZdG-CH5gAYdwXM5k8KQa7ttv2K8g_P1FqS6Zhu4OYBI2Uru1NLySZRv8zul9jQWwoBi6Em2XeBi4iUjl6l-VcvfvuPYqo1mFVuAe9125NcOMlOvf2TpJEmABKjSqUV03szdrdm-rc6tDuoeIEuF/s640/Xenosaga-Episode-III-Also-Sprach-Zarathustra2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSdVud6kUSCpUaX8zKx6VMsNPEbEU32nb0sOQdtWolZdG-CH5gAYdwXM5k8KQa7ttv2K8g_P1FqS6Zhu4OYBI2Uru1NLySZRv8zul9jQWwoBi6Em2XeBi4iUjl6l-VcvfvuPYqo1mFVuAe9125NcOMlOvf2TpJEmABKjSqUV03szdrdm-rc6tDuoeIEuF/w400-h225/Xenosaga-Episode-III-Also-Sprach-Zarathustra2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Everything from the previous games comes home to roost here, with you fighting noted immortal space magnate Wilhelm and his near-invincible Testament goons. Oh yeah, and Deus. You fight Deus. The only downside to this game for a Xeno fan, and I mean literally the only downside, was that the boss fights ran kind of long. This only got worse as the game went on, and in the final couple chapters you have like 5-10 extremely lengthy and grindy boss fights where you aren't in much danger of losing but can't speed things up either. It's a little of a recipe for boredom. There's also a postgame fight with the Demon of Elru himself, Id, who weighs in at a whopping 999,999 HP (the strongest boss in the story has 800,000). Even that fight drags, as cool as it is. Did I mention you fight Deus?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4R5Y6zuyKXvzbT2lZi3O-sorhApHYv4OCV4B16qRFTGVnl0oh7c92HgUUKSLuELitvzwunJf1NCDAIg-IWohayaE_e7u_y1EBh-jk7WtM0X_7f-NsurOhZTm9I3P1Ydo4HvoObtCYeylWTdOXrK7YbyUbVuESC3e-kF3siJVIoY_DqaYBDTDP2_HxVAyW/s500/xenosaga%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="500" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4R5Y6zuyKXvzbT2lZi3O-sorhApHYv4OCV4B16qRFTGVnl0oh7c92HgUUKSLuELitvzwunJf1NCDAIg-IWohayaE_e7u_y1EBh-jk7WtM0X_7f-NsurOhZTm9I3P1Ydo4HvoObtCYeylWTdOXrK7YbyUbVuESC3e-kF3siJVIoY_DqaYBDTDP2_HxVAyW/w400-h214/xenosaga%203.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">As I said, there are also some very nice gears in this one that could probably measure up to anything in <i>Xenogears</i> in terms of design. Some of the <i>Xenogears</i> references have a reason to be what they are, like tying directly into the same themes, while others are just fanservice references. Id being a spinoff personality of Abel and not just a throwaway was appreciated. They did a very good job with this game and it deserved more sales than it had.</p><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YtA-iLt2rgw" width="320" youtube-src-id="YtA-iLt2rgw"></iframe></div><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span>Favorite Tune: Fatal Fight. Pretty much the decisive battle theme of the game, only plays a couple times. It's incredibly climactic and could be a final battle theme in a lot of RPGs. Unfortunately this incredible theme actually gets a little old after a while with the endgame fights that drag on. Which is, again, the only real strike against this game.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span><br /></span></div><div><div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Txa7bwPnLEI" width="320" youtube-src-id="Txa7bwPnLEI"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">There's also an incredible, slower, forboding cutscene version of it. Yuki Kajiura's album cover is also really something, showing Central Park in winter with the San Remo towers in the background. Now technically, these are <i>Xenosaga 2 </i>themes...but considering they didn't really play much until <i>XS3</i>, I think of them more as <i>XS3</i> themes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I didn't actually beat <i>XS2</i> until well after this one. It was just too much of a chore because of the battle system. That being said, this trilogy really did have a lot of heart, and it hits certain nostalgic nerves for me that I'm not sure any other series does. It's hard to describe, but certain parts of this series make me zoom out and examine my own life a bit.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-61218002480496812122024-03-08T18:35:00.000-05:002024-03-08T18:35:01.367-05:00Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath DLC (Playstation 4, 2020)<p> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Dw2x0L6YjgyC6DKZGM5U3dJpnSIH9ltLY08OMP2C0Ohf5rInNCTPciPBzJldqQIvBX3fU55A-jRkWZ-y6i9xsU7i0rMMAsdxVni_007H0vedqwxEJaHpp3lPXOCqGjQ-F00PsFSprvw8pkrQWG4KrGQfAoV8XMQ-yk0bRldUcxXtRkHejUU6eggtkTGJ/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120022243.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Dw2x0L6YjgyC6DKZGM5U3dJpnSIH9ltLY08OMP2C0Ohf5rInNCTPciPBzJldqQIvBX3fU55A-jRkWZ-y6i9xsU7i0rMMAsdxVni_007H0vedqwxEJaHpp3lPXOCqGjQ-F00PsFSprvw8pkrQWG4KrGQfAoV8XMQ-yk0bRldUcxXtRkHejUU6eggtkTGJ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120022243.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This story-based DLC is several hours long and basically a completely new game. <i>Ultimate MK11</i> if you will. It bridges the gap between <i>MK11</i> and <i>MK1</i>. But really it might as well be <i>MK12</i>. Which makes <i>MK1</i>... <i>MK13</i>. Also it brings back Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa to play Shang Tsung for one night only, as he reverts to his old form to try and usurp Kronika. Guy is making a legitimate claim to being the series' main villain, regardless of his boss' superior strength.</div><p></p><span><a></a></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWQ8wXllXdVKpjKl_yLo0VT9GbCNnda7ADtJvWsI5vLE8olz1vjsnrFschxD1fXixmdNQiWCzvuHrIuoyJ-yW2SghMMk2Mb0LyM8K_SQaCTwWqyOOxabNK1jr19dPClk6PZUQiFaMkVbXnp0ic5U7Jg9bIBs_A3vlaYVeaijIDa7BzahwawxbCZLO8KVk/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120024123.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWQ8wXllXdVKpjKl_yLo0VT9GbCNnda7ADtJvWsI5vLE8olz1vjsnrFschxD1fXixmdNQiWCzvuHrIuoyJ-yW2SghMMk2Mb0LyM8K_SQaCTwWqyOOxabNK1jr19dPClk6PZUQiFaMkVbXnp0ic5U7Jg9bIBs_A3vlaYVeaijIDa7BzahwawxbCZLO8KVk/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120024123.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Things start with Raiden giving Fire God Liu Kang his blessing as the new Protector of Earthrealm. Basically Liu Kang has ascended to godhood and replaced Raiden as the de-facto leader of the good guys.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVu2PhOpWV_wX9pxzMf9qMVonDIrKhnt9Ma5Keg4uHIkcG7QBNeRsMqtkYpH-KWKFp1FX8aLEDnEXJFtkRZJ1FRSk1NKSnMXk_2lsO0BIq3UheGa57ml55JMfPKN1GTViETkPsdh71xO0cC6A-uVBZZKoqu8v5XFGCmHsRuMUj7GGSNR8hdQPF-E0gsoy/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023813.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkVu2PhOpWV_wX9pxzMf9qMVonDIrKhnt9Ma5Keg4uHIkcG7QBNeRsMqtkYpH-KWKFp1FX8aLEDnEXJFtkRZJ1FRSk1NKSnMXk_2lsO0BIq3UheGa57ml55JMfPKN1GTViETkPsdh71xO0cC6A-uVBZZKoqu8v5XFGCmHsRuMUj7GGSNR8hdQPF-E0gsoy/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023813.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But wait! Shang Tsung says that the past version of Kronika is still messing around with the timeline, using the crown that allows time-travel. That thing needs to be destroyed before Liu Kang can remake the timeline.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOUjV3n3kngTnlsgexmgb_OuuTAicvDLCh0olGWKclmZSYgtaiYuAc4BK5BNzKZkfB_cg8AWWh7POVByl3lAbF-hRu4g7pehvCd2xBAM7IO6k2UUu4wpBeDRyPP08yRcFfVmxsMFoKGAaxjGVD6uRHf5KvOhyYY0-W6f3WoM9tTCUEczRrA3ez6avshv4/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023821.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnOUjV3n3kngTnlsgexmgb_OuuTAicvDLCh0olGWKclmZSYgtaiYuAc4BK5BNzKZkfB_cg8AWWh7POVByl3lAbF-hRu4g7pehvCd2xBAM7IO6k2UUu4wpBeDRyPP08yRcFfVmxsMFoKGAaxjGVD6uRHf5KvOhyYY0-W6f3WoM9tTCUEczRrA3ez6avshv4/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023821.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This means our heroes have to go back in time to find her and stop her from further timeline meddling. Yep, this game involves Timey Wimey Stuff. While confusing at times, it isn't nearly as played-out as Multiverse Stuff, at least.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqBskt6MmxnYVAOYqRXvbAEIq_VFCExMT1Fl-8Vn9tt4KL4LFADayYuDw12KCHhbTzomZszRxwMTUcZOROBYhR5ODxs-TQ9HJ9CD2V5JNyrJctGVZ-mGfgSfrKMm_NHUiLIRlbSekUb6FaoZgDMufI2aefDzljRjG1TBdqJHcebUHd5VTuAB_MFMmlAkw/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120024207.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlqBskt6MmxnYVAOYqRXvbAEIq_VFCExMT1Fl-8Vn9tt4KL4LFADayYuDw12KCHhbTzomZszRxwMTUcZOROBYhR5ODxs-TQ9HJ9CD2V5JNyrJctGVZ-mGfgSfrKMm_NHUiLIRlbSekUb6FaoZgDMufI2aefDzljRjG1TBdqJHcebUHd5VTuAB_MFMmlAkw/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120024207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We go back to right before the final battle between Kitana and Shao Kahn. I guess Kronika is trying to change history so that Shao Kahn's side wins.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaJRh2h_gXzMIiS9iPCpTKRQoGKYDOjqqyNwzJvBHV-Je4RX69my4J-JpoK8ezYBSTR7LcuPHxeA8QTjxXqZ0uE5yZJOCg_hge5Q7_tsYL3V8A-Y9JMKBhNltvg0qpm60Vk0hq4q-oU91arWY3u2Q71mtViYB_dF6IQupv6cSmmUPUyT_fgG4_Ly1L0Oz/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120024250.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaJRh2h_gXzMIiS9iPCpTKRQoGKYDOjqqyNwzJvBHV-Je4RX69my4J-JpoK8ezYBSTR7LcuPHxeA8QTjxXqZ0uE5yZJOCg_hge5Q7_tsYL3V8A-Y9JMKBhNltvg0qpm60Vk0hq4q-oU91arWY3u2Q71mtViYB_dF6IQupv6cSmmUPUyT_fgG4_Ly1L0Oz/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120024250.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kitana (with hips) is leading the good guys. There's another Liu Kang here, and... Baraka is a good guy? Alright, this series has officially become very confusing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_GykbEk3t_-lIu1ulFgmNkQAxcXunTvDYT-xDwNqwjIEgIwPVVH3X8LpR31SKjsZypFQyvzC69CBl3Z8KFybR6Hasw0OnISrzGoUoEPtOJxLCUIkUF8MhPDshpo3_n-c2BzqKjDz0m2fS9uO5BTS_Jh5SpN0sNP874SIyOWcw72dnbCOiTu38LQIVXW9o/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120025650.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_GykbEk3t_-lIu1ulFgmNkQAxcXunTvDYT-xDwNqwjIEgIwPVVH3X8LpR31SKjsZypFQyvzC69CBl3Z8KFybR6Hasw0OnISrzGoUoEPtOJxLCUIkUF8MhPDshpo3_n-c2BzqKjDz0m2fS9uO5BTS_Jh5SpN0sNP874SIyOWcw72dnbCOiTu38LQIVXW9o/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120025650.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The first character you play as is Nightwolf, and it follows the same format as other late-series story modes. Each chapter has you playing as a different character, they fight a few battles, and then you switch characters for the next chapter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZgqU8meEadYE30n9DL2bTfKmU0rInRdayf0OHCCu9BS_c2N4esQ3-dJ-2xOq8XcRPZtMdVIErktzIrAzTeWyS6k8stmRcBOuzgHIFLl2eaezK19KgjBqW3LEP3tEC1IHceyVOBQduWaqJDkjkRChh8fvAmywaRsjTZ7POKFdLm3XaDhVOVYaT2H1untx/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030736.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZgqU8meEadYE30n9DL2bTfKmU0rInRdayf0OHCCu9BS_c2N4esQ3-dJ-2xOq8XcRPZtMdVIErktzIrAzTeWyS6k8stmRcBOuzgHIFLl2eaezK19KgjBqW3LEP3tEC1IHceyVOBQduWaqJDkjkRChh8fvAmywaRsjTZ7POKFdLm3XaDhVOVYaT2H1untx/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030736.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shang Tsung is really good at lying. In any case, here's Evil Zombie Sindel.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDkQkMEogFoZK45LpWvWHwqpomSQCJMUJaoHYdAtq5Fd9UKINPAsRVAPPwuDYni5V5pMRrFsEzfo52wKj2rADkvs776YqZuOHhKhZa_U5SAujoExU2wCBnfY6pQJIsnxx19EpbnqHPb66rqHRm8bq42rE5BjOLnIOBYBgfjnpnOoGMv174HTK3-2rg6Hl/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030829.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDkQkMEogFoZK45LpWvWHwqpomSQCJMUJaoHYdAtq5Fd9UKINPAsRVAPPwuDYni5V5pMRrFsEzfo52wKj2rADkvs776YqZuOHhKhZa_U5SAujoExU2wCBnfY6pQJIsnxx19EpbnqHPb66rqHRm8bq42rE5BjOLnIOBYBgfjnpnOoGMv174HTK3-2rg6Hl/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030829.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Apparently she was killed by Nightwolf, and she's quite upset about it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSeQQNWpap2p7ShS4zGG6PrMAjdUnV2xx1N4ff2GFpnF2Ww40hMlOVGsZG3EzoyWoG0VgU6CuQyUiF4_P8_49cJVHL-NoDSHGlNx9wxRMhg19NtSxTdSkWNpSRyiAsPJNt85vgnTeP_WcwbYlZCHKGg4WqJYDOdqY8lAyw4-hDK8CMgu5n0gY41D07cW3/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030714.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSeQQNWpap2p7ShS4zGG6PrMAjdUnV2xx1N4ff2GFpnF2Ww40hMlOVGsZG3EzoyWoG0VgU6CuQyUiF4_P8_49cJVHL-NoDSHGlNx9wxRMhg19NtSxTdSkWNpSRyiAsPJNt85vgnTeP_WcwbYlZCHKGg4WqJYDOdqY8lAyw4-hDK8CMgu5n0gY41D07cW3/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030714.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Shinnok's Severed Head, looking on like the Icon of Sin.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_70dWn_D-b3vJEuB9ONLf2H7neWZTals-1C0-f5PwiiZwRuNvO7UHQt8uMUd4rwAMLB7uwfd_hTnBEjxWI5LmxJqTfTbQwcO5WTHBKNnHdtn47JTbln2PyNvDDlclIANu4UUkrnZVHQsbfqXFz2KXwy-Nf8paTkZ3M4Qynzynoov3g4Ax3TNovkpMqVCo/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030904.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_70dWn_D-b3vJEuB9ONLf2H7neWZTals-1C0-f5PwiiZwRuNvO7UHQt8uMUd4rwAMLB7uwfd_hTnBEjxWI5LmxJqTfTbQwcO5WTHBKNnHdtn47JTbln2PyNvDDlclIANu4UUkrnZVHQsbfqXFz2KXwy-Nf8paTkZ3M4Qynzynoov3g4Ax3TNovkpMqVCo/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120030904.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nightwolf vs Sindel! Unfortunately for her...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZMKyvlyTmR2PfPimgdb8qeqh34eRKCIBtEKC6J41zg6e5S6uxpamz8Z2NVg2ORhCeoUHSmf8bbe2ljRq0GVUqalSocBDcWSmmtS-r7q6jhoyxgwl01a2_ZRRF_TzXreZYZa6VJESYBFZxpnFmeFV24eA1EBfqYtvoxI1U5VGUBOLh6WqpBRgEKVKN5MG/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120031036.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZMKyvlyTmR2PfPimgdb8qeqh34eRKCIBtEKC6J41zg6e5S6uxpamz8Z2NVg2ORhCeoUHSmf8bbe2ljRq0GVUqalSocBDcWSmmtS-r7q6jhoyxgwl01a2_ZRRF_TzXreZYZa6VJESYBFZxpnFmeFV24eA1EBfqYtvoxI1U5VGUBOLh6WqpBRgEKVKN5MG/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120031036.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Nightwolf kills her again!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSd-TyE4n1tPxxep06Squ-vhpIBqAjMSb7ejh-afxJhLyK9ISuSkvY6prCUCCnu9Z7GjZVmVg39HF2Y1DvME2SDOE7B7QhGpzpjBnKvBIIqY6aLTuZGMqcByGcquA4AD1P4U4aPBAVaTL7axzLWN38RBxmx52XU4Ix_DRYPaBpd08FOdwCiPNJZs_bvNX/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120031231.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhSd-TyE4n1tPxxep06Squ-vhpIBqAjMSb7ejh-afxJhLyK9ISuSkvY6prCUCCnu9Z7GjZVmVg39HF2Y1DvME2SDOE7B7QhGpzpjBnKvBIIqY6aLTuZGMqcByGcquA4AD1P4U4aPBAVaTL7axzLWN38RBxmx52XU4Ix_DRYPaBpd08FOdwCiPNJZs_bvNX/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120031231.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now we've got two Nightwolfs battling it out! Evil Nightwolf from the past and good guy present-day Nightwolf. I don't even know anymore.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGV66ZDggQlXBrhZVlJKke47QSTzS7KeGfd1TSF4855vxnF9C35t1A37CTyi8H8Cc8Yv_y-PWhIsesYBuGDV1G-brqnJeHnedJsXRIVV2sBPGKIbC226IgdHMy1AkkEWsXLa9nCDRDxAyWFHLaGvQQyiV0Ye7umCypQKZKxnLnOLHDzeGkmvQcogCJALF/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120033843.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGV66ZDggQlXBrhZVlJKke47QSTzS7KeGfd1TSF4855vxnF9C35t1A37CTyi8H8Cc8Yv_y-PWhIsesYBuGDV1G-brqnJeHnedJsXRIVV2sBPGKIbC226IgdHMy1AkkEWsXLa9nCDRDxAyWFHLaGvQQyiV0Ye7umCypQKZKxnLnOLHDzeGkmvQcogCJALF/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120033843.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sheeva and Kitana face off while Sindel gets regenerated in a nearby healing pod. ...yeah, none of this makes a ton of sense, just roll with it. The game looks great and plays well and that's what matters.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiznsrt20FonMOV0-kzVe9TnhHXyEnyC0bXsoRdN_t-Ht6atZ0DZvq-rh2bdLcvqDLt-IfO0djlTPumO_vdjAooTvaZxepUY3x049F-3vmnxouqjGdKiVmUugF-n9xzTKryhyphenhyphenz9YU0aqaVa94sOP9eEDdDa7uNCJ1TddM5tPd1xvOxWVgO4C2Clnfn3c-j/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120033724.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiznsrt20FonMOV0-kzVe9TnhHXyEnyC0bXsoRdN_t-Ht6atZ0DZvq-rh2bdLcvqDLt-IfO0djlTPumO_vdjAooTvaZxepUY3x049F-3vmnxouqjGdKiVmUugF-n9xzTKryhyphenhyphenz9YU0aqaVa94sOP9eEDdDa7uNCJ1TddM5tPd1xvOxWVgO4C2Clnfn3c-j/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120033724.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sheeva has this throw attack where she just picks up her foe by the foot and beats them up. Hilarious!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmK50_uYuslcVgSlpvwucE61-rjHH5IS9M-6DmNcylDKzxIwwG_UYDl4u8oEVMUq8UdXzgcCZEwkYtH750xMM3GSKJCYQkfq2q55g4zb3bZWHREWz391TmAg8D915qX-BOe3zAe8VPgLF51hMYS-NQe9BVs2HwbYoe6Nydjriy1e8JJbF2GlYVbB7P9VWZ/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120034019.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmK50_uYuslcVgSlpvwucE61-rjHH5IS9M-6DmNcylDKzxIwwG_UYDl4u8oEVMUq8UdXzgcCZEwkYtH750xMM3GSKJCYQkfq2q55g4zb3bZWHREWz391TmAg8D915qX-BOe3zAe8VPgLF51hMYS-NQe9BVs2HwbYoe6Nydjriy1e8JJbF2GlYVbB7P9VWZ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120034019.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now fully-regenerated, Sindel is back to normal...and full power. Which our heroes wanted to happen.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But Why?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBvFX4JCVmuI38C2ubmq_vMcSK_kXAg_OVfCJOuSXp7tPTmdSmEUXcr0B9h1YgmP_SIYXn14h9faWjaM6kQnJNh3g6LwJq5VKRLVYZtf1NjtaGugkLHYMDrpFR8c39v456PQWoa2cwzOHt9ktHNzr021p_5mRT8etpEh30oMu_JWLt8VcXfyfkF1w9RHs/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120034048.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnBvFX4JCVmuI38C2ubmq_vMcSK_kXAg_OVfCJOuSXp7tPTmdSmEUXcr0B9h1YgmP_SIYXn14h9faWjaM6kQnJNh3g6LwJq5VKRLVYZtf1NjtaGugkLHYMDrpFR8c39v456PQWoa2cwzOHt9ktHNzr021p_5mRT8etpEh30oMu_JWLt8VcXfyfkF1w9RHs/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120034048.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She's like "what did I miss?" before finding out that Kitana is now the ruler of Outworld and Shao Kahn is imprisoned.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicaFQ4stjm9fjnwfVTzxWu-1HoA_mWqll0UYb4NdZQOCXOCz6d6YHSBu0cSewEgm95VlI9c7GVAYPbgJ-CDIbtM_I8VRfP-FtzsomS7_sGLJZpnVGDEkQXIJmh5TzB1sWCaU58mz3nI-D20DzatZ-9PgV9vA_YeljeGAwtONs2w0ImXKYtXDoZ0Utcrn-J/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120034506.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicaFQ4stjm9fjnwfVTzxWu-1HoA_mWqll0UYb4NdZQOCXOCz6d6YHSBu0cSewEgm95VlI9c7GVAYPbgJ-CDIbtM_I8VRfP-FtzsomS7_sGLJZpnVGDEkQXIJmh5TzB1sWCaU58mz3nI-D20DzatZ-9PgV9vA_YeljeGAwtONs2w0ImXKYtXDoZ0Utcrn-J/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120034506.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Luckily this is Good Sindel (??) so she teams up with our heroes. So wait, Shang Tsung is really passing for a good guy here? Nobody is at all skeptical of these vile people?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhND14feDCFzuJbpf6TvJsfrFsMTxv7-3K_rWIanrFiCJPdL9FYwbHpmfCI6gmnSx6I5HfMh_EOjGgyKJ670B_hgMfWkmvlCA2XYwJM8I51jbS47h6n-gO20rBVahioLauh-WRIY7hXKYgLhdimZ42bF7Xs978-2yMOuOi12Tfdfsqz53YNkqm2hih2U2OC/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120132114.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhND14feDCFzuJbpf6TvJsfrFsMTxv7-3K_rWIanrFiCJPdL9FYwbHpmfCI6gmnSx6I5HfMh_EOjGgyKJ670B_hgMfWkmvlCA2XYwJM8I51jbS47h6n-gO20rBVahioLauh-WRIY7hXKYgLhdimZ42bF7Xs978-2yMOuOi12Tfdfsqz53YNkqm2hih2U2OC/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120132114.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Her and Tsung have a begrudging respect.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRSY4qoL-PecmY2b1GQ7zboEzAAun2-6OX1mftuIUhN1ipnIFGn4SFE-ASI31KZojAhsgSNEHAbs2VMDndeZmD0kCIjTbqxujC31uj5ajvLAF6b22RIOEP-YsiZwp8dLfiUEpoAUAUrZJH7We75N2W9SZwpjaB68E0AwE-L86InPQ7cjZHqS_tzG7OpBT/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120132117.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRSY4qoL-PecmY2b1GQ7zboEzAAun2-6OX1mftuIUhN1ipnIFGn4SFE-ASI31KZojAhsgSNEHAbs2VMDndeZmD0kCIjTbqxujC31uj5ajvLAF6b22RIOEP-YsiZwp8dLfiUEpoAUAUrZJH7We75N2W9SZwpjaB68E0AwE-L86InPQ7cjZHqS_tzG7OpBT/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120132117.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What are these two planning? Well, nevermind that, we've found Kronika!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZz_csjmDvg2gxItkqjd7xWjjK9iSwvbcQ8QMS0YnwXDrpd4dK6Di6mx7tH9lJwaH1VIbMdzIuVf6tGdfsaDbH1edv3sUcfTdn_VFzpKXN3OyCslG8TvUZG9UjYGK1Tw-3NaSQO9DIM2KI4j-6irFoA3JTpSB2P0v-ODYZubBk-UAFz2zmxZyUUKigDu31/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120132842.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZz_csjmDvg2gxItkqjd7xWjjK9iSwvbcQ8QMS0YnwXDrpd4dK6Di6mx7tH9lJwaH1VIbMdzIuVf6tGdfsaDbH1edv3sUcfTdn_VFzpKXN3OyCslG8TvUZG9UjYGK1Tw-3NaSQO9DIM2KI4j-6irFoA3JTpSB2P0v-ODYZubBk-UAFz2zmxZyUUKigDu31/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120132842.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">As our heroes confront Past Kronika, Wind God Fujin explains what's going on for people just joining us.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosVT-yZWD_uAGYzed8GzPincut-Vzwt9JOS7iHk1qYYSyWZixVs_d12318BOkGqqxPAbOEAWMoGXXxm4KG2FMZRgWc3GFlOo3lhlLlxirBWmzgLKL8kUOvWnvmFxi8yAP8HBKQjiWeM79mtQPcb0dXYEUQB46hyw2e8_0jFqhmtiXq2UjU6vyRf_bHbcA/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134251.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhosVT-yZWD_uAGYzed8GzPincut-Vzwt9JOS7iHk1qYYSyWZixVs_d12318BOkGqqxPAbOEAWMoGXXxm4KG2FMZRgWc3GFlOo3lhlLlxirBWmzgLKL8kUOvWnvmFxi8yAP8HBKQjiWeM79mtQPcb0dXYEUQB46hyw2e8_0jFqhmtiXq2UjU6vyRf_bHbcA/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134251.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kronika is skeptical that she's ever going to be defeated.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1leIDKU9se8EWpX5s-8WyTBmWWXi2alsgcXLJc0crdqKv0vsKW1yXUmP9rkwW2qNMNg54SRiAa-b5gXRIVsODieOEp7UteGdDEkjVxHvUWvAMxr3usLlHEotoDmSC3wWT04MMxO7TTPWI01DzLara2daJy5cPI-SH0r6k1pLBtVymK4UXaxlocD0zHs6/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134548.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho1leIDKU9se8EWpX5s-8WyTBmWWXi2alsgcXLJc0crdqKv0vsKW1yXUmP9rkwW2qNMNg54SRiAa-b5gXRIVsODieOEp7UteGdDEkjVxHvUWvAMxr3usLlHEotoDmSC3wWT04MMxO7TTPWI01DzLara2daJy5cPI-SH0r6k1pLBtVymK4UXaxlocD0zHs6/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134548.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is followed by Fujin and Shang Tsung teaming up to defeat her...again...using this giant fire-tornado!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1B2gqnI6Tvm0tTsb1oYN1WjHtdKF-W2gWwJqyFZ_hA9f1QjO35O05LMklcpAE0APcoYtyDM2nIf6xep3s56Ps3HiR4bULeiM2lPhR4WV9MWpC_bsqhFjB5IuHTNR0WhqIVdE2eTaVyp-fyLSo-cBMuCzitIDjkow8urczrlYN92-nWHr0U43o-oTToLR/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134632.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd1B2gqnI6Tvm0tTsb1oYN1WjHtdKF-W2gWwJqyFZ_hA9f1QjO35O05LMklcpAE0APcoYtyDM2nIf6xep3s56Ps3HiR4bULeiM2lPhR4WV9MWpC_bsqhFjB5IuHTNR0WhqIVdE2eTaVyp-fyLSo-cBMuCzitIDjkow8urczrlYN92-nWHr0U43o-oTToLR/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134632.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shang Tsung claims the time-crown... and reluctantly hands it over to Raiden. He was just looking at it!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq53KDmnGvBhYzE2ao2mxgk9zKLtTLPk4mjlOeUqWwVuraQujdhTi1ussc9g924gXWtaTYkpAIbqjZ0tEMO48N4gMHwRU8UsP9WXpfnJSK89U0BLEMDA39K5jrNXgi3DKDeOAS_Y9_ze8XtgMcOUvqGnVi6z5UhgEtyz3oPjIkdpBs1IjSvriLZqXsrTp2/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134707.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq53KDmnGvBhYzE2ao2mxgk9zKLtTLPk4mjlOeUqWwVuraQujdhTi1ussc9g924gXWtaTYkpAIbqjZ0tEMO48N4gMHwRU8UsP9WXpfnJSK89U0BLEMDA39K5jrNXgi3DKDeOAS_Y9_ze8XtgMcOUvqGnVi6z5UhgEtyz3oPjIkdpBs1IjSvriLZqXsrTp2/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134707.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sindel is insanely gorgeous in this game. Look at those beautiful, round, sexy cheekbones.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOLk1EBrAbmi9n_oc_HcI4HkQQwMyHTqspXeCpZbhYivGs161ThHaMfdxeI1Z8mzrZ1JueYb2wxxgk2UnPNGD5zLnUTW2OlIpJijG1w4zZHZF4Ujx2MveMTuTD-wKubyANGQLqlpe7lJ3mEzWpUSss004h0sSbKpGZ97AlHsZ6dVZM26LFOs46a0H9d1N/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134716.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOLk1EBrAbmi9n_oc_HcI4HkQQwMyHTqspXeCpZbhYivGs161ThHaMfdxeI1Z8mzrZ1JueYb2wxxgk2UnPNGD5zLnUTW2OlIpJijG1w4zZHZF4Ujx2MveMTuTD-wKubyANGQLqlpe7lJ3mEzWpUSss004h0sSbKpGZ97AlHsZ6dVZM26LFOs46a0H9d1N/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120134716.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They must have made her an absolute goddess because she's a good guy now and thus is allowed to be attractive.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzHeNx1NBCtyP7ES9EgbiNO0D0J0fDpsoLoOmgOqET5AVqPnUQVDFltSABZGIIjV4OxzHFDj7lXxfXppL21DD7s0lEZ8QQqFEaYOmjyx8Sz3zcu3-pzwfzd8rueGpyKuFn29Oj4UhsIRHj92Dqd7ZyT39TbUSgo2Vr_1x2OSXl1MQSCOYQy8YvO3wGVZv/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120142407.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijzHeNx1NBCtyP7ES9EgbiNO0D0J0fDpsoLoOmgOqET5AVqPnUQVDFltSABZGIIjV4OxzHFDj7lXxfXppL21DD7s0lEZ8QQqFEaYOmjyx8Sz3zcu3-pzwfzd8rueGpyKuFn29Oj4UhsIRHj92Dqd7ZyT39TbUSgo2Vr_1x2OSXl1MQSCOYQy8YvO3wGVZv/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120142407.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She communicates with Tsung via hologram. Outworld's technology level is all over the place. They had swords and needed to smuggle in guns for the <i>MK3</i> invasion of Earth, but here they are using holograms.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPIy-X05ITR5StMl_3kZEV4KsQYjpENtocUtZO6mhK1wSrV-ZrvJFnXUTR2H3uBfuiYKK3FbwA_okCAxUc_SP5R-pvosipDHvN2zJeJXKVN71MjePmwZqNIxiIftIX7DAnpUX0x_x0zVZZ_-j8BW42fNmMGfBa02Gpgw3niZGlZF-JFWAo0hi3y6NXXP6/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120142714.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPIy-X05ITR5StMl_3kZEV4KsQYjpENtocUtZO6mhK1wSrV-ZrvJFnXUTR2H3uBfuiYKK3FbwA_okCAxUc_SP5R-pvosipDHvN2zJeJXKVN71MjePmwZqNIxiIftIX7DAnpUX0x_x0zVZZ_-j8BW42fNmMGfBa02Gpgw3niZGlZF-JFWAo0hi3y6NXXP6/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120142714.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sindel's minions have nothing nice to say about Queen Kitana, and this gets to Sindel. It IS pretty weird seeing her being a subordinate to Kitana.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo_7JjAaS0FMHjEK23RAqmZx0h_exktq-0tHoMN_VAkpg7d3wfdYE80k3VtE8wyn9_bl-0IacOmgdKhBrlarwsyckdsMbrFB2spUHXBREfx1sxniwEWq4wRjzUlfAN_R7w0o15-kSp71YAk50kNwbR_fwsj_hlrM4hMP3rwBDgKgRPfAj_Z7P1_E7rckhd/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120043942.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo_7JjAaS0FMHjEK23RAqmZx0h_exktq-0tHoMN_VAkpg7d3wfdYE80k3VtE8wyn9_bl-0IacOmgdKhBrlarwsyckdsMbrFB2spUHXBREfx1sxniwEWq4wRjzUlfAN_R7w0o15-kSp71YAk50kNwbR_fwsj_hlrM4hMP3rwBDgKgRPfAj_Z7P1_E7rckhd/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120043942.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sindel with a graceful jump kick!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxe3JUvsjbzVy9iBw92__-FVv-3IReTEqP6J_Nu0r4OhWGWxK06atBfOWa7q8BbYRo2vJ-Fp6OYEj94UAYpMKLvgWKkOiMFyCUKSZ_CSBoc1kwM20X303Agg2iHVCyCojGHNO0soC-s0Bw7SjbCeBj45-CdlL2vrYSxsR-QQ_SqOJWpHCdJC8R6IdXrmy8/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120044013.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxe3JUvsjbzVy9iBw92__-FVv-3IReTEqP6J_Nu0r4OhWGWxK06atBfOWa7q8BbYRo2vJ-Fp6OYEj94UAYpMKLvgWKkOiMFyCUKSZ_CSBoc1kwM20X303Agg2iHVCyCojGHNO0soC-s0Bw7SjbCeBj45-CdlL2vrYSxsR-QQ_SqOJWpHCdJC8R6IdXrmy8/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120044013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She also fires PURPLE LASERS. Just a supremely fun character to play as.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZmLf14-K0s9TQ8Vcj8PY8luVN1Nds3s_MdT89JhZAZkOxgmRdlXT4XKIcLcK_DOaXBNgVDjP65l0coBo6deE2wSQ7NT0-VPzWLC07qCIDVcl8CCAbU1G6LFO3vEOz7q60ojONbfzse2q5Gvp4mOBRKHusT9A68anhQzDmh8PIG_YyLeB_sg0ZdfB2Gp4/s600/Sindel%20Spin.gif"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZmLf14-K0s9TQ8Vcj8PY8luVN1Nds3s_MdT89JhZAZkOxgmRdlXT4XKIcLcK_DOaXBNgVDjP65l0coBo6deE2wSQ7NT0-VPzWLC07qCIDVcl8CCAbU1G6LFO3vEOz7q60ojONbfzse2q5Gvp4mOBRKHusT9A68anhQzDmh8PIG_YyLeB_sg0ZdfB2Gp4/w640-h360/Sindel%20Spin.gif" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She also has the most graceful uppercut in the entire series.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqM3zKenpDnEiYLCtK-rjzf0_fukda1pcOpf-zVmr5aQszhoqhPZQah4IcRZa3kiCloA_aYX-Ef9CSIbcETQkjtXbZQN_PyH_acfliRjdZE2xfi7vmWU0rHoiEzk3NfJUIrdOVdmCi30SiBeiyIMjRwLepKPA1KX2T0jLzjaO6xuCqoWzZszAD9mlujG_z/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120142952.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqM3zKenpDnEiYLCtK-rjzf0_fukda1pcOpf-zVmr5aQszhoqhPZQah4IcRZa3kiCloA_aYX-Ef9CSIbcETQkjtXbZQN_PyH_acfliRjdZE2xfi7vmWU0rHoiEzk3NfJUIrdOVdmCi30SiBeiyIMjRwLepKPA1KX2T0jLzjaO6xuCqoWzZszAD9mlujG_z/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120142952.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Thanks to the timey-wimey shenanigans afoot, she gets reunited with Shao Kahn. He's still in his weird beast-form from <i>MK11</i>, no pretty-ing him up. This leads to them deciding that it's time to reclaim control of Outworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW7bsNgkuuVYBMhq5l0Jec9NWFaOvP8utCcl-9L0dbPR8_23GV6IEsqXbsgTy6Hk4tBaSpbJz3qEuEcHui0Q0STtAfyQ82QVJsgo1C6TjQ6x2RG_e5AeW4JFuadSJUZDqahQKaVbrRpJcSKhLMBZf99tT-Ze_nOezRpCgByfpjInq13qw7BRltC6aC18u/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120143514.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeW7bsNgkuuVYBMhq5l0Jec9NWFaOvP8utCcl-9L0dbPR8_23GV6IEsqXbsgTy6Hk4tBaSpbJz3qEuEcHui0Q0STtAfyQ82QVJsgo1C6TjQ6x2RG_e5AeW4JFuadSJUZDqahQKaVbrRpJcSKhLMBZf99tT-Ze_nOezRpCgByfpjInq13qw7BRltC6aC18u/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120143514.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Elsewhere, Johnny Cage got one of Raiden's "thunder hands" massages. This piques Sonya's interest.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90zzsva9v-rHai0JpYBFGowb1XUCIDJ41LXOMY9XXhVEdOf_RcWJ_3lPD7RdXe21vxuWWct9aP1DADiZPtZa7wPDD3ZBXE4EopNVYuA5aruUxw2Eqa6-E_FnLBgrwV6Sg3B1l8tvlMaDTfuEC9MUQdwczLMZMEU0fAWGYOp-Q8cZxXOrPKmPIe98Tmgf1/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120143721.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj90zzsva9v-rHai0JpYBFGowb1XUCIDJ41LXOMY9XXhVEdOf_RcWJ_3lPD7RdXe21vxuWWct9aP1DADiZPtZa7wPDD3ZBXE4EopNVYuA5aruUxw2Eqa6-E_FnLBgrwV6Sg3B1l8tvlMaDTfuEC9MUQdwczLMZMEU0fAWGYOp-Q8cZxXOrPKmPIe98Tmgf1/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120143721.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">For all the fights in this chapter, you can choose whether to play as Sindel or Shao Kahn. As cool as he used to be, this modern version of Kahn just feels less cool and imposing than the OG version. Maybe because he's a weird dragon-man now. I go with Sindel for the fights, starting with Cassie Cage (w/ hips)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMq0TjybPPFSu0y6Hy_V9oUEz_eHD1UTOA6UN8Cbu0ISVajbPnNpm2U2DiVW3VsI0o9bqtpLET6zONwjj_6YdXjGTu2fQvBYClCg30uZosQRM3bq9EOqBU4XYGDxywX-ExEdcFN_Rkh9-q9enmNreY0Agu1EtzZ1QFTVjtsQiBepMlygOjx8d-9IuC8PAd/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120143822.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMq0TjybPPFSu0y6Hy_V9oUEz_eHD1UTOA6UN8Cbu0ISVajbPnNpm2U2DiVW3VsI0o9bqtpLET6zONwjj_6YdXjGTu2fQvBYClCg30uZosQRM3bq9EOqBU4XYGDxywX-ExEdcFN_Rkh9-q9enmNreY0Agu1EtzZ1QFTVjtsQiBepMlygOjx8d-9IuC8PAd/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120143822.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cassie Cage went to the same school of combat as 2A Marian. BLAM BLAM BLAM!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZizJ9rNd76uLD-JybFuhzuBBOeDTRSvMaTjLdJo45GmhrVSnFtb_RviAJCFhMX5wexD7EEdhlUkEVdvwH2k4EAp1J2tIIPLK1CBPJBkh6YOhsmf_pmlAnB5ha_11Jg6Zn3ZiDf50VwF7kXTrJccIsp5R-z9RG_utgP2Q4M1j1hpGRWUksfLkR4Bu14ce0/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120144643.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZizJ9rNd76uLD-JybFuhzuBBOeDTRSvMaTjLdJo45GmhrVSnFtb_RviAJCFhMX5wexD7EEdhlUkEVdvwH2k4EAp1J2tIIPLK1CBPJBkh6YOhsmf_pmlAnB5ha_11Jg6Zn3ZiDf50VwF7kXTrJccIsp5R-z9RG_utgP2Q4M1j1hpGRWUksfLkR4Bu14ce0/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120144643.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I do play Kahn for one fight: Kung Lao. Just felt like these two had an ancient score to settle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc-DT_09_e2ATdEGYaCp_9YmKuLkQU71Q4enT2pXqHZO-WMep8qYF6R2GCZtVbCMJPoPMTeGH1Htve2u9SZECOe1LGfD7FB_yLUHnD9itNIZrsyM3E5ikwfTtau49-kBOqBFEGYGaRyxrH6sq6rBZhhvD_fIM1p-MBT7XDsTw9ATUKvc0SaptlsBs0z5U/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145014.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc-DT_09_e2ATdEGYaCp_9YmKuLkQU71Q4enT2pXqHZO-WMep8qYF6R2GCZtVbCMJPoPMTeGH1Htve2u9SZECOe1LGfD7FB_yLUHnD9itNIZrsyM3E5ikwfTtau49-kBOqBFEGYGaRyxrH6sq6rBZhhvD_fIM1p-MBT7XDsTw9ATUKvc0SaptlsBs0z5U/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145014.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ouch. Sindel is no fan of her ex. Shao Kahn is WAY better at everything, and actually does dishes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyGL15iUzNL3UjTdrAt1AeaeJMlSVn6NqJBWsVXNzlp1nOZN8yzta5vFrNU07_eenEVaiq7nyduEsSyuh3hylQx4eZ5XqsfyYdtjDIhVyDENAB7zQGF9TCgqB38lC51wnpgI7cYUbH0XHZwnI7rH8pljFMSWY4jQ67KduyDH2BUS1dnhJ3VAC-Z9CvPk8u/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145119.jpg" width="640" /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The main event: Sindel vs Kitana for control of Outworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZV3a8zpV6u3uIYnNs-q8rUOstDDLK2PxBtWERLuSIB7uLvkiFsirm7v47xiXRhY3UCH1QL1iTD-sqw4ESUEf70ISAOAbDHAcpr0MS2l7RWUnnkELG7UMnMjr16VurrYH8sjhFvjBXrRFc2Myvsy6E-1npmXCKartIZHp4n7T8pF1dWxf533ehN54dp9n8/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145318.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZV3a8zpV6u3uIYnNs-q8rUOstDDLK2PxBtWERLuSIB7uLvkiFsirm7v47xiXRhY3UCH1QL1iTD-sqw4ESUEf70ISAOAbDHAcpr0MS2l7RWUnnkELG7UMnMjr16VurrYH8sjhFvjBXrRFc2Myvsy6E-1npmXCKartIZHp4n7T8pF1dWxf533ehN54dp9n8/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145318.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The bad guys win, and proceed to round up all the Kitana loyalists.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9czz8eYOB34wuy6Edy7FyE3xCpu97MMG6v4ZlCGrwWqKCrb7dPHwfstdlevI_hZlj4kOLKn1lP9whyljTeKXFeBM4QCcDxSQr2kmbz8HMldvz6OorzyR5SurVqp3I7_5gyRoQ2Pdyts_yPXs3XK9m5YXa9NWEBSgRnkMg2WnhZFN7UsMopq3_oqo5YBGb/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145410.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9czz8eYOB34wuy6Edy7FyE3xCpu97MMG6v4ZlCGrwWqKCrb7dPHwfstdlevI_hZlj4kOLKn1lP9whyljTeKXFeBM4QCcDxSQr2kmbz8HMldvz6OorzyR5SurVqp3I7_5gyRoQ2Pdyts_yPXs3XK9m5YXa9NWEBSgRnkMg2WnhZFN7UsMopq3_oqo5YBGb/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145410.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">All hail the new ruler of Outworld, Shao Kahn! ...again! Was weird not having him around for a couple of games.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XDNQDi1NI-Fo5RA8eEj0V_YePx7afdqU8zeCUbFy4JDSEvPTDwh4HayvxVZ9zo2Y1dsal8OyFNMDv7yy75hX78q1uv2LTV-0VgfGYfIORf8T1CQRp3-emrIOA8ILIsqJS66LPj8M5AxC6Ngat0Bpj3Yled5OhnZV4vBxtaSBf7J21Mquh5FUquroB3Jo/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145548.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7XDNQDi1NI-Fo5RA8eEj0V_YePx7afdqU8zeCUbFy4JDSEvPTDwh4HayvxVZ9zo2Y1dsal8OyFNMDv7yy75hX78q1uv2LTV-0VgfGYfIORf8T1CQRp3-emrIOA8ILIsqJS66LPj8M5AxC6Ngat0Bpj3Yled5OhnZV4vBxtaSBf7J21Mquh5FUquroB3Jo/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120145548.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The final chapter has an <i>Armageddon</i>-like mega-battle between the forces of Kahn/Sindel/Tsung and the Earthrealm brigade. While Kahn is leading the fight, Tsung is going into business for himself:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RuBWphzWZ3C6H4UsgFBYa0I76lWAOfEDlBJNCH1ZZuGlxpGsIqO9Dnk6IqRLSqdYUFFSqla6w62GH-1Ct1DbVi3o7XWjtM-HqaGL2DPYWhtW2Xkf6OrGBucBN-q2VATgphePVw3eA4K7SgMzsfkvAnHtIwM2viN3NpNyrgKPcysssNNmXDsk0Vg2iRoj/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121220336.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1RuBWphzWZ3C6H4UsgFBYa0I76lWAOfEDlBJNCH1ZZuGlxpGsIqO9Dnk6IqRLSqdYUFFSqla6w62GH-1Ct1DbVi3o7XWjtM-HqaGL2DPYWhtW2Xkf6OrGBucBN-q2VATgphePVw3eA4K7SgMzsfkvAnHtIwM2viN3NpNyrgKPcysssNNmXDsk0Vg2iRoj/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121220336.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He's got a new outfit and is young again, thanks to the time crown. His objective now is to absorb as many souls as he can to get more powerful, Cell-style.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuDQoadZlYzC1oNOo7Rnc9zD1QRg2olKmCA6Piw_LbkHmyapkr5yugQ1lmnYJWPViuO9PP-xswvdgB1btZ0LgdcJ5Lj8MItEMWCNEip9RvbGlBSxdM9APUPBBT0qgmxtBLOsQgs49BIA_NqdVh1sJEAIPoKETumqhDtOyBlU3spi9VbLj7sL7Om3VyP-V/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121220753.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuDQoadZlYzC1oNOo7Rnc9zD1QRg2olKmCA6Piw_LbkHmyapkr5yugQ1lmnYJWPViuO9PP-xswvdgB1btZ0LgdcJ5Lj8MItEMWCNEip9RvbGlBSxdM9APUPBBT0qgmxtBLOsQgs49BIA_NqdVh1sJEAIPoKETumqhDtOyBlU3spi9VbLj7sL7Om3VyP-V/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121220753.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After beating down Nightwolf and Raiden, he absorbs their souls and takes their power. My God! Raiden is dead! ...well I'm sure all of this will get reversed</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sx8QYboL3Ll3-mnnswHXN6Q_FVYopvrA7RPketykOSv4sQD0fFPZv4sC2EMkORNjwCWVooAukZFY9SIN8Dvo51TGfHPxVqJTGXoDnp1t1R9hO7isc9KtVdJdlju4T5Lzgp7R4zcsOkPpbOSX0TCn7SeZ61GZYtMxWkT6-wj-yYUzfMCLTUdskYJQFHes/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221007.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5sx8QYboL3Ll3-mnnswHXN6Q_FVYopvrA7RPketykOSv4sQD0fFPZv4sC2EMkORNjwCWVooAukZFY9SIN8Dvo51TGfHPxVqJTGXoDnp1t1R9hO7isc9KtVdJdlju4T5Lzgp7R4zcsOkPpbOSX0TCn7SeZ61GZYtMxWkT6-wj-yYUzfMCLTUdskYJQFHes/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221007.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Once the good guys are out of the way, the villains march on Present-Day Kronika.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmRw6hWm4yNhU7WhEQFQpgJxZ38vf4mnBpjo7CDEf8cp4he9uYywN5deWcCpDD8DBW_Sr4Z8qlBUIYbUtwEBigtP8CG5PMYthZmi5wn9jJvyFzh29ADu-9zZgV7i7Jx9tR864r38B0tcbdr8pUxz4Fb1454toaXPR5gJRpcEKEClaZM3hPy3pTsbDWDl_/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221131.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmRw6hWm4yNhU7WhEQFQpgJxZ38vf4mnBpjo7CDEf8cp4he9uYywN5deWcCpDD8DBW_Sr4Z8qlBUIYbUtwEBigtP8CG5PMYthZmi5wn9jJvyFzh29ADu-9zZgV7i7Jx9tR864r38B0tcbdr8pUxz4Fb1454toaXPR5gJRpcEKEClaZM3hPy3pTsbDWDl_/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221131.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They quickly get the better of Kronika, then...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXsy19d8iSuxvQQr4FB7dc5ypQOaIvmckD261hL8Xo8UMqI9AaY6PnG80h9uVBD-sr2_PMEfhHRcYoL5UlCfwaM1d320PnJB-rxCH7LzXJDuyIO1gRLTrNfOtzN3ODH_zQYy8t2rOfVdHzAjq4fDsGRKZ5DlTjeRwV9XSmsakvEOaxgBVjiI1jHUeydh2/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221147.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNXsy19d8iSuxvQQr4FB7dc5ypQOaIvmckD261hL8Xo8UMqI9AaY6PnG80h9uVBD-sr2_PMEfhHRcYoL5UlCfwaM1d320PnJB-rxCH7LzXJDuyIO1gRLTrNfOtzN3ODH_zQYy8t2rOfVdHzAjq4fDsGRKZ5DlTjeRwV9XSmsakvEOaxgBVjiI1jHUeydh2/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221147.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Tsung betrays his cohorts! I did <strike>NOT</strike> see that coming!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoUz2OnsggOqqFwM_G8zysrQMBpnTD3tS-IdHPs9Y-iZr1TKZzowp7qW40LZYseUY69_jKX60Q-rjHNx5QuHBWdIpo7xSa-R00hVXj7tnheZcHF033PuK5qO34h_fbWjLlQ5Fv88XES-gKNtMA3I_gftkFAymPTUxEFM8Oi7T3FLuNjU9id5wP-t3U4Gw/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221234.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRoUz2OnsggOqqFwM_G8zysrQMBpnTD3tS-IdHPs9Y-iZr1TKZzowp7qW40LZYseUY69_jKX60Q-rjHNx5QuHBWdIpo7xSa-R00hVXj7tnheZcHF033PuK5qO34h_fbWjLlQ5Fv88XES-gKNtMA3I_gftkFAymPTUxEFM8Oi7T3FLuNjU9id5wP-t3U4Gw/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221234.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next we get Tsung versus both of them, as he finally steps out from under Kahn's shadow.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdPlkicfYCuaxQ0J8WQtt3Mict_0jGo5lmigCieb5ujq1O9VXa9AbTvEtptRNtRjiiCTRsp6tTjeG0wIrl6pmNzv97goidoiicxXbPtOH3bezxndj-ecDziUg0Q-S9-SBWRRqAEy3G03qcoKFqW0A7moXjOryGL05Eu_fRF7sNjzu9l6yYhCODd_kj90y/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221726.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTdPlkicfYCuaxQ0J8WQtt3Mict_0jGo5lmigCieb5ujq1O9VXa9AbTvEtptRNtRjiiCTRsp6tTjeG0wIrl6pmNzv97goidoiicxXbPtOH3bezxndj-ecDziUg0Q-S9-SBWRRqAEy3G03qcoKFqW0A7moXjOryGL05Eu_fRF7sNjzu9l6yYhCODd_kj90y/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221726.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After absorbing Kahn's power, Tsung turns to Kronika, who is now very outmatched by Tsung.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6J-8nhi6yWp7by24Jtpr9An35EpyBXcKbNJHuuXySo2z1VQK28S803SQPmAAcpMhEXtzzDC8HDEIVrDcbyl2aO-6hRpTb4rY3DpAhqS8CdyAOfC2cxUyVwjEfNGSa6KBl_NvTU4VJeXBOFwtKVQufzvgauTqKCaJTvYF6D6OwapTufWT6EahMlMVKLny-/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221744.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6J-8nhi6yWp7by24Jtpr9An35EpyBXcKbNJHuuXySo2z1VQK28S803SQPmAAcpMhEXtzzDC8HDEIVrDcbyl2aO-6hRpTb4rY3DpAhqS8CdyAOfC2cxUyVwjEfNGSa6KBl_NvTU4VJeXBOFwtKVQufzvgauTqKCaJTvYF6D6OwapTufWT6EahMlMVKLny-/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121221744.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Another fight, where you get to play out Tsung's dreams of conquest by slaying the lame previous villain.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW88iv-2AbEVXAKQkGDW6vsGQ0jkElkIY1wF8NhH4FP5-x0S9ZiDIOm4xmRsJncBdyXdiJ5y-rXzFDncyXgCx1_yaCKFQj4mJcWC2gEnZq_5Gz7LZtZumpLu3pCLincTs1oUQLCWF1OasKCM2XYWTyIajXsd55G86a33qcHMieLKsQdxUTDWFgVEoC9k-N/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222105.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW88iv-2AbEVXAKQkGDW6vsGQ0jkElkIY1wF8NhH4FP5-x0S9ZiDIOm4xmRsJncBdyXdiJ5y-rXzFDncyXgCx1_yaCKFQj4mJcWC2gEnZq_5Gz7LZtZumpLu3pCLincTs1oUQLCWF1OasKCM2XYWTyIajXsd55G86a33qcHMieLKsQdxUTDWFgVEoC9k-N/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222105.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tsung drains Kronika's soul! Now he's got the power of literally every villain. This has to be the most successful Tsung has ever been. Who can possibly stop him now with all this power?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIvjGsokrxVDu8ttF_8D0Yllo65hn5cTbMmajKbbz9tcDOd3m6XIe6XJsdg5kKBAisVzcyapEA8VSPDuoJAiAvklpNDhfl5zmYWo0WS5xoiQpOXbaF4yux7dlw7u8z07cn0LVrG2YuyEcLzdjpbfXbReLpHhsY1KsfawKi1oru9ArKkmTMwiLlryfYuyI/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222142.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHIvjGsokrxVDu8ttF_8D0Yllo65hn5cTbMmajKbbz9tcDOd3m6XIe6XJsdg5kKBAisVzcyapEA8VSPDuoJAiAvklpNDhfl5zmYWo0WS5xoiQpOXbaF4yux7dlw7u8z07cn0LVrG2YuyEcLzdjpbfXbReLpHhsY1KsfawKi1oru9ArKkmTMwiLlryfYuyI/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222142.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Fire God Liu Kang, of course. This guy is an overpowered beast.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH8211jH6-Sm_zvCXTJuG_QSSqheMYpgMo3Ao3YiM65pjLCD4ptc9ZrpB07BHGtrrLRrjgiRbqI2uSxSIy5sSFwOIDb9ZQevgPGCb82raXRWZ6xLHGvdQy_G7wm5Xs7-XQ0rvBN-kVb_yud1MgOyjTn3DQniqAj3V6OUI5Ig6nQmXxay_RRFcYbBRTbvoA/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222426.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH8211jH6-Sm_zvCXTJuG_QSSqheMYpgMo3Ao3YiM65pjLCD4ptc9ZrpB07BHGtrrLRrjgiRbqI2uSxSIy5sSFwOIDb9ZQevgPGCb82raXRWZ6xLHGvdQy_G7wm5Xs7-XQ0rvBN-kVb_yud1MgOyjTn3DQniqAj3V6OUI5Ig6nQmXxay_RRFcYbBRTbvoA/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222426.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">In an interesting move, the game actually lets you decide which of these two you want to play as (i.e. win) for the final battle. I went with the good guy because that's canon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ytVVLq5SDiMaiZBDi32ZqMkb46C3d9xPA62VVIu7bwsfjE4WC4gHO8hsvArtD6TqFxsUit0464GpcpiKC6qP3SvTWxTP8J20HLWZCNi0rjgrhy2PBAKrzFuYVBZMTPxJsusgryP-GrIworqKO8CuheGQqYarDIULG18qj4yfk8ayDiEIl6MWnU1Al98R/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222515.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ytVVLq5SDiMaiZBDi32ZqMkb46C3d9xPA62VVIu7bwsfjE4WC4gHO8hsvArtD6TqFxsUit0464GpcpiKC6qP3SvTWxTP8J20HLWZCNi0rjgrhy2PBAKrzFuYVBZMTPxJsusgryP-GrIworqKO8CuheGQqYarDIULG18qj4yfk8ayDiEIl6MWnU1Al98R/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121222515.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fire God Liu Kang vs Ultima Shang Tsung (that's what I'm calling him). This is pretty much the ultimate fight of the whole series. Like, there's nowhere to go after this besides a reboot. It's <i>MK7</i> all over again. In any case, they have a great fight, which is even more epic than the final battle of Lord of the Rings.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9vujyWD6OsDEXg-a_S0zHRd7NsPWCdgQAQtlm-o11GKJ5Fj2bwLxtztMvib4L9UV3H-m3nLb9ofSU95FbBllg3Hxzub9EPqb7YgjmRJyunC93ONwbUIJz63deufS_Qfftwi9q9xl8ia75G-qqf-avi91Zd-IaWF4pCniB6KmD2dVi9dYsBQ2rnCiWA4m/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121223134.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR9vujyWD6OsDEXg-a_S0zHRd7NsPWCdgQAQtlm-o11GKJ5Fj2bwLxtztMvib4L9UV3H-m3nLb9ofSU95FbBllg3Hxzub9EPqb7YgjmRJyunC93ONwbUIJz63deufS_Qfftwi9q9xl8ia75G-qqf-avi91Zd-IaWF4pCniB6KmD2dVi9dYsBQ2rnCiWA4m/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231121223134.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">With Ultima Shang Tsung slain, all the bad guys are dead and the timeline has been stabilized. Now Liu Kang can work on fixing it. He doesn't do a very good job because <i>MK1</i> is full of multiverses and retells the story of <i>MK5-7</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Only question is, where can they go from here, since they yet again killed off a bunch of major characters and Liu Kang is so much stronger than everyone else?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Regardless, that was a really good DLC and had a lot more to it than expected. Now for one last thing, we've got... MK Movie DLC Characters. My God!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7G0Vgvlh3IQlJ4L3dJZoI8uyyv56c0HCKVimqefHi1iamJ85t6JRBaUfzJknJe__qWmc-hppmGJ1J4Pch_JiCluN1bnmr4En2TB1bRWJ9d8I9PgL94-qRYH4A-AJsGUfKx3xipe3QZ80vnHzwomgfUoMvYcfQWvDhcE2SEJVmaz2ZwFNbC6uzjNYwI2M/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120022930.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE7G0Vgvlh3IQlJ4L3dJZoI8uyyv56c0HCKVimqefHi1iamJ85t6JRBaUfzJknJe__qWmc-hppmGJ1J4Pch_JiCluN1bnmr4En2TB1bRWJ9d8I9PgL94-qRYH4A-AJsGUfKx3xipe3QZ80vnHzwomgfUoMvYcfQWvDhcE2SEJVmaz2ZwFNbC6uzjNYwI2M/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120022930.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We've got Christopher Lambert Raiden! It's a little convoluted to activate these DLC characters. You can't just select them, you have to go into Kustomize and change the character appearances manually.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkaLQ4MJROooKoIPM_inGpjUmG_kTZMRqoDOiGlNfAxz-GSFhmmGSBicdSOrigu5hadFfJkatJElG17_L2QYK3r9D4MqM2IheVF2CWR9aiTlXwPyT5ehLO3wo8oK75kFR_F2trXZTA3AJ0h8HxFIWu7YTJLuUvxHl0b_JW830TbKiflIazVRFcXDZYXHeM/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023113.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkaLQ4MJROooKoIPM_inGpjUmG_kTZMRqoDOiGlNfAxz-GSFhmmGSBicdSOrigu5hadFfJkatJElG17_L2QYK3r9D4MqM2IheVF2CWR9aiTlXwPyT5ehLO3wo8oK75kFR_F2trXZTA3AJ0h8HxFIWu7YTJLuUvxHl0b_JW830TbKiflIazVRFcXDZYXHeM/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023113.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Linden Ashby Johnny Cage! This is where we fall down.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRPw539xAqBlJhu6mhoAb7thLsTl2dmLqAm8PaQyoSGOcKyCyn7wNUfqpS_Xz8EqAWIRCZzxz3Xk-JTkLN3VCkTMyvZgvzbBwoejyANHnJKSdMIElHGsVpqsrO_gBvVRE3RBCzNeSCLwRgkGWJcx1jeeGWEvv_EMNpgEEmlSvHnbJaO_jLtTB4VI0GNBm/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023349.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRPw539xAqBlJhu6mhoAb7thLsTl2dmLqAm8PaQyoSGOcKyCyn7wNUfqpS_Xz8EqAWIRCZzxz3Xk-JTkLN3VCkTMyvZgvzbBwoejyANHnJKSdMIElHGsVpqsrO_gBvVRE3RBCzNeSCLwRgkGWJcx1jeeGWEvv_EMNpgEEmlSvHnbJaO_jLtTB4VI0GNBm/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120023349.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And most importantly, Bridgette Wilson Sonya. All of this cost a measily $3 so that's pretty cool. And the Aftermath DLC only runs about $7 these days, so you're getting a lot of bang for ten dollars. The PS5 version of the game (<i>Ultimate MK11</i>) might even include the DLC, not sure.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJajNsDaAqwHJmfRtZ9WCM7EtPZZIm_77B-bMZYoQh7XFpe5HHItqorLBDztzF67AJiV-hR-ulEksrsvp_J3nsBX5gkSl3DTxQ9iBipeMS8nEN4ehCMPcAYJrH8PQhyXx6w-HXHEGeRE1yzgCtc-EwD9vRGSTrmgvtpCNnWlp62gN4QLLegPQ1BN153gzn/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120035541.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJajNsDaAqwHJmfRtZ9WCM7EtPZZIm_77B-bMZYoQh7XFpe5HHItqorLBDztzF67AJiV-hR-ulEksrsvp_J3nsBX5gkSl3DTxQ9iBipeMS8nEN4ehCMPcAYJrH8PQhyXx6w-HXHEGeRE1yzgCtc-EwD9vRGSTrmgvtpCNnWlp62gN4QLLegPQ1BN153gzn/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120035541.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately, you can't bring the movie skin characters into story mode. Only versus mode and the arcade ladders. Still, pretty awesome.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDetcAKIZVk1JmeWxMivTeb2HmX5irVSBkjqage2DmzOxsp3nGmXN0XCB1nmFgqigGPfLJR4bvBcjfjU-y9a9Zq8kG0ouBHcKPC_9Ig_-e0Y3Q1-HvYFk_Y4s4tVgDpcrlO4IkX97cG_UIEXMhJDDc29u_dIJQ53GllfEGALaQaJsRzSY_TKU3L1NeULxC/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120042051.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDetcAKIZVk1JmeWxMivTeb2HmX5irVSBkjqage2DmzOxsp3nGmXN0XCB1nmFgqigGPfLJR4bvBcjfjU-y9a9Zq8kG0ouBHcKPC_9Ig_-e0Y3Q1-HvYFk_Y4s4tVgDpcrlO4IkX97cG_UIEXMhJDDc29u_dIJQ53GllfEGALaQaJsRzSY_TKU3L1NeULxC/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120042051.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's the iconic Ring Toss move, which now has a little bit of a Hadoken vibe to it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UcZCFthd_zY5teYxBde7SWdWNhu_HHRgY0v4YLcG32jVFlWAGucJG_5u5NkPkUucCrmTqkVBfRH0byyy6UQ8klWqqCjGUBU2GiSmWWNTJw29mwjdNtpzSprdlUaKKjf27M9dEspSGI2sfAF3ErhC4vRTJaTN6pjIgdB9VevTKYip3jJ3-SpwMDNVhmbL/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140426.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1UcZCFthd_zY5teYxBde7SWdWNhu_HHRgY0v4YLcG32jVFlWAGucJG_5u5NkPkUucCrmTqkVBfRH0byyy6UQ8klWqqCjGUBU2GiSmWWNTJw29mwjdNtpzSprdlUaKKjf27M9dEspSGI2sfAF3ErhC4vRTJaTN6pjIgdB9VevTKYip3jJ3-SpwMDNVhmbL/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140426.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sindel asks the important questions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjBgNjmuejcugEGXEPy4vUD_nWyM644xco3smE2uacSpZq07TKQ1s16n4hOE9Buz4_2g2vM8WmIZawxW5at0gKo6qgbV46CGU1MyyJYSee7E3czZfe62r-pBOjTe5mfCTTzUDh0ym-7RSYDiXtjM2ELBWqP_1lrDB3PY6awPtnNcYr1J6c_F3z-5ri3S0/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140304.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggjBgNjmuejcugEGXEPy4vUD_nWyM644xco3smE2uacSpZq07TKQ1s16n4hOE9Buz4_2g2vM8WmIZawxW5at0gKo6qgbV46CGU1MyyJYSee7E3czZfe62r-pBOjTe5mfCTTzUDh0ym-7RSYDiXtjM2ELBWqP_1lrDB3PY6awPtnNcYr1J6c_F3z-5ri3S0/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140304.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Perhaps Sonya would like to...share?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Yes" said Cage when reached for comment.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQwOeG_HFlyUhQXQvkp2rhUCsiJ2RU6HwmM_8f4glEaB7Jc5aNYTrdTvBgXMhR1emaq-87cvnRmQgxQ5VdVftQfVr2R8JBAhhpAT0HBnLlQslPMbBYv0AZkr-aU3tIY_bUoauq36rbbFazhtI6UT7iwLRJrKmQVNx79EO1ncbV766tnjglr25U0JfZdfX/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140450.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsQwOeG_HFlyUhQXQvkp2rhUCsiJ2RU6HwmM_8f4glEaB7Jc5aNYTrdTvBgXMhR1emaq-87cvnRmQgxQ5VdVftQfVr2R8JBAhhpAT0HBnLlQslPMbBYv0AZkr-aU3tIY_bUoauq36rbbFazhtI6UT7iwLRJrKmQVNx79EO1ncbV766tnjglr25U0JfZdfX/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140450.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"No" said Sonya when reached for comment. Also I'm willing to bet Johnny is a terrible lover and Sonya is embarrassed to talk about it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbHU_DEXDEJANaxtDWIVTgRk93dZ5mV8z_tR-IztdrVVzM2Ft2Tw6EccsD8LvaIWxCHFCzZE4miAIaKbg51DgLmD3S1ckQfezvIGDfl_P_nEQJUZZ8VTXHcA3By9BMULdB2N_o4yK49mirIoDvskmUNz23LpN0xhGBPIb8r_Z-Ex88PPWQFqegNojMwgl/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140532.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgbHU_DEXDEJANaxtDWIVTgRk93dZ5mV8z_tR-IztdrVVzM2Ft2Tw6EccsD8LvaIWxCHFCzZE4miAIaKbg51DgLmD3S1ckQfezvIGDfl_P_nEQJUZZ8VTXHcA3By9BMULdB2N_o4yK49mirIoDvskmUNz23LpN0xhGBPIb8r_Z-Ex88PPWQFqegNojMwgl/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140532.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Between Movie Sonya and Goddess Sindel, this is definitely the hottest MK game. Time for a montage of MK Sonya:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9oMN43z6ayJytFZaaMMrad6WJVfzhJoaYUdGQo7_D5IxMv5ZLEJl3LfH9AL3nEmspPY5GLOKWrDYffkzjflMChyphenhyphen19UrCKCpUdACKOBh-T2j8EqNLjoVsGlXrZxKoHHBEWuYoMqf96O2q3Mv8zJcAmhNXSIqrHb4BjdxvU3BlHq9zFREoLjsl5bEsh7VA/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140549.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd9oMN43z6ayJytFZaaMMrad6WJVfzhJoaYUdGQo7_D5IxMv5ZLEJl3LfH9AL3nEmspPY5GLOKWrDYffkzjflMChyphenhyphen19UrCKCpUdACKOBh-T2j8EqNLjoVsGlXrZxKoHHBEWuYoMqf96O2q3Mv8zJcAmhNXSIqrHb4BjdxvU3BlHq9zFREoLjsl5bEsh7VA/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120140549.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Live to win!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodp2rQL-peZyO9BBzJcyfT4Fe6T0Otv9osqkw6rVe8f06mvUXQ2DInp8s6WpARHVQwfy95TkB9CUSe_4171AzEV7GkcYLdyB6fQdrMXUOmRFlHZ37R48tQM1Guh1OmEBTX66g6zkJigLq9N-cMscgzvFQFgtAdU4CC4yvL7Xryk9qM5cxGx3UAo0jAQes/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040327.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgodp2rQL-peZyO9BBzJcyfT4Fe6T0Otv9osqkw6rVe8f06mvUXQ2DInp8s6WpARHVQwfy95TkB9CUSe_4171AzEV7GkcYLdyB6fQdrMXUOmRFlHZ37R48tQM1Guh1OmEBTX66g6zkJigLq9N-cMscgzvFQFgtAdU4CC4yvL7Xryk9qM5cxGx3UAo0jAQes/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040327.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Till you die!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEislY6r5MDw_MejSPsrcG4aEF_lKIOd5uRq6repM4H8struRqbTsAsOCB99lcOjpuO1IyaXYnAuxGmuEsPGEDd80TO7mxxIXTUEw3f6wKnKSgGBbGtBteUhTQg4fAHiB8ZephlC3qJayz9-C0a5YBuOLv3nKmB5hxuhsfgO-vYMu_ynSxezD0vyHEV1105L/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040451.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEislY6r5MDw_MejSPsrcG4aEF_lKIOd5uRq6repM4H8struRqbTsAsOCB99lcOjpuO1IyaXYnAuxGmuEsPGEDd80TO7mxxIXTUEw3f6wKnKSgGBbGtBteUhTQg4fAHiB8ZephlC3qJayz9-C0a5YBuOLv3nKmB5hxuhsfgO-vYMu_ynSxezD0vyHEV1105L/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040451.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Till the light dies in your eyes!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4C93BNWAt32IFwDSU-7EPWQITQa7428-CjjJtNzSmsypx8DfRiyxncpoypNCSALdabDbAL33r5CJKWiUvaz6ky3MZIF_SvCfkpJNn31nMWjivUcCOd1fmUjtcNPgB3TyNNxZdXTDvP9lA9z0I0Wfj2I3MyQHMUx113l-6hoySZPygbD58mc-uRgHqPd4w/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040616.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4C93BNWAt32IFwDSU-7EPWQITQa7428-CjjJtNzSmsypx8DfRiyxncpoypNCSALdabDbAL33r5CJKWiUvaz6ky3MZIF_SvCfkpJNn31nMWjivUcCOd1fmUjtcNPgB3TyNNxZdXTDvP9lA9z0I0Wfj2I3MyQHMUx113l-6hoySZPygbD58mc-uRgHqPd4w/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040616.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liiiive!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bcaDKJdMmCBpLOn_Z_X2QljYtDMFp5YpepFBQl3_eMT_Ek9wKjE1LTR0AX9xpLvz426HG_oz4e5kvItJCYgsRhHOk0Q07bDrNsX0Z_5gMWI1_jZeu1mEeT4BYAsnpYuIGASzgT057ASmi0z33QaJTsy39QG-EjEGUgLlvc8UPhwdeX24hhyA2wGxfcS9/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040626.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bcaDKJdMmCBpLOn_Z_X2QljYtDMFp5YpepFBQl3_eMT_Ek9wKjE1LTR0AX9xpLvz426HG_oz4e5kvItJCYgsRhHOk0Q07bDrNsX0Z_5gMWI1_jZeu1mEeT4BYAsnpYuIGASzgT057ASmi0z33QaJTsy39QG-EjEGUgLlvc8UPhwdeX24hhyA2wGxfcS9/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040626.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wiiiin!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxQiseP7zYcikC63q9Sa8EorpatMP_wuwNBSeLekEPImcMiUYMYiqNC9LQrulh0Wo6wufC18MoeU3zYUeJfg3OUfwFGJI-UD0jhEzxK8NehvOwEBTROIZSrl-UZIAS9ICnVbRwjakp2f7WU2RfylUopSNRevgSDqtNAgc7KIEPySRBbeklB9e9NdS7NO4/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040706.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzxQiseP7zYcikC63q9Sa8EorpatMP_wuwNBSeLekEPImcMiUYMYiqNC9LQrulh0Wo6wufC18MoeU3zYUeJfg3OUfwFGJI-UD0jhEzxK8NehvOwEBTROIZSrl-UZIAS9ICnVbRwjakp2f7WU2RfylUopSNRevgSDqtNAgc7KIEPySRBbeklB9e9NdS7NO4/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120040706.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liiiiive!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEj015RiSbY_CgB_L6TBT9qtHKMt4uxqf3kAVKfaXCGMTNcGlMyydZepl8dHpWBoxWb_MHkTQK9oku6gGJb8hOADRvI-KiqfXKxk6OypQ2PjiQNiJBQ6bT1LsiTDRsJgI57mUguZDR_yo24EtKbRHGCjjO4H1jB3ESpzD_BRseZ2TSOvJ2-HYGXA5j5LD/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120041429.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEj015RiSbY_CgB_L6TBT9qtHKMt4uxqf3kAVKfaXCGMTNcGlMyydZepl8dHpWBoxWb_MHkTQK9oku6gGJb8hOADRvI-KiqfXKxk6OypQ2PjiQNiJBQ6bT1LsiTDRsJgI57mUguZDR_yo24EtKbRHGCjjO4H1jB3ESpzD_BRseZ2TSOvJ2-HYGXA5j5LD/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120041429.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wiiiiin!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3TdAcAjAk1QgJIXRfmljQdEHKIFu3rH-SSSJ6Ip-pAFtGbH8VLIbhRTxDNRv6FopNkgZiJFZ96aV95jWpL8rI5pq_DbJftRllNhPb4ZUpDydSNNMXvTMkfGuQcNSTaDOtsmK82thHCnXMNKqfwn5iIqCDwV-FFAmZrpUrPDRFiJxlHvCGQa8DQrTRs5j/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120042145.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3TdAcAjAk1QgJIXRfmljQdEHKIFu3rH-SSSJ6Ip-pAFtGbH8VLIbhRTxDNRv6FopNkgZiJFZ96aV95jWpL8rI5pq_DbJftRllNhPb4ZUpDydSNNMXvTMkfGuQcNSTaDOtsmK82thHCnXMNKqfwn5iIqCDwV-FFAmZrpUrPDRFiJxlHvCGQa8DQrTRs5j/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2011_20231120042145.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, this definitely brings back some 90's memories.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xQovvsM1tzs" width="320" youtube-src-id="xQovvsM1tzs"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Sindel vs Sonya in action. The hottest fight this game could muster.</div><p style="text-align: center;">All in all, this was a terrific DLC and a good addition to <i>MK11</i>. Heck, the story here was more interesting than the base game. Combine the two of them and I'd rank this game right up there with <i>MK9</i> as the best in the main series.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdfUmQ9HgE4rQtXp70quBw13ANilOe93VnaGRX6PBhf-Un5vqKjVVWm2VrEc0EwwJFrKH-Fa9XhgKaj-lhgMXJK943k7ofTnNSn8T8w1qOnUkBmX_ZMbpwIKuk4EWrTjyJupHAA6OnxEoT_cx0eS4u_qVQWvumO3hk9GsXde_0Jsld23_uzHAqDJ3DZ_3/s562/toriyama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="474" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdfUmQ9HgE4rQtXp70quBw13ANilOe93VnaGRX6PBhf-Un5vqKjVVWm2VrEc0EwwJFrKH-Fa9XhgKaj-lhgMXJK943k7ofTnNSn8T8w1qOnUkBmX_ZMbpwIKuk4EWrTjyJupHAA6OnxEoT_cx0eS4u_qVQWvumO3hk9GsXde_0Jsld23_uzHAqDJ3DZ_3/w338-h400/toriyama.jpg" width="338" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Just got word of this. RIP Akira Toriyama. I just did the last <i>Dragonball Z: Kakarot</i> post a couple days ago too. Guy had a huge impact on a lot of lives.</p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Mortal%20Kombat" target="_blank">Other Mortal Kombat Posts</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-87555580036261665612024-03-05T16:05:00.001-05:002024-03-05T16:05:23.381-05:00Dragonball Z Kakarot Part 17 (Finale) - Gokou's Next Journey (DLC #6)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3b7yVXm4jB8R3KoC08u5FCoEZQf6A4Iqq5Y_WTC0JO1KzpFvSH0spm5XfB3DNRy7ngBAlH6TVNm39sPtat2cEXoeeCiltd8-nyh7YABwYjVnnvuH5rK5VuCp3fMVx39T89QsARJYbXDwqCDIV5LhzOVgRTstA4Ja8SuHLZBg7HFWjnXHKPO-pN03D561/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(7).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3b7yVXm4jB8R3KoC08u5FCoEZQf6A4Iqq5Y_WTC0JO1KzpFvSH0spm5XfB3DNRy7ngBAlH6TVNm39sPtat2cEXoeeCiltd8-nyh7YABwYjVnnvuH5rK5VuCp3fMVx39T89QsARJYbXDwqCDIV5LhzOVgRTstA4Ja8SuHLZBg7HFWjnXHKPO-pN03D561/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(7).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">The final episode of <i>Kakarot</i>, after years of returning to it every so often for these DLCs. Why did I start doing this game? Because it really is the best DBZ game out there.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVk4bsveKtUGAagt4lSDQMXvNWUPoRs_oMnqa7nUJ59uyhig8DKVCPS65ywXi0XS8IsFSBtDrQOIIDfY85wptu92wNtYPt7NUn3JOlmFpfPHcUsBrvQqJ2OkZOhLqX0es86b4B7zs76l2yXst8A2VLxtTu8lvIhvaSWBDbtutG-OvhZwcB9CobXcxw_JQ7/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVk4bsveKtUGAagt4lSDQMXvNWUPoRs_oMnqa7nUJ59uyhig8DKVCPS65ywXi0XS8IsFSBtDrQOIIDfY85wptu92wNtYPt7NUn3JOlmFpfPHcUsBrvQqJ2OkZOhLqX0es86b4B7zs76l2yXst8A2VLxtTu8lvIhvaSWBDbtutG-OvhZwcB9CobXcxw_JQ7/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(1).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the sixth and final DLC. Even if they decide to add more eventually, this is it for me. About 95% sure they're done though, and they've kept this game running long enough. The DLCs have gotten shorter and shorter, and this latest one is pretty tiny considering it took like 8 months since the previous one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQF-Fxo2XhGtAtqx7Ko1jL80lLDuX-BuFtUPtkrKW9Cr3ZQexe_phcUPCXOIKmF6rfWUIjATUKGk_7bzul75t25lPmxPghQZi7qAQpnThm5XVl52a1S5fWzPfyqUmrA7kjPVlNCVmVIVL18vOOpHmo5TQm90sAx47qpM9mgemVwWSVWu4wex2-mCGqXRc/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(2).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQF-Fxo2XhGtAtqx7Ko1jL80lLDuX-BuFtUPtkrKW9Cr3ZQexe_phcUPCXOIKmF6rfWUIjATUKGk_7bzul75t25lPmxPghQZi7qAQpnThm5XVl52a1S5fWzPfyqUmrA7kjPVlNCVmVIVL18vOOpHmo5TQm90sAx47qpM9mgemVwWSVWu4wex2-mCGqXRc/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We start with a quick recap of the final Buu fight, which you play out of course.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fFnbTRxONSf9x7-VhMkhgYDVaF7_64VoB-lMwRojwo19M6sfkwHngmM8D2_nI39iQSPQkzf-HqD266NpQ521aSCBOnKx7T3GQj_cYUyMvhX-Wbz15GtmgpoI_QRdQhcrMU__KyRiCBnwhhG1m0kJZ7b4qy-uTQM_c-m7YJpFw3nNJlLu_2JwKoL6AwK-/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(3).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-fFnbTRxONSf9x7-VhMkhgYDVaF7_64VoB-lMwRojwo19M6sfkwHngmM8D2_nI39iQSPQkzf-HqD266NpQ521aSCBOnKx7T3GQj_cYUyMvhX-Wbz15GtmgpoI_QRdQhcrMU__KyRiCBnwhhG1m0kJZ7b4qy-uTQM_c-m7YJpFw3nNJlLu_2JwKoL6AwK-/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(3).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This tells you right away that they had to pad things out a bit for this DLC, but I don't mind repeating the final battle of the Z series. It's a good battle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHVPDCvASZ4MMEweSf2pIWf7aUE7RXFkvPUGtg8CK-PqNXae716LTs5FRoyOyfN7H0eDWc-6moJMmrlHq62AKRMVPRnuM6X7SSBxVKQlAsZ2bauCv7iQ4smzYtPtx1d20ElvJhy6YTAFYIJsAGhzr4rJZtq_83EHEiYeWi0uZA1Jzek1RG8Q4lOjQ_nRn/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(4).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtHVPDCvASZ4MMEweSf2pIWf7aUE7RXFkvPUGtg8CK-PqNXae716LTs5FRoyOyfN7H0eDWc-6moJMmrlHq62AKRMVPRnuM6X7SSBxVKQlAsZ2bauCv7iQ4smzYtPtx1d20ElvJhy6YTAFYIJsAGhzr4rJZtq_83EHEiYeWi0uZA1Jzek1RG8Q4lOjQ_nRn/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(4).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Super Saiyan 3! Being able to transform mid-fight and use new abilities etc is an awesome aspect of this game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIlU39uaQjD3LW_N0P4Tae9sa9kezhNHIz6tVkCkTUAHB5KwsMQDjDG6_k0b_rITkY0bpBN_etOh5E7TxGUwA47H3kxXH7LstRvIKHGaAc557vyh0EkFgDClxukUD1hjv3LiGFIj9zvqR3lmSNoFS1FqpLVgNmO035QJFB3iO0kQ3Aa1uP5tRf5Hx-rWl/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(5).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDIlU39uaQjD3LW_N0P4Tae9sa9kezhNHIz6tVkCkTUAHB5KwsMQDjDG6_k0b_rITkY0bpBN_etOh5E7TxGUwA47H3kxXH7LstRvIKHGaAc557vyh0EkFgDClxukUD1hjv3LiGFIj9zvqR3lmSNoFS1FqpLVgNmO035QJFB3iO0kQ3Aa1uP5tRf5Hx-rWl/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(5).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's an RPG, kind of, except the battles play out almost like a 3D fighting game. The difference is you've got levels, stats, items, etc.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2AE6zaqbabHy1mh9ku2tbAb-YE9s06MYzt6LTpFn4nuG-EtZlYVuueqS-rxC8aKdS_yFVg0esmFejjINSomfeob34w3zbFVkfSas49aTNjqGMWz1EtPf8naEaOamxe1rgQQfru_7JtFM6KyryiP4H0IHwPML0E74zDw5R-fJ366MB8SYrrpbWhYfLs4y/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(6).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY2AE6zaqbabHy1mh9ku2tbAb-YE9s06MYzt6LTpFn4nuG-EtZlYVuueqS-rxC8aKdS_yFVg0esmFejjINSomfeob34w3zbFVkfSas49aTNjqGMWz1EtPf8naEaOamxe1rgQQfru_7JtFM6KyryiP4H0IHwPML0E74zDw5R-fJ366MB8SYrrpbWhYfLs4y/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(6).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fight finishes with a beam tug-of-war, which I just stumbled into, but it was the perfect ending to the battle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQWmwfNMF2yN51kJCw06YRMf1LYQflo37vTMYvbcTTnPn3KwJfyAnvSoY_9xnAN5vROizmUsz_ecqpTGC86imUqLD-VhUQJLC9z78CNlfIoji7G_ebx6lMg9dD-EH7uzGVW2QIOj1SSZFmAatm7mUiiFfrr2ubI8GdqBMFsUqBFvVcqwUzShmKvPwUIDQ/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(8).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivQWmwfNMF2yN51kJCw06YRMf1LYQflo37vTMYvbcTTnPn3KwJfyAnvSoY_9xnAN5vROizmUsz_ecqpTGC86imUqLD-VhUQJLC9z78CNlfIoji7G_ebx6lMg9dD-EH7uzGVW2QIOj1SSZFmAatm7mUiiFfrr2ubI8GdqBMFsUqBFvVcqwUzShmKvPwUIDQ/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(8).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cut to ten years later! Gokou is living a quiet life and training his granddaughter Pan.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">What? Dragonball Super? Shhhhh. This is <i>End of Z</i>! Nothing happened!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBV4CMWkV202bJ0YRlypM5qenaWjlzKlWRw0G7t356XW8XtER5-JGupFH1yr38CbD7LayTKZ2ssStf6O6f6PWJDX5XeXb0AFoirNA8tBFsJBj_6rkcDmxNBqbLASAJkz5kG7z-ZJAEEf_otXclQ6bZZJdEEStQlfQ78V5V4wXkvHEmBdGw_4ZNPm2Uhxoa/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(9).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBV4CMWkV202bJ0YRlypM5qenaWjlzKlWRw0G7t356XW8XtER5-JGupFH1yr38CbD7LayTKZ2ssStf6O6f6PWJDX5XeXb0AFoirNA8tBFsJBj_6rkcDmxNBqbLASAJkz5kG7z-ZJAEEf_otXclQ6bZZJdEEStQlfQ78V5V4wXkvHEmBdGw_4ZNPm2Uhxoa/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(9).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our first mission is to go fishing. <i>Kakarot</i> is good at capturing these quiet moments between the characters that we don't really get to see much of in the show.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaRzsnCm1QwgqH0aNLmjgGK08N5zIkPRcEUafbLDTdRcbzGcC91QcwzEkFkqtcTpK3v_2dsmo6F_hmMQQwOBvaBX9AL-RSoPUuFdvv-xYEXDt67CLJHbdwaga9M-u4-Ofgi5H1JS0Q9K4fDldn0mop9LwJQa6TuBgE4T_xInMMW0-Bm-QCjBUkSV6P5ae/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(10).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsaRzsnCm1QwgqH0aNLmjgGK08N5zIkPRcEUafbLDTdRcbzGcC91QcwzEkFkqtcTpK3v_2dsmo6F_hmMQQwOBvaBX9AL-RSoPUuFdvv-xYEXDt67CLJHbdwaga9M-u4-Ofgi5H1JS0Q9K4fDldn0mop9LwJQa6TuBgE4T_xInMMW0-Bm-QCjBUkSV6P5ae/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(10).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh my God, Pan is <i>adorable</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46av4UZNHEafSmZ3krSJftnVxMw5_WKZ4IhBKMsToTetxIYAqxXpaclpluQivCw46RNFs-8Go3hkj0bm8xwT2jOa3-ZM3d1UnGXtxQU2yJ2c7iXDC6MY_AC_wf4BOKcsR3QzrIdDqfCkdSHsmneFosDVj34zEACeD4PDjwCk8ahNt1SssDNU1YKCIN57D/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(11).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh46av4UZNHEafSmZ3krSJftnVxMw5_WKZ4IhBKMsToTetxIYAqxXpaclpluQivCw46RNFs-8Go3hkj0bm8xwT2jOa3-ZM3d1UnGXtxQU2yJ2c7iXDC6MY_AC_wf4BOKcsR3QzrIdDqfCkdSHsmneFosDVj34zEACeD4PDjwCk8ahNt1SssDNU1YKCIN57D/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(11).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Later, the whole family is having dinner, and Gokou announces that he's entering the next World Tournament and wants the rest of the family (the ones that can fight...so not Gohan) to also sign up. Chi-Chi correctly points out that nobody has a chance against Gokou anyway. Well, here's the thing...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6UpBqnHwESJoTKVB6Ta-BFP48RPK390_urWDkpYqkfMjXohTIKS_CpP8_ahGNC3O0rIRX6atVhAwtw-IAHiUjHEeJMfX2yV8WXH-kdRH_6cvHiOVD_1WW69AFajmi5FXXD5uInG_nG1nH4_NydmWpgf7gTzF6uFfXU_O7sjpO94m0NNdzYyn6PVXIgSs/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(12).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6UpBqnHwESJoTKVB6Ta-BFP48RPK390_urWDkpYqkfMjXohTIKS_CpP8_ahGNC3O0rIRX6atVhAwtw-IAHiUjHEeJMfX2yV8WXH-kdRH_6cvHiOVD_1WW69AFajmi5FXXD5uInG_nG1nH4_NydmWpgf7gTzF6uFfXU_O7sjpO94m0NNdzYyn6PVXIgSs/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(12).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...he wants Pan to fight in the tournament and has high hopes that she'll go far. Then they go off to train some more!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxl-H7TxmVGos5vCwc3aK61ykDNtK7X0Ix8-5mM2NiCTqjbFsLpDXkZIQb5fgzuRXkE1SasR-SMo0EAN_Ien6UzmVvGlzznt7yRugVIsP08tGxdlVeNWXi2yVDu4thwvqBb5RFEKbPREfQm_FJnqP5-NW1NhOFkrYo0KgKoq30z1p2OoVf-VaygYjZQwz6/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(13).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxl-H7TxmVGos5vCwc3aK61ykDNtK7X0Ix8-5mM2NiCTqjbFsLpDXkZIQb5fgzuRXkE1SasR-SMo0EAN_Ien6UzmVvGlzznt7yRugVIsP08tGxdlVeNWXi2yVDu4thwvqBb5RFEKbPREfQm_FJnqP5-NW1NhOFkrYo0KgKoq30z1p2OoVf-VaygYjZQwz6/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(13).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's right, Gokou is BEATING PAN. And you have to play as him for the beatings too. My God, game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl70VWKOl8Q11Mguxu5-mkJkEvrn81xypo9VoNikLoI9DFOY33nZtKk6l5a448AOftn4RfQ8_u4tcBHy6cXLiGZT6-fbqa8RiaP-Fx4YuNd_h57GpYgxOo1apLy_sPk6Y79lz2GHuWuxRD8Iu5NAgiIqfYnJlMlwN1EQhDK_-x-FNPlmYQrsmCsNwy2i2p/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(14).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl70VWKOl8Q11Mguxu5-mkJkEvrn81xypo9VoNikLoI9DFOY33nZtKk6l5a448AOftn4RfQ8_u4tcBHy6cXLiGZT6-fbqa8RiaP-Fx4YuNd_h57GpYgxOo1apLy_sPk6Y79lz2GHuWuxRD8Iu5NAgiIqfYnJlMlwN1EQhDK_-x-FNPlmYQrsmCsNwy2i2p/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(14).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They find Goten sneaking around. He's afraid to enter the tournament for some reason...or just doesn't care, since he's a teenager now and more interested in... whatever it is that he's doing in his room all the time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kkkr1zyR2HdPmkAYEtby0p6YAzy3JtiyXtapP8_oI02WhvWgNuWz7dnw50PQRojNeE0c2WgSNWDzxJLZbbKtuiDPPIPzjYz0zTmvw3lDrJNVVFZ8dwIJA_Des3L9KtIn3vnU3-Ukd_AVpcWkiT3JOc6Rtmx-dJT0O2e3Vn0eZSfe9F36qdDFOXnT_Xo8/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(15).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kkkr1zyR2HdPmkAYEtby0p6YAzy3JtiyXtapP8_oI02WhvWgNuWz7dnw50PQRojNeE0c2WgSNWDzxJLZbbKtuiDPPIPzjYz0zTmvw3lDrJNVVFZ8dwIJA_Des3L9KtIn3vnU3-Ukd_AVpcWkiT3JOc6Rtmx-dJT0O2e3Vn0eZSfe9F36qdDFOXnT_Xo8/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(15).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next, they train, and Gokou BEATS GOTEN.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpDtbuDekRD0iz0y9MLFERRmGMigCbApQQ-L-O5cE1tkEC8MQ2wFOnmIwFVdJbv7LanZE-adDReugLh7GwJvSStbUUvpkUchgCxCZNEwr_HrGFD_EmilwMy2SoeBBtr23eq8X5gdb_cWKIwS6AAf3LODHAY3JNHkvTTFDYNu_pgRL2CT0qkUrlzdQ0_yC/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(16).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpDtbuDekRD0iz0y9MLFERRmGMigCbApQQ-L-O5cE1tkEC8MQ2wFOnmIwFVdJbv7LanZE-adDReugLh7GwJvSStbUUvpkUchgCxCZNEwr_HrGFD_EmilwMy2SoeBBtr23eq8X5gdb_cWKIwS6AAf3LODHAY3JNHkvTTFDYNu_pgRL2CT0qkUrlzdQ0_yC/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(16).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Vegeta is all mellow and middle-aged now. They tell Goten to cancel a date he's supposed to go on and fight in the tournament. There'll be plenty of time to date later! Unless there isn't. Maybe he'll get older and realize life passed him by and he never really dated anybody because he was too busy playing video games and training for tournaments. I mean Gokou and Gohan lucked into their girlfriends, who's to say Goten will be so lucky? Let him go on a date while he can.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCoSNGCmQkBPslxS_dkawWQO2DfkBi-V4Ck8hy_wzFYxq-gsGMjlmmS_EL3ibJDwt-IRpD3hnPRi7uqeGobyMVDI_Sppn5zyJklYA8NnTMoB6DsAzG7gFDRXxjE9xDmjPUBOQiyyNGfUzjucN2sBjzpFMpxplIm9OyfAXJEi6qwxhxDWY0qbh-Fpd-hj8/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(17).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyCoSNGCmQkBPslxS_dkawWQO2DfkBi-V4Ck8hy_wzFYxq-gsGMjlmmS_EL3ibJDwt-IRpD3hnPRi7uqeGobyMVDI_Sppn5zyJklYA8NnTMoB6DsAzG7gFDRXxjE9xDmjPUBOQiyyNGfUzjucN2sBjzpFMpxplIm9OyfAXJEi6qwxhxDWY0qbh-Fpd-hj8/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(17).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pan warms up for the tournament by flying in a circle around the entire planet really fast. This wunderkind seems to be super-powerful for her size/age.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So who's going to be the hero of the next Dragonball series? Is it...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">A) Vegeta</div><div style="text-align: center;">B) Broly</div><div style="text-align: center;">C) Uub</div><div style="text-align: center;">D) Pan</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well wait, we all know it'll be Gokou again. Also we have a lot of unfinished business with things like Beast Gohan and Black Freeza. I assume we'll get that series eventually. Maybe the one after that will be the Pan series, who knows? I'm just surprised Super has been off the air for six years now. Previous DBZ posts over the years always had me saying "I'm sure Super will come back soon enough" and it never actually did. Do the owners of DBZ not want to make tons of money?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rHAbrkAeRx5xJUMplC86xYL6K97qb1zeB_pk8TYr3I3f_TM_WeZnl5IDVUTymt98eBgVUL1dEjvdJGqOFZe5BohGzX6Z-4LLPysceAn57eSI-B8Kf_rza7jqkaNxsx-VfNoc2vwHw84iPhwB1ly-e3EkJaPjjG1WA_7aczdxFWXu1Whff81WEAEID9b1/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(18).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-rHAbrkAeRx5xJUMplC86xYL6K97qb1zeB_pk8TYr3I3f_TM_WeZnl5IDVUTymt98eBgVUL1dEjvdJGqOFZe5BohGzX6Z-4LLPysceAn57eSI-B8Kf_rza7jqkaNxsx-VfNoc2vwHw84iPhwB1ly-e3EkJaPjjG1WA_7aczdxFWXu1Whff81WEAEID9b1/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(18).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Bulma points out that Pan shouldn't be fighting adults. lol tell that to Gokou. Nope, the intent here is for her to fight in the grown-up division.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEily4dTkKVAnxiit05F_hrvY3lvSjn6Y9ZjjtHzLR1Zyblmx3kkHhLj0XqRoKhU3DqC7b7E9msX_nvL6iOCsFLNvdEk1yQiRzm_VDK-K3iyVotRIOVmfb7oaZI7yx1w_y12UnTSWWdQyCr2s7mkQTUoKe6fPoZJdvtxWJYDYs0cXLNR-WzjzuC2WB8rnd9Y/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(20).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEily4dTkKVAnxiit05F_hrvY3lvSjn6Y9ZjjtHzLR1Zyblmx3kkHhLj0XqRoKhU3DqC7b7E9msX_nvL6iOCsFLNvdEk1yQiRzm_VDK-K3iyVotRIOVmfb7oaZI7yx1w_y12UnTSWWdQyCr2s7mkQTUoKe6fPoZJdvtxWJYDYs0cXLNR-WzjzuC2WB8rnd9Y/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(20).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Chi-Chi has worrisome news. She hasn't been able to reach Master Roshi on the phone. Has he finally croaked? He's been like 80 years old for about 40 years now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuPxoAOt-fdGt7wF5o2_9rnXN8GVlx3sLXrgTLCezLB38AHZnOYt-FmENWlj6rysUQoDr1CnvQWq7EYiYx1TC73ZPJKD_M_KB6u2WrVZmop1p0zcgzowdfypVR0VMTbYsqdfHMkpAf95Um3AFVd3ckLbmXJ1RHpJQbA7VD9uDlJUytMkCsXRWdxLR5CJxh/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(21).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuPxoAOt-fdGt7wF5o2_9rnXN8GVlx3sLXrgTLCezLB38AHZnOYt-FmENWlj6rysUQoDr1CnvQWq7EYiYx1TC73ZPJKD_M_KB6u2WrVZmop1p0zcgzowdfypVR0VMTbYsqdfHMkpAf95Um3AFVd3ckLbmXJ1RHpJQbA7VD9uDlJUytMkCsXRWdxLR5CJxh/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(21).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Look at this fantastic world map. You could spend tens of hours living in the Dragonball world if you wanted to with this game. As a kid I would have loved to have something like this.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7AFR_I5nFRnIQoM2p82kEbT17cKloCP3lRPpZkOk2Si-vo-vcWBkjvTD4DssKfl9QsGBf7lW4kOx-WVunMoBgapfw3f17CzoBMNaJjSTKYCZpI-l23l554Gp4HFcXSJbYMcZgBVUO2ZJBnZGpaOmaANEJVinhq0PyuQU2G8_Xz5PA-3yr3PKCw-DWsv0/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(23).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_7AFR_I5nFRnIQoM2p82kEbT17cKloCP3lRPpZkOk2Si-vo-vcWBkjvTD4DssKfl9QsGBf7lW4kOx-WVunMoBgapfw3f17CzoBMNaJjSTKYCZpI-l23l554Gp4HFcXSJbYMcZgBVUO2ZJBnZGpaOmaANEJVinhq0PyuQU2G8_Xz5PA-3yr3PKCw-DWsv0/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(23).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gokou soars over to Kame House to check on him. Not sure why he didn't just instant-transmission, but that power is so fundamentally broken that I'm not surprised they're just ignoring it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOu0HYtXgBDFE2t_mYKKVTeeEeScnpQ2EcFx2ck10YPEnSo_fZmacww6nzfLLwrYEdYZIw81PUK0hO9AdxZh-KYm8kC1jROKF7WOTPiZz1EBaeaVgqfAmUL6JpgwKUTxndv7XHGgR5IYpS7l5PzAZF8L6C5zJTq-arnaTKjGF4RsuR8dgqpOiWmHoEa7f/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(22).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOu0HYtXgBDFE2t_mYKKVTeeEeScnpQ2EcFx2ck10YPEnSo_fZmacww6nzfLLwrYEdYZIw81PUK0hO9AdxZh-KYm8kC1jROKF7WOTPiZz1EBaeaVgqfAmUL6JpgwKUTxndv7XHGgR5IYpS7l5PzAZF8L6C5zJTq-arnaTKjGF4RsuR8dgqpOiWmHoEa7f/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(22).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Phew, Roshi is still alive. His phone is out, because some Freeza Force rando goon is hacking into the phone lines to collect info for Freeza. This leads to a sidequest where you fly over to another island and beat up said goon to get the phone working again.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghx6U7bRbF60JyuuRO8cj36Ei3U1Z_3dpY0Gco4XiYuKoJWz8ZOB0WYg_6oM-vOJDqIoY6YCevsljd91-57INvT4YE_h54PSBohNHED-0xJhWZiE4KyHtQbkXkBsbJz4LyukQ2dZB85HxSe3qt_OntkJIx8Dmu6p8AeLmp7gdIvTzzr6retZEPM_Wz0Jtx/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(24).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghx6U7bRbF60JyuuRO8cj36Ei3U1Z_3dpY0Gco4XiYuKoJWz8ZOB0WYg_6oM-vOJDqIoY6YCevsljd91-57INvT4YE_h54PSBohNHED-0xJhWZiE4KyHtQbkXkBsbJz4LyukQ2dZB85HxSe3qt_OntkJIx8Dmu6p8AeLmp7gdIvTzzr6retZEPM_Wz0Jtx/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(24).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Back to the main plot, Gohan's house is lined with books, no surprise.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLJAGG0ZVjUFYcUTmxO3aQrI79NZIFbgAonK6ermIY_dNligmkGxICVckDEwBF9U4yb7vDswIXyajyFjCZrxLmL_CCOUov8u8vkdcH6lZylyXOV1MF_oS6Gdy6e36dlLpFzuDTJNQ8tWFDisTHwbuO1QSyA7yncUouwDNUAOAZVgLRCZpM6tCMtwa0SjNM/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(25).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLJAGG0ZVjUFYcUTmxO3aQrI79NZIFbgAonK6ermIY_dNligmkGxICVckDEwBF9U4yb7vDswIXyajyFjCZrxLmL_CCOUov8u8vkdcH6lZylyXOV1MF_oS6Gdy6e36dlLpFzuDTJNQ8tWFDisTHwbuO1QSyA7yncUouwDNUAOAZVgLRCZpM6tCMtwa0SjNM/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(25).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our heroes arrive at the World Tournament, and Pan is the most excited out of all of them. Everyone else is all jaded and "been there done that" but for Pan this is all new.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UTZXa5xJQQuviwOZbNQ0BvfOPpnXvbDkEDXTt9UQfG_A7K3uZJpbJIT7IdT0BCSamJkNopW1J6iQPKbzMky0D9CQSV0wji04p2WCn-2FRqfBtmDFAB2VUZu3p66yaGdKtx48OR9iaKTU9DyDtk_vO3zU02oHRFf1rJ6yaF17jMZOIYiIXrH5l0nmmS9h/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(26).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UTZXa5xJQQuviwOZbNQ0BvfOPpnXvbDkEDXTt9UQfG_A7K3uZJpbJIT7IdT0BCSamJkNopW1J6iQPKbzMky0D9CQSV0wji04p2WCn-2FRqfBtmDFAB2VUZu3p66yaGdKtx48OR9iaKTU9DyDtk_vO3zU02oHRFf1rJ6yaF17jMZOIYiIXrH5l0nmmS9h/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(26).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Goten is suited up for battle and looks a hell of a lot like Yamcha. It's sort of like Yamcha has gotten a second life. I hope this doesn't mean Goten is going to be the resident perennial jobber character in future DB material...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifisksXV2JlbrFHZY35VHzwlFk2s8V7q2HcHNyWemNmwjY42PuoHL-rn8kEwunCjTlIDPeLw1gUHNFQbBHDmkHxkWGEd36-zGm5RdwUh4O9F5-8sl4lFNQckUf2EH0qaQZU3HQJPMyKSC2tazyaF1c4kTX2HVomVQ1075lEc_N_lXztF9JNn7INwyyz0Lm/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(27).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifisksXV2JlbrFHZY35VHzwlFk2s8V7q2HcHNyWemNmwjY42PuoHL-rn8kEwunCjTlIDPeLw1gUHNFQbBHDmkHxkWGEd36-zGm5RdwUh4O9F5-8sl4lFNQckUf2EH0qaQZU3HQJPMyKSC2tazyaF1c4kTX2HVomVQ1075lEc_N_lXztF9JNn7INwyyz0Lm/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(27).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pan sees her other grandpa, Mr. Satan, and unlike most of the cast he actually does look older. He's rooting for Pan to win the tournament.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxZ82-nnBw7E2vpqpoOACoJE69KtGJujXECZUZpdDqc_W9P5bgk4wXRUq1a7TLLhyphenhyphen71D5-XU83arVcinN2myvfkk4InDFOgnkKWLfuubQmiTHbKTKpQ1rpGCQ4cCYVrjZWXfDGdsxb_g42ZuGmZEh21iC0pq4-FaeGGaMoocFwvgxTqRDsxabIYMANmAd/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(30).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxZ82-nnBw7E2vpqpoOACoJE69KtGJujXECZUZpdDqc_W9P5bgk4wXRUq1a7TLLhyphenhyphen71D5-XU83arVcinN2myvfkk4InDFOgnkKWLfuubQmiTHbKTKpQ1rpGCQ4cCYVrjZWXfDGdsxb_g42ZuGmZEh21iC0pq4-FaeGGaMoocFwvgxTqRDsxabIYMANmAd/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(30).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But wait! Here's the mysterious Uub, who hails from a distant village. He's super-powerful, despite appearing to be just a regular human boy. He needs to win the tournament to get the prize money and feed his starving villagers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1k40YBnCDizOxghdsHmHIDg8ajE-bPksdmwjMra3EMdnYTlZ72HSMz0an-xMxxpd9Gp-hry_YxoiCx_Xnq3Sc4SLYqr-zPUdZuDgaAsJLzSH7nPi9o5XIgNqLLK2sn7YkrINN55GJWRbJ5KDYvO9b-og8v457gDGmJRw_3AZCShK9mfgzvYgke35yne8X/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(31).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1k40YBnCDizOxghdsHmHIDg8ajE-bPksdmwjMra3EMdnYTlZ72HSMz0an-xMxxpd9Gp-hry_YxoiCx_Xnq3Sc4SLYqr-zPUdZuDgaAsJLzSH7nPi9o5XIgNqLLK2sn7YkrINN55GJWRbJ5KDYvO9b-og8v457gDGmJRw_3AZCShK9mfgzvYgke35yne8X/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(31).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gokou immediately knows what Uub is. Uub...is the reincarnation of Kid Buu. Gokou asked him to come back as a good person in the next life, and...uh...it just kinda happened. Not sure how Gokou knew that would work, or that he'd be here, or what. Uub doesn't know any of this and has no memory of his previous life.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pQob5T1X2Obo_bYZkSeQqBkic4qih_RZ5P8OO6iSmgrfzLSsxSkW9muFgmyVwUZF6reMNNbvywcm3cpOGhmC3IdFsibgSu9U-w3OiACjue4kPfPscpXIW-wl1QiE6D629hEWEbBepZ4vy_FZJVeLtuVcUuDpu9ePcIBK1bj6TEgyWCDvfjwBHnPhTIwJ/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(32).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-pQob5T1X2Obo_bYZkSeQqBkic4qih_RZ5P8OO6iSmgrfzLSsxSkW9muFgmyVwUZF6reMNNbvywcm3cpOGhmC3IdFsibgSu9U-w3OiACjue4kPfPscpXIW-wl1QiE6D629hEWEbBepZ4vy_FZJVeLtuVcUuDpu9ePcIBK1bj6TEgyWCDvfjwBHnPhTIwJ/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(32).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">IT'S BUU SPELLED BACKWARDS GUYS</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPJFaYHYCdBSwORtSUoy-6uRwqXTjkxj4KQE-MONsj9x4wQQz2FMW_5yWBKEcLYODfdtHe_C-AfWw7PNYRotPffmxvRq6sEsFkonMZKvUzBf0Bfq3L2fCLKzTcUqLadmjyxOIkVzAmKaHjQIjDSagOAGb_WZfsnkBKzGNGkU3S9X-B8ZJ76Hwnu83an2d/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(33).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIPJFaYHYCdBSwORtSUoy-6uRwqXTjkxj4KQE-MONsj9x4wQQz2FMW_5yWBKEcLYODfdtHe_C-AfWw7PNYRotPffmxvRq6sEsFkonMZKvUzBf0Bfq3L2fCLKzTcUqLadmjyxOIkVzAmKaHjQIjDSagOAGb_WZfsnkBKzGNGkU3S9X-B8ZJ76Hwnu83an2d/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(33).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some guy walks over and starts old-shaming Vegeta, who then backhands him clear out of the arena. I'm pretty sure he just murdered that guy!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Also...Vegeta is "old"? Japan!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW421bee7Tm_X1DQlNZn67-qu03olaST4X6gFROLprhj1chuY60Oy0NJuiJBGNSU_qOxw7zvob5dHF539GEk0DNbcEIqVORklS00YUl1X1IMwshkmNCDyQ8iejw1d5Bpftu1tOO3C3_v2OCoCPgnLHQ6_y_WWaHL6cCubRwIXEWXDd6PrS38paPs0QQxxB/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(29).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW421bee7Tm_X1DQlNZn67-qu03olaST4X6gFROLprhj1chuY60Oy0NJuiJBGNSU_qOxw7zvob5dHF539GEk0DNbcEIqVORklS00YUl1X1IMwshkmNCDyQ8iejw1d5Bpftu1tOO3C3_v2OCoCPgnLHQ6_y_WWaHL6cCubRwIXEWXDd6PrS38paPs0QQxxB/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(29).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">You only get to play out two tournament fights. Gokou vs Uub obviously, and Pan vs... Wild Tiger? Who?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyUKk8wyY_U-Ic8T77vhhrcmf-RBHBnoBzHDpvBofHuYGGd7eby518_8shE8J3V47im_Q87Jg-eZvBM7xTs1zX_hGrRzfph3U35dqokV3pfgCIcH1jFpVru4QAATmPJNDLG4oYlaOD30FnA5zYjFyCLp8-t8X4AwvBKCEW_r41HxTUFFPskifdrKqmTIx7/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(34).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyUKk8wyY_U-Ic8T77vhhrcmf-RBHBnoBzHDpvBofHuYGGd7eby518_8shE8J3V47im_Q87Jg-eZvBM7xTs1zX_hGrRzfph3U35dqokV3pfgCIcH1jFpVru4QAATmPJNDLG4oYlaOD30FnA5zYjFyCLp8-t8X4AwvBKCEW_r41HxTUFFPskifdrKqmTIx7/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(34).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I expected this guy to just be some jobber, but he's actually REALLY strong and poses a legitimate threat to Pan.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFW7Jr6gOjcVX2lT39J-lYUJz1lAwa3KpJzoFj5YQs1nxMlmoB0Rq4M8hxmg_5_ztJCZC2wa6lRqTQO9vC5D3uXFL7kzhduoweORpI4tW_dHL4XzRz8ZOQU3gGnlR9IjRJcwz75LE7k4tEtsliEYxK4QMJMSu6kr2SpruGvlV8dbyqRNbFyFN8pOvLY6jb/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(35).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFW7Jr6gOjcVX2lT39J-lYUJz1lAwa3KpJzoFj5YQs1nxMlmoB0Rq4M8hxmg_5_ztJCZC2wa6lRqTQO9vC5D3uXFL7kzhduoweORpI4tW_dHL4XzRz8ZOQU3gGnlR9IjRJcwz75LE7k4tEtsliEYxK4QMJMSu6kr2SpruGvlV8dbyqRNbFyFN8pOvLY6jb/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(35).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Also wondering what the fans in attendance must be thinking, seeing this small tyke locking horns with this giant muscleman.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_oaa9AVu7gnK2pc9Ar1M5Bqn3swQujG5yEDm3rjR8hTNt7Cc1zytqmbCa3aW3Phtv6coA53yLRDjELQXRibmZlwwXbXVA6dYJKDLvFgR5NP6wTtVW-q49jsFNzlZWxy3Jo37lS6-eljLqnDXYnUanhhDuLIPTAfGY7_M-3cpKgUGKa7bKEn74yEArr7m/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(36).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih_oaa9AVu7gnK2pc9Ar1M5Bqn3swQujG5yEDm3rjR8hTNt7Cc1zytqmbCa3aW3Phtv6coA53yLRDjELQXRibmZlwwXbXVA6dYJKDLvFgR5NP6wTtVW-q49jsFNzlZWxy3Jo37lS6-eljLqnDXYnUanhhDuLIPTAfGY7_M-3cpKgUGKa7bKEn74yEArr7m/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(36).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After that we get Gokou vs Uub, also a first-round match. Detecting Uub's great power, Piccolo calls this the real main event.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJLbpiZE-bo2OTOWaJnuRblS7RA2og9c9KJLk2Z7KumgGzRyi5myHJzh2Bh7O5i0rJWzCdmNKhhqbrrdU5qigPKc6f-mlsO0ZRCuNwr7WBteK3FxljEOYhev1MZ3R2CkdV6e4nYP8rooWMkIbkbboDHQlGB6Rz4laxudeHiUf37EmJwboKn9kxskxG3TU/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(28).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtJLbpiZE-bo2OTOWaJnuRblS7RA2og9c9KJLk2Z7KumgGzRyi5myHJzh2Bh7O5i0rJWzCdmNKhhqbrrdU5qigPKc6f-mlsO0ZRCuNwr7WBteK3FxljEOYhev1MZ3R2CkdV6e4nYP8rooWMkIbkbboDHQlGB6Rz4laxudeHiUf37EmJwboKn9kxskxG3TU/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(28).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Looks like our heroes are watching the fight from a nearby nuclear testing bunker, <i>Oppenheimer</i> style.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_Z4bbVhQOBCBtb7JwVMlDayGRli_VI-yOkJ8BKwpMFbHk_ij8V5VB_x0jJXWOzG9Dywcs_z3WsDBQR3B7j0r73oIH_bJ-tKKF3VLnV_ynX9qVbyzjQcfOUsed1Ofj4l2ipIydMf_m5rdqZ5yyuyxmlblxoTm4iYKM9yAOh7rw1OVorQz8xfRUeUC5_1q/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(37).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF_Z4bbVhQOBCBtb7JwVMlDayGRli_VI-yOkJ8BKwpMFbHk_ij8V5VB_x0jJXWOzG9Dywcs_z3WsDBQR3B7j0r73oIH_bJ-tKKF3VLnV_ynX9qVbyzjQcfOUsed1Ofj4l2ipIydMf_m5rdqZ5yyuyxmlblxoTm4iYKM9yAOh7rw1OVorQz8xfRUeUC5_1q/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(37).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">There are two fights with Uub, and the first is pretty easy. You just kinda manhandle the guy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlqKnOnPaeKCWv4kVcMwzE2K8qdN2wSXHTI4lK6iLv5DCFOxsk0_MDbcxvvhpayQ5xiz3fzqqVuyOPhZg5PW2VTWBWLybfcBn2v0Wnk4f9E87fROmiZzl7fXJpcmOjA31HgUWExH4Nn3YFxTogRk3SkOB15rx3uUxqluXbsbNMkaJKZ2ATBIuBH5ykPiY/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(38).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdlqKnOnPaeKCWv4kVcMwzE2K8qdN2wSXHTI4lK6iLv5DCFOxsk0_MDbcxvvhpayQ5xiz3fzqqVuyOPhZg5PW2VTWBWLybfcBn2v0Wnk4f9E87fROmiZzl7fXJpcmOjA31HgUWExH4Nn3YFxTogRk3SkOB15rx3uUxqluXbsbNMkaJKZ2ATBIuBH5ykPiY/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(38).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Second fight, the platform is all cracked and Uub has now powered-up with pink Buu energy. In this fight Uub is way more of a threat and easily the toughest fight in this DLC. Flight is disabled for the tournament fights, so no running away during the fight, and healing items are also inexplicably disabled. This might be the only time in the game where that's the case, and contributes to this fight being tough.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgorgISxOkzE7w-zGZsZT5A0ix7xuLdP_KrVGQcMPR9zoouNKMED3x-2getG7MbF83_Au-80jy_D-9hdAbOhTT7FOjbTVMj8j9j7xaPeAYsHneKvOH8_UHyvjljFx9jCvB0ua-DjgSGTeN8VjaTOIpyWu_xHvj9J6l-SF4UUvJ1KXyaFR_3gi1_c2g7D3/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(39).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgorgISxOkzE7w-zGZsZT5A0ix7xuLdP_KrVGQcMPR9zoouNKMED3x-2getG7MbF83_Au-80jy_D-9hdAbOhTT7FOjbTVMj8j9j7xaPeAYsHneKvOH8_UHyvjljFx9jCvB0ua-DjgSGTeN8VjaTOIpyWu_xHvj9J6l-SF4UUvJ1KXyaFR_3gi1_c2g7D3/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(39).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Took me 3 tries, but I got him. Oh, and also Super Saiyan transformations were disabled! The main reason I lost twice was because I kept discovering surprises like these.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkssg0yyLnDz_EHJY8U_fx78DWrw0mx8-rqLhOMxcuZxnVbr9HJQZTXmndJJKG5boJUzmSaX6XrZHC8jyAoR1Zs85jD3ihn7atUbB5RBOR9-LTRvwgA7t6CdvbmzQ45xNUHbM3hJqM6f00cdVgZnJZemyuuu1qSG2KcPcZTSOS0ApV8jw-XF1pErF8eG54/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(40).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkssg0yyLnDz_EHJY8U_fx78DWrw0mx8-rqLhOMxcuZxnVbr9HJQZTXmndJJKG5boJUzmSaX6XrZHC8jyAoR1Zs85jD3ihn7atUbB5RBOR9-LTRvwgA7t6CdvbmzQ45xNUHbM3hJqM6f00cdVgZnJZemyuuu1qSG2KcPcZTSOS0ApV8jw-XF1pErF8eG54/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(40).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Third time, I won by a good margin with plenty of HP left over. Gokou knocks Uub out of the ring...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlZUz_DSmGSFuRsfmo8_Ks6taYR4N4fdE-UHA4sZl7ayIrNFrRUwSnWrtW2XoTMt_dgDlb57a15OA4EN2IAQz-Zarccd7gcvloU4Uupft8-DNa8NAJrf5yo0xxTLTJ5lkg4b0-sC1W__j0Cqe2eQKy3cOSgFCXXkW1lyfMluMCAfWajUgbewg6F-gBpTW/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(41).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlZUz_DSmGSFuRsfmo8_Ks6taYR4N4fdE-UHA4sZl7ayIrNFrRUwSnWrtW2XoTMt_dgDlb57a15OA4EN2IAQz-Zarccd7gcvloU4Uupft8-DNa8NAJrf5yo0xxTLTJ5lkg4b0-sC1W__j0Cqe2eQKy3cOSgFCXXkW1lyfMluMCAfWajUgbewg6F-gBpTW/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(41).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...and catches him, rescuing him from a ring-out.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoZIaJsmpgGM_i8sLs06aGqk_g4-5Z0UibE-aNY4ajwSBP07hSKXNBa4-mMMga6DF7Bt8R4fhJ6ew9MSD8hehfbbgS4Oid12cIAlCXqOMYh894EUBZ3Z-e_Z7tbDgHgKNRPngO7mBXsAFZbE96eN3uyZTgU9S73Xor8dyt5ODpyPLiOYExhMdUSlzz4vo/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(42).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieoZIaJsmpgGM_i8sLs06aGqk_g4-5Z0UibE-aNY4ajwSBP07hSKXNBa4-mMMga6DF7Bt8R4fhJ6ew9MSD8hehfbbgS4Oid12cIAlCXqOMYh894EUBZ3Z-e_Z7tbDgHgKNRPngO7mBXsAFZbE96eN3uyZTgU9S73Xor8dyt5ODpyPLiOYExhMdUSlzz4vo/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(42).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gokou basically annoints Uub as the new protector of Earth when he's gone. Really? Not Pan or Gohan or Goten? This kid who he knows nothing about except that he's reincarnated from a demon?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3jUrII0CI20hkj8Wvgejmh9OnEQTKgBxRtAy-4N2oMzE18OzISOjWh1DnWnP4boE305AekCbEd18x6v1THNYX5jEVU8cutSkxVNnUC-vTaF6Vay22-ukY6Trf76pUUK8_0afJ_ChW3MsTLwyHaN6re6UDBqY5p-Npq-alpla9sQIAobljllScftXf3fO/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(43).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3jUrII0CI20hkj8Wvgejmh9OnEQTKgBxRtAy-4N2oMzE18OzISOjWh1DnWnP4boE305AekCbEd18x6v1THNYX5jEVU8cutSkxVNnUC-vTaF6Vay22-ukY6Trf76pUUK8_0afJ_ChW3MsTLwyHaN6re6UDBqY5p-Npq-alpla9sQIAobljllScftXf3fO/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(43).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gokou visits the Fallout Shelter to let everyone know that he's like, gonna go take off and live with Uub now. BYE!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZf17oWTAsOC_74_-4KAv1bXcJYIX6fvoWwyRJRSKiosl3Sf1ssiYM5kqLU9W6WeziapA1KsOQlTc9U-WEIMA07NUrRyH2yoDLVNtm_x1h2XnTqK5acXiyHguxrbastlL8wYeiAY5qmm7yBC8MdM9hdXtEdhyphenhyphenXeeuLuHw422TNTaTzamUW8qUZWz6lsYz2/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(44).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZf17oWTAsOC_74_-4KAv1bXcJYIX6fvoWwyRJRSKiosl3Sf1ssiYM5kqLU9W6WeziapA1KsOQlTc9U-WEIMA07NUrRyH2yoDLVNtm_x1h2XnTqK5acXiyHguxrbastlL8wYeiAY5qmm7yBC8MdM9hdXtEdhyphenhyphenXeeuLuHw422TNTaTzamUW8qUZWz6lsYz2/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(44).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Pan is devastated. For one thing, it's kind of ridiculous that he's just abandoning Pan like this to go live with Uub. For another, he has instant transmission, so he could pop in every day if he wanted to, but again they just kinda ignore that and the implication is that he'll be gone for a few years.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vK_fjCVfiW1zkNkYIz1lfcjDtr_ukQHt9fEsB21Vf0dxoAYB3mRON_ZQWiHDLzvEsIBbgWxNhd-dsVpDnZsQO9_9HMPWQqT4BRqTVh4MWKHhiHzW8ZGX4-t6yNkhrAmrILXBgo7lIMAArjebwGf_Z9o2z3TP7dyz2CaK2zPEmbUdAZE4h_sdhjpYhj2j/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(45).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_vK_fjCVfiW1zkNkYIz1lfcjDtr_ukQHt9fEsB21Vf0dxoAYB3mRON_ZQWiHDLzvEsIBbgWxNhd-dsVpDnZsQO9_9HMPWQqT4BRqTVh4MWKHhiHzW8ZGX4-t6yNkhrAmrILXBgo7lIMAArjebwGf_Z9o2z3TP7dyz2CaK2zPEmbUdAZE4h_sdhjpYhj2j/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(45).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gokou and Uub fly off, forfeiting their tournament match in a double-DQ. Uub can't fly yet, despite his vast power. Just needs to be taught, which is what Gokou is gonna do.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wait, what about the tournament prize money and feeding his village? Are they just forgetting that whole thing? Maybe Gokou is gonna feed everyone with his fishing skills.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And who actually wins the tournament since these two forfeited out? We don't know, they don't tell us. Though it stands to reason that it's either Pan, Goten, or Vegeta, since they're the only other powerful people there. Pan is the only one who really seemed to want to be there or win, so it would have been cool to see her beat Slacker Goten in the final round or something after Vegeta no-showed his matches. I don't know, I'm just making up the booking here. They spent a lot of time building up that Pan was competing, only to just sorta leave that story hanging.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOnbPW8v6wnCvW1lK90NfxTvFNTklIHVYRWlVuGlMzfajt04Wmwp-Gio0_YDi3f_6PSDIR6BVFJYC8GlN7z3ZJtL-kgQ7vHdBXKAPROeAnLIkP3hFQoQBYwlhrTSa9V96pxHh73gWhn2vnBo4wEKUBmzltXsS_8NbzKhmRQYOcTTSihDscMLa8egrsrNj/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(46).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOnbPW8v6wnCvW1lK90NfxTvFNTklIHVYRWlVuGlMzfajt04Wmwp-Gio0_YDi3f_6PSDIR6BVFJYC8GlN7z3ZJtL-kgQ7vHdBXKAPROeAnLIkP3hFQoQBYwlhrTSa9V96pxHh73gWhn2vnBo4wEKUBmzltXsS_8NbzKhmRQYOcTTSihDscMLa8egrsrNj/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(46).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Annnnd that's it for <i>Kakarot</i>. Great game here, even if it might be a bit of an acquired taste. I don't think you can do better than this for a game that really fleshes out the world of DBZ and lets you explore/train/interact with the cast. Just a superb game all around.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wait a minute, who's that guy above Gokou, in the middle there, with the beige jacket? Never seen him before.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukvUJaZ1pTd5XdwfrBPLRjmUsB-UHDyDw6iUC5M4vCd6uXOAU41EZ6RgmH2bYi5sn2VMYyO7UDuXDaSDY7F5eCurIaC2YFE4DeDW2h-pj_XYhd-voo1LdfODFPPnNablcj6ZjoVJ2gii4JVQS7fb-ddUqVtnWIv3F9oSGVAp6grKM9whgfxc8Pz5EZvvl/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(47).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukvUJaZ1pTd5XdwfrBPLRjmUsB-UHDyDw6iUC5M4vCd6uXOAU41EZ6RgmH2bYi5sn2VMYyO7UDuXDaSDY7F5eCurIaC2YFE4DeDW2h-pj_XYhd-voo1LdfODFPPnNablcj6ZjoVJ2gii4JVQS7fb-ddUqVtnWIv3F9oSGVAp6grKM9whgfxc8Pz5EZvvl/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(47).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">As with all of the DLCs, there's some extra content here. Go back, and you can do an optional side-story where Gokou tells Pan stories about all of the great battles of the series. What follows is...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwlQ6jDVhBsqXmRXCN_TaUgrH3pS2IqdYJSU9f7kt3hmoOV8PTtYiNnzfF49xGf-_wJcbQClcJQmiLphwMzXlyQrSWBeyOtJ5W-i8KlL5LADO75N9OYp12DzagsGnwvoGlYIlyVIoaX9Pr-WzZZ7NGeqpA0rKx5-IJA2FtKAj5TyacqGOLYcLW1a-wlBk/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(48).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxwlQ6jDVhBsqXmRXCN_TaUgrH3pS2IqdYJSU9f7kt3hmoOV8PTtYiNnzfF49xGf-_wJcbQClcJQmiLphwMzXlyQrSWBeyOtJ5W-i8KlL5LADO75N9OYp12DzagsGnwvoGlYIlyVIoaX9Pr-WzZZ7NGeqpA0rKx5-IJA2FtKAj5TyacqGOLYcLW1a-wlBk/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(48).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Black Freeza?? Are they going to give us Ultra Instinct Gokou vs Black Freeza?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2fvN5VMEKiRozg8w7m4cQ7QROeTASHU2dcd9mbhL0svZcSO9YV4xrizNFlLzZfOtSDhqaCXw_cpFkiW7cOrXfFHORR2y7fyYFADeE1BIg7ECfiM9ZwwHEEhgKZvsOXw5sXmvmvbXMMCLwSl2729LiLRnvuuNG18RkkKqbJRuFmIKXcBPnzkcC3ertq5Y/s3840/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(49).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO2fvN5VMEKiRozg8w7m4cQ7QROeTASHU2dcd9mbhL0svZcSO9YV4xrizNFlLzZfOtSDhqaCXw_cpFkiW7cOrXfFHORR2y7fyYFADeE1BIg7ECfiM9ZwwHEEhgKZvsOXw5sXmvmvbXMMCLwSl2729LiLRnvuuNG18RkkKqbJRuFmIKXcBPnzkcC3ertq5Y/w640-h360/DBZ%20Kakarot%20Gokou's%20Next%20Journey%20(49).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nope it's just regular Freeza. In any case, Gokou just tells the story of how he fought Freeza, Cell, and Buu during the Z series. Not sure what other fights you get to re-do in this mode, if any. Gokou has his modern blue gi (which is probably developer laziness, but is also how Pan would probably be imagining the fights).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's a cool idea, but there isn't much else to it. Dragonball Super didn't exactly happen in this canon and it plays things out like Gokou basically just did nothing for ten years after Buu. So if they try to make End of Z canon with Super at some point, it might be a little weird. Regardless, that's it for <i>Kakarot</i>. Waited a long time to get this one finished-off.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-27954877602668427932024-02-28T02:59:00.001-05:002024-02-28T02:59:09.198-05:00Final Fantasy VII Remake Ultimania<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xKH3zXetDC4JFWhByQa-D2yDEDF7ry2AvToa5icuf6LcWq25stgPJpAH2Q8r1C-QRo9OzP4Zyaj4Evk_GFARtuW3y74r-4xcvUwSEKtOTNGLzz0fYNTkxiBEyLhIdiJlEKyET-LNl2aOZ4rJnpz6Q-lbzWf4OqXKsLtqPCfV_548ocZ-CzJP4KyAraox/s1784/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(1).jpg"><img border="0" height="477" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xKH3zXetDC4JFWhByQa-D2yDEDF7ry2AvToa5icuf6LcWq25stgPJpAH2Q8r1C-QRo9OzP4Zyaj4Evk_GFARtuW3y74r-4xcvUwSEKtOTNGLzz0fYNTkxiBEyLhIdiJlEKyET-LNl2aOZ4rJnpz6Q-lbzWf4OqXKsLtqPCfV_548ocZ-CzJP4KyAraox/w383-h477/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(1).jpg" width="383" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The latest art book is a pretty nice one, full of <i>FFVII </i>concept art. It also has huge pages. Most of the art here, I haven't seen before. Gonna take a quick look at it. As usual, click the images to blow 'em up.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6MoxQHW3bR3taI9Mz5nMnaEKRH8FmCyCj8Y0y_i-7MFDbtA0SEz1Rh0NM1T-pMl3FjqG_Oeg6LGOrb5eTfCCmPiW6XbUzm4l4FrX60_Sp_KAcLnGxaUujW_zpbtIIX0XTYFq_J940xBHpoaVg08dG8Oshz2XpIM8WYYABBuLh3myisYgJRRWySSR_RK7/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(2).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ6MoxQHW3bR3taI9Mz5nMnaEKRH8FmCyCj8Y0y_i-7MFDbtA0SEz1Rh0NM1T-pMl3FjqG_Oeg6LGOrb5eTfCCmPiW6XbUzm4l4FrX60_Sp_KAcLnGxaUujW_zpbtIIX0XTYFq_J940xBHpoaVg08dG8Oshz2XpIM8WYYABBuLh3myisYgJRRWySSR_RK7/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(2).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Midgar in all its remade glory. I wish the new game had covered more area of the place, especially the upper level, considering they had a lot of room to pad things out. At least we got a little bit of new upper level Midgar early in the game for Jessie's chapter, which also ended up being one of the best chapters.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCh5AwWMmtuOMYEGlGTwGu_AgpfS4GL0gpfwH3JYuj08cfPBWDGFEOm6GDF-O5y41y7cfiinrLHQi9jmy2ozIIDzpybYJZLMT3dk6pRgtUiTh3BhtnmnBmHOIYfapUEVWX_fcPjVFRRdRR7htBIj8UVXozZ9TKTvkfeH_xv-sTqqxXQtkziKeLyysda8J/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(3).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidCh5AwWMmtuOMYEGlGTwGu_AgpfS4GL0gpfwH3JYuj08cfPBWDGFEOm6GDF-O5y41y7cfiinrLHQi9jmy2ozIIDzpybYJZLMT3dk6pRgtUiTh3BhtnmnBmHOIYfapUEVWX_fcPjVFRRdRR7htBIj8UVXozZ9TKTvkfeH_xv-sTqqxXQtkziKeLyysda8J/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(3).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cloud brooding in front of Shinra Tower, the game's most enduring and iconic imagery.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnsQ2rPU0t3n9zsa4Fi9BGgNHtAFdMx4hP0_L8V4NBLfFWrI75HZg-udQk4cBgSweuxkF7GJMtN7ez4J9XDEUhZMZX9w9_l2GWcKBESHBtgRm1rqh45Lj07N_8hqYfMakd_fd1VnFfr8UVVcWHcOybS8ZSiVZKFnI_iaAp9EU5_bxSSEufZN-RH9MQxDn/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(4).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnsQ2rPU0t3n9zsa4Fi9BGgNHtAFdMx4hP0_L8V4NBLfFWrI75HZg-udQk4cBgSweuxkF7GJMtN7ez4J9XDEUhZMZX9w9_l2GWcKBESHBtgRm1rqh45Lj07N_8hqYfMakd_fd1VnFfr8UVVcWHcOybS8ZSiVZKFnI_iaAp9EU5_bxSSEufZN-RH9MQxDn/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(4).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The shot of Tifa sitting on the well is one of my favorite shots from <i>FFVII</i>'s lore. In the leadup to the game back in the day, that was one of the shots that all the magazines seemed to have.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTrttBYc8MTpB05vedyA52u_CG_Qb8PbLjU7QO36XeM_mG2uS1lyL_84PAS65uV6LBG2vaom0gMEPlQWMqbeMsylJjpkhQo0k4QqnFV_aUJDx3RSN_h9kms4_o-jImVm0sBqivnccX84-E12eXudBsoJGf4KAMQ2cAxU7RQ4VnVV2QFolZ_3RUBwoIV6u/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(5).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTrttBYc8MTpB05vedyA52u_CG_Qb8PbLjU7QO36XeM_mG2uS1lyL_84PAS65uV6LBG2vaom0gMEPlQWMqbeMsylJjpkhQo0k4QqnFV_aUJDx3RSN_h9kms4_o-jImVm0sBqivnccX84-E12eXudBsoJGf4KAMQ2cAxU7RQ4VnVV2QFolZ_3RUBwoIV6u/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(5).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sephiroth walking into the wall of fire is another iconic image. It's a newer image, but I also like him standing over a burning Midgar. It's kinda lost in everything else that happens, but he despises Shinra just as much as the heroes do. Back in 1996 or so before the game came out, I figured he'd be the General Leo of the game and probably the last character to join the party.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qDUIym-tV4qEhI13JoMcRFRPKbI4NyNZdsW1jh5ikdn6238ZwurscqLEAOpR3qYB5GUZtQk2YuFsf4pTmvh2bOnAxmw_4W_6ouJThB2loOK53SRR-f25mdORa1LAy3jnsHxLF5zh9k7TmIzpBLSwqB2cPzCY9lChhPt0ta5AZHDli1IBZrFGNzdsavp2/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(6).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2qDUIym-tV4qEhI13JoMcRFRPKbI4NyNZdsW1jh5ikdn6238ZwurscqLEAOpR3qYB5GUZtQk2YuFsf4pTmvh2bOnAxmw_4W_6ouJThB2loOK53SRR-f25mdORa1LAy3jnsHxLF5zh9k7TmIzpBLSwqB2cPzCY9lChhPt0ta5AZHDli1IBZrFGNzdsavp2/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(6).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tifa in all her incredibly fit glory. Probably the most fun character to play as in the remake, by far, because she moves so fast.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWTIJSKug6SJpAIFmHh8_axHhXVzGSZTkdnMEc88jbmTjUVNnW3H6TUH9UvSGeVKCEp6HiIKZTXA1GafRDnlTY51_acTHdty0cnhEcv-UytehnppPBU3N8_irIwpJZI_L03rYx6fq3FqzP3p61KoU4IFxHv4RPFF5oVjrX-D7ETCMljU_BFvz-BDtGl02/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(7).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixWTIJSKug6SJpAIFmHh8_axHhXVzGSZTkdnMEc88jbmTjUVNnW3H6TUH9UvSGeVKCEp6HiIKZTXA1GafRDnlTY51_acTHdty0cnhEcv-UytehnppPBU3N8_irIwpJZI_L03rYx6fq3FqzP3p61KoU4IFxHv4RPFF5oVjrX-D7ETCMljU_BFvz-BDtGl02/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(7).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Aerith, who is supposed to be some kind of Plain Jane next to Tifa, yet is also insanely attractive. This game is full of beautiful people. Even the random people on the train are all super hot. It's like being at a German rave.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAdkcoMfQm4XsL5OOskgXLbm4Oxng9qmudhDNxG9SbjFS9B6rAvYp2MnjjyCjpBdKlvONQvqCMMS4ds_yS9y81PBX3_K0Mn72nam7ZTP0UlYiea3knLreT3GB4OfeoVRAn67jiYEW-bcCNzilwSesIVhZGm7ZcBIRl013f_O3SzpnNj0pBMrDdFN1DHb4m/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(8).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAdkcoMfQm4XsL5OOskgXLbm4Oxng9qmudhDNxG9SbjFS9B6rAvYp2MnjjyCjpBdKlvONQvqCMMS4ds_yS9y81PBX3_K0Mn72nam7ZTP0UlYiea3knLreT3GB4OfeoVRAn67jiYEW-bcCNzilwSesIVhZGm7ZcBIRl013f_O3SzpnNj0pBMrDdFN1DHb4m/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(8).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rufus was one of my favorite characters design-wise in the original game, but I don't like his redesign in <i>Remake</i>. What's going on with those ridiculous pants? Does he need all of those belts?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70FWAyFAKlgNIj1mqDa-GqTQIxdqht9w6G85-HzcAydjHtgYXSCFaGaDosIlIREGpI4cHAvYToPKN2TPZk7eHVjH0MsUGJr_93-yzbIP5bnV-zCJKGNOO5R21RI81XlJ6v7CUlp85j7ENMRUmypzkAbrfPTXHOr2YBRt8nyMt4Vs5dvXj86rtr7KxsVL1/s3506/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(9).jpg"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg70FWAyFAKlgNIj1mqDa-GqTQIxdqht9w6G85-HzcAydjHtgYXSCFaGaDosIlIREGpI4cHAvYToPKN2TPZk7eHVjH0MsUGJr_93-yzbIP5bnV-zCJKGNOO5R21RI81XlJ6v7CUlp85j7ENMRUmypzkAbrfPTXHOr2YBRt8nyMt4Vs5dvXj86rtr7KxsVL1/w640-h340/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(9).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Miss Cloud, the belle of the ball. The prettiest princess in all the land!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAuro6XiwANADSByJpwXxK86PXa54f7vcydiVkw1obuMAsTraFHz4Af9LNdMbGDln7-7WRqDJ2J6OKdllsGrXzFFV_vOJVN6dIpzmDHPLbhnh31bvTBBgL4YU7F5z0JcVSYXclPRHWxLG-XRcmENj_Hs9MC_Y1lMGM93uCZZGaBs0Ld5hPnNx6jm_2_va/s3546/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(10).jpg"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWAuro6XiwANADSByJpwXxK86PXa54f7vcydiVkw1obuMAsTraFHz4Af9LNdMbGDln7-7WRqDJ2J6OKdllsGrXzFFV_vOJVN6dIpzmDHPLbhnh31bvTBBgL4YU7F5z0JcVSYXclPRHWxLG-XRcmENj_Hs9MC_Y1lMGM93uCZZGaBs0Ld5hPnNx6jm_2_va/w640-h338/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(10).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now we get a few pages of Tifa in various sexy outfits, but who cares about that? We got Barret over here! Look at that gun arm!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Note: Barret is low-key the best male character in this entire story. I mean he doesn't have a lot of competition, but his story's impact can't really be undersold.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-yoXA5JG5fwYS8iP_hVJ7xH702Ls-iDN_Fest-TVyppoQ2KnsdDBlRBKWS9xcybTo_8M0Skc_b1e4EKqLZWocIB2NJiEjOgCQ7kLXpmLem9V8yANSHUQZmTkljqsgPUzCW7w8mAadGFVNu448ms5Amt3ZwylUBqEV0wx7urwvEEgTrZhYGpJLXGoRD5p/s3030/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(11).jpg"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS-yoXA5JG5fwYS8iP_hVJ7xH702Ls-iDN_Fest-TVyppoQ2KnsdDBlRBKWS9xcybTo_8M0Skc_b1e4EKqLZWocIB2NJiEjOgCQ7kLXpmLem9V8yANSHUQZmTkljqsgPUzCW7w8mAadGFVNu448ms5Amt3ZwylUBqEV0wx7urwvEEgTrZhYGpJLXGoRD5p/w640-h394/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(11).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">More ::yawn:: Tifa outfits. My favorite is the blue one in the previous image, which I think is technically the "worst" of the group.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSH9CIbSUxLo02LTj0NyX8xMuCHUjLNtowTQWByDcfYIPO982v4207pbhR00non-7fpSFw1ORwhF_Mmob3f51z_j_PtFT7hFTkF0wFLNiWb2fK_iLhLUGnR8PTv9JNkMTmw8drNdPpaKsizonQUjDXpeSMj4SGlXmfe0nt_QvJx1cSNDSdes_q9qzX1bg/s2803/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(12).jpg"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPSH9CIbSUxLo02LTj0NyX8xMuCHUjLNtowTQWByDcfYIPO982v4207pbhR00non-7fpSFw1ORwhF_Mmob3f51z_j_PtFT7hFTkF0wFLNiWb2fK_iLhLUGnR8PTv9JNkMTmw8drNdPpaKsizonQUjDXpeSMj4SGlXmfe0nt_QvJx1cSNDSdes_q9qzX1bg/w266-h400/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(12).jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Tifa at "age 13". Cool, man. I mean she could be 19 if they didn't tell us. The real question is why Cloud left Nibelheim in the first place with her crushing on him. Did he even go through puberty?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PsTNoIZHMls6OA7JN5wI3zoGWL8d7Gtp4tgkg3Ejygw_fe6Qkg-s8Y9rSZqLBr0mNcJkI9JqwkGuIBserN_OjIGMGowareuTs6rYORimLBpx55TNtMhot25jHRR6WuySheRo7GhN01Dr2GAbeauOUbSnv9Hh21uYHwUGouFFYNfn_i0kjSyoMbowTpwG/s3045/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(13).jpg"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0PsTNoIZHMls6OA7JN5wI3zoGWL8d7Gtp4tgkg3Ejygw_fe6Qkg-s8Y9rSZqLBr0mNcJkI9JqwkGuIBserN_OjIGMGowareuTs6rYORimLBpx55TNtMhot25jHRR6WuySheRo7GhN01Dr2GAbeauOUbSnv9Hh21uYHwUGouFFYNfn_i0kjSyoMbowTpwG/w640-h392/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(13).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Aerith outfits, including her incredible red dress. All of this to impress <i>Don Corneo </i>of all people.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivGk8kOuwvz6Z5imFpOau3tYaM7l826CgabR-LN4qr8b4uEEvmdBweVCv87zxJ8BCAnL97wI5h6sKx9rSQsdhByVK-xrbq8g-8pr9OGMe2-QXpHSNNc8nydQQfK08ukTuX9c2xpaNKNlZ0ebhcXNASN1Nftmb6q1aa6U-1KTkavePO3jmmIon9qM31Te5/s3607/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(14).jpg"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhivGk8kOuwvz6Z5imFpOau3tYaM7l826CgabR-LN4qr8b4uEEvmdBweVCv87zxJ8BCAnL97wI5h6sKx9rSQsdhByVK-xrbq8g-8pr9OGMe2-QXpHSNNc8nydQQfK08ukTuX9c2xpaNKNlZ0ebhcXNASN1Nftmb6q1aa6U-1KTkavePO3jmmIon9qM31Te5/w640-h332/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(14).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What's-her-name who I thought was Yuffie in disguise at first. Wish they had done more with this character.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIo2HopCa6L8ZY_r4QZkqRMwHL1LMlRqowWoUsldbxrChbECIVhCOsqDoVx1lc2aFK4agTez8HT9IwIRUlsh8zhnM8868CCDRS3GN9EVXWMGrZKmNcSyx-ZTO9-LiXoAOnxH328OQopN-bcTOzYmpS-S6Y1wD97kt-VR9RCCYvh8x8_OWPBJX3QWW5ncK/s1868/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(15).jpg"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIo2HopCa6L8ZY_r4QZkqRMwHL1LMlRqowWoUsldbxrChbECIVhCOsqDoVx1lc2aFK4agTez8HT9IwIRUlsh8zhnM8868CCDRS3GN9EVXWMGrZKmNcSyx-ZTO9-LiXoAOnxH328OQopN-bcTOzYmpS-S6Y1wD97kt-VR9RCCYvh8x8_OWPBJX3QWW5ncK/w360-h400/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(15).jpg" width="360" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This book sure has a lot of sex appeal. Well, if you can call weird-ass bees "appealing". Most of the game's sexuality happened in Wall Market, of course, and they're all about bees there for some reason.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNh7fUF4zQ7GQ3yEPLclbrErj4vqqcZzWq2L-d6zaPQfH0LnDajjeVlnoXxGTRROCI1jqFN-WHGvvbG9l-4QEPQJm_DMwUNTdeiHkYqjfxgalt_GjoP_Y53FfCTMgEmDRSJcv_9sR8BJt94isKKEw3-ZDijTAMuj1O65Ijr8prXeHczoWpF8Evawt_YrN/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(16).jpg"><img border="0" height="691" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNh7fUF4zQ7GQ3yEPLclbrErj4vqqcZzWq2L-d6zaPQfH0LnDajjeVlnoXxGTRROCI1jqFN-WHGvvbG9l-4QEPQJm_DMwUNTdeiHkYqjfxgalt_GjoP_Y53FfCTMgEmDRSJcv_9sR8BJt94isKKEw3-ZDijTAMuj1O65Ijr8prXeHczoWpF8Evawt_YrN/w321-h691/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(16).jpg" width="321" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scarlett, because even the villains have to be insanely hot. There's also Reeve, who looks suspiciously similar to Keanu Reeves.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZmXKg01lA3b-gzBgtoiCE8GwKV7qB5lWi0h5nZfNGlmFy-2YAzEMqO1nBrzIdD3ZzvZosS5ErSc8MeNcAEaY49UbkaFjBR_E60BSP8Zj0duAUGLxvMcD-e3meSKBMNGXNCdxVVRvAkQMnTwpyDgGagC8FHUrxLW8oMBjQ1kPJ2IJ_KITDF5MNklRx71f/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(17).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZmXKg01lA3b-gzBgtoiCE8GwKV7qB5lWi0h5nZfNGlmFy-2YAzEMqO1nBrzIdD3ZzvZosS5ErSc8MeNcAEaY49UbkaFjBR_E60BSP8Zj0duAUGLxvMcD-e3meSKBMNGXNCdxVVRvAkQMnTwpyDgGagC8FHUrxLW8oMBjQ1kPJ2IJ_KITDF5MNklRx71f/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(17).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Midgar upper level concept art. I'd love to see more of this area, and the Theater District, which I think this is related to. We only see it for a minute and it's right after it gets trashed by the reactor explosion.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkr7tDww4ZTiFS6rZ_FXLgJt4raqBiqyu0dyfmO7ISQNF4Wpd2HV2axyHSSVhgtXiy6xZ-r7wDxSlovBaFbPUVjeHyBilYUBNko-0K-oMfjC0JC66imR4BekeyBOlfrzYFbVhltyUipns_7Nlo-wCDo92fdx9r1bP7Dj5DkdZeWi7q9K1liL9SUymH9SR/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(18).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkr7tDww4ZTiFS6rZ_FXLgJt4raqBiqyu0dyfmO7ISQNF4Wpd2HV2axyHSSVhgtXiy6xZ-r7wDxSlovBaFbPUVjeHyBilYUBNko-0K-oMfjC0JC66imR4BekeyBOlfrzYFbVhltyUipns_7Nlo-wCDo92fdx9r1bP7Dj5DkdZeWi7q9K1liL9SUymH9SR/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(18).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This looks like Fountain Plaza, which had a much bigger role in <i>Crisis Core</i> as kind of a hub area.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxpX3CNaILtD7s3d2qT3vTlSQ0B22Mun1lARKZCZSpak1Ny6NbAUMYfcbhtH_pjCooGy-ap5uxcWIGWwWYig6xVpT9jFXLSllI5qFEIYoL3M1CPUnazKwDyGS9Za_Vda9Dq6vR223sUKQzbgZN6nvlR3RNKh4NM9Hm8R69rcjvFECI93Z8CrtXvCaPVB9Z/s3274/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(19).jpg"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxpX3CNaILtD7s3d2qT3vTlSQ0B22Mun1lARKZCZSpak1Ny6NbAUMYfcbhtH_pjCooGy-ap5uxcWIGWwWYig6xVpT9jFXLSllI5qFEIYoL3M1CPUnazKwDyGS9Za_Vda9Dq6vR223sUKQzbgZN6nvlR3RNKh4NM9Hm8R69rcjvFECI93Z8CrtXvCaPVB9Z/w640-h366/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(19).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Aerith's Church is yet another iconic location.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-USn-5fNOZBZyVi41ztPwqNoKdJsVFw7tb3r35PdB7bbB7DA85fc7R0OR4qT86C5u-onfhWqFY6UHcznAxi7_sym7bFurVmtjOkGXSv9So24Csk6oNGbocoEb4nrPsKcON44PZpkjhqPm3caxlGgeXePcRGMWTUw2e6q9mZW6gfnv1-a1o_x6LPETR9I/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(20).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-USn-5fNOZBZyVi41ztPwqNoKdJsVFw7tb3r35PdB7bbB7DA85fc7R0OR4qT86C5u-onfhWqFY6UHcznAxi7_sym7bFurVmtjOkGXSv9So24Csk6oNGbocoEb4nrPsKcON44PZpkjhqPm3caxlGgeXePcRGMWTUw2e6q9mZW6gfnv1-a1o_x6LPETR9I/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(20).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Looks good from the outside, even though it has a Wutai missile buried in it. It might be the only building left standing in Sector 6, which got crushed by a falling plate during Midgar's construction.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5_GMPuuafVlh9k08Exqu9g4sYwTOBgP6YB99vfCFP1wh-wUbyYqvyPi5kfbM6TLydVSVAfY0TNN8Ng2cfW-s6Kh6EO8hy_JLT_iJcb48a3SN-SN6myeHH2rznW5s103WnddN2IXjfz8cMbh4eDB2VVrtNRbn8SkQi8pgaI9w9CNYbF9O_8iRYYrHjkxT/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(21).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5_GMPuuafVlh9k08Exqu9g4sYwTOBgP6YB99vfCFP1wh-wUbyYqvyPi5kfbM6TLydVSVAfY0TNN8Ng2cfW-s6Kh6EO8hy_JLT_iJcb48a3SN-SN6myeHH2rznW5s103WnddN2IXjfz8cMbh4eDB2VVrtNRbn8SkQi8pgaI9w9CNYbF9O_8iRYYrHjkxT/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(21).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Aerith's house is another place that brings back all kinds of memories.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbJvQcDBoqQUDnLSU12yWHSMXSuvKiCQU9IoFRgFqgunbMX5gEY84XBNs5BN1899BFJ-jnN4SgfaJ-0cz5XIgX1CdJ4FBI9AS1IFMX02nKzu9d50QXcJw4pg-qEdWcS78XuPqFbdbYBJ0crNz-7TaXmqRKa4XkqR9OLMdAuPIQ3CEweTaukDssdhlVyFrG/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(22).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbJvQcDBoqQUDnLSU12yWHSMXSuvKiCQU9IoFRgFqgunbMX5gEY84XBNs5BN1899BFJ-jnN4SgfaJ-0cz5XIgX1CdJ4FBI9AS1IFMX02nKzu9d50QXcJw4pg-qEdWcS78XuPqFbdbYBJ0crNz-7TaXmqRKa4XkqR9OLMdAuPIQ3CEweTaukDssdhlVyFrG/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(22).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This book is particularly cool for me since it's all about Midgar, and I've always been a big fan of all things Midgar.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Except...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqoLCpoPteoyIrRulZMRZbFWmmebTqtCGJVrI4ZOgkSYZ75-jkgU4qAQZyNh4cWHk-i52VokhGik8O_r6qaewJaLAFfyAxQYWXGTxJRhX08BwVuQeCh-WDk49cRm0IYPmo6sbNEiF1bprgs5cAlgsNtC93xpIZBn5xACneMH5NApCw6s60k1L9HC-aYib/s2865/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(23).jpg"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjqoLCpoPteoyIrRulZMRZbFWmmebTqtCGJVrI4ZOgkSYZ75-jkgU4qAQZyNh4cWHk-i52VokhGik8O_r6qaewJaLAFfyAxQYWXGTxJRhX08BwVuQeCh-WDk49cRm0IYPmo6sbNEiF1bprgs5cAlgsNtC93xpIZBn5xACneMH5NApCw6s60k1L9HC-aYib/w640-h418/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(23).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...all the bee stuff. These damn, sexy bees.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6PM7sIM5Zb_FO0AKRWo-d59ZEZyof-8EPEgIQb5EMWigUowkOhpbgA_79SYohiuJJSAZnyJEDUTYBefQGpTc_tfh6Sd3kolppqbw0QIltySGtjH9IfmSXyD_sVBjRshpMx8wWoBUS13gVuQuKHn5gHFbXjHrvAo64r6tPG1OdIBNvtBoALqqLM5VY60i/s3473/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(25).jpg"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY6PM7sIM5Zb_FO0AKRWo-d59ZEZyof-8EPEgIQb5EMWigUowkOhpbgA_79SYohiuJJSAZnyJEDUTYBefQGpTc_tfh6Sd3kolppqbw0QIltySGtjH9IfmSXyD_sVBjRshpMx8wWoBUS13gVuQuKHn5gHFbXjHrvAo64r6tPG1OdIBNvtBoALqqLM5VY60i/w640-h344/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(25).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sector 0 is the Shinra Tower area, and it's known for having giant bright spotlights everywhere for no real reason. You don't get to see too much of this area (like most of the Upper Level).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnAUuHyTJ7zwBBfjwPHBWB7cu4toNAxxRpUz3jUITtEOel4faBgvVNWJdueT57w0quhrwMFzJ2e1gr1msEICjIcNeHUmgNaKCXwwNPkiTw9opVBglbmR8bTza3ki4nXIR7cFnoMXao27sRHptUgl97nTTbKdRjSKn8ldF9IkTQXw-eJdaVop4FSGjuY5N/s3358/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(26).jpg"><img border="0" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTnAUuHyTJ7zwBBfjwPHBWB7cu4toNAxxRpUz3jUITtEOel4faBgvVNWJdueT57w0quhrwMFzJ2e1gr1msEICjIcNeHUmgNaKCXwwNPkiTw9opVBglbmR8bTza3ki4nXIR7cFnoMXao27sRHptUgl97nTTbKdRjSKn8ldF9IkTQXw-eJdaVop4FSGjuY5N/w640-h340/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(26).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shinra Tower itself probably takes up at least a third of the total runtime of <i>FFVII Remake</i> and they fleshed it out a bit, which is cool.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaC40vULvCjdEBZD1fIwoKeDq72Zc2C_QJir_QsFQDQLallyk_Ge1l_s6oSafJ_-p4BQyKfaW8Rta_ASj-Pr6mhaMBEFtVvRWJrmHnZoSV2T9t2O_BhxHUzye0joyfJqj4CnZ3jORpaJRK5F2cVFn9HVIZgUyPgfrf_gT45_Pe3HowHLjji15nJl7vpef/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(27).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWaC40vULvCjdEBZD1fIwoKeDq72Zc2C_QJir_QsFQDQLallyk_Ge1l_s6oSafJ_-p4BQyKfaW8Rta_ASj-Pr6mhaMBEFtVvRWJrmHnZoSV2T9t2O_BhxHUzye0joyfJqj4CnZ3jORpaJRK5F2cVFn9HVIZgUyPgfrf_gT45_Pe3HowHLjji15nJl7vpef/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(27).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's that Nibelheim well again. What is it with Nibelheim? Why does this place evoke such potent nostalgia?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqd6FGv2uC9diko1OQ3Y8DeIm3Ol5Z43ddkCp-UIkei6AGCAiTOI_mXJeyoLyWDojncRjzCYz_8kdYwVUYdbMDbtzSe21SqihoK7xIBgP24UO6cgvkFbfaHnUvMFtZu-osFG_d_fBhyO0Er-sb0_y3aPCsVGlgFjwCBeh_IN4WH0agTRv-XT-DljI6OqX7/s2869/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(28).jpg"><img border="0" height="593" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqd6FGv2uC9diko1OQ3Y8DeIm3Ol5Z43ddkCp-UIkei6AGCAiTOI_mXJeyoLyWDojncRjzCYz_8kdYwVUYdbMDbtzSe21SqihoK7xIBgP24UO6cgvkFbfaHnUvMFtZu-osFG_d_fBhyO0Er-sb0_y3aPCsVGlgFjwCBeh_IN4WH0agTRv-XT-DljI6OqX7/w385-h593/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(28).jpg" width="385" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cloud's sword lineup from <i>Remake</i>. They went in an interesting direction here by not having the weapons follow linear progression or "get better" necessarily. Instead they follow a more Fromsoft-like design where the weapons all have different strengths and weaknesses and all of them are viable through the game. So really it's more about picking whatever has stats you like and handles the best.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzkBhtpWfvyI405BvXtMD22v6VlAi5ch2I7RGzvy347z4M2hUco9YpVRO7_GJf5n2s3tQ9MyHEYI22BdPXAQdff6GtMmYiWKWKP387cabM-JlC0xan56jADPxbk-xY80yqoYfuwdu6mMT7Ifv3Os1ozLvMXOfGi2SBczbWfsetjiW6dV8s9hPpq_ZhJfP/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(29).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzkBhtpWfvyI405BvXtMD22v6VlAi5ch2I7RGzvy347z4M2hUco9YpVRO7_GJf5n2s3tQ9MyHEYI22BdPXAQdff6GtMmYiWKWKP387cabM-JlC0xan56jADPxbk-xY80yqoYfuwdu6mMT7Ifv3Os1ozLvMXOfGi2SBczbWfsetjiW6dV8s9hPpq_ZhJfP/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(29).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Champion's Belt gets an official illustration here and we can see that it follows a very 1990's WWF type design. Matter of fact it looks a hell of a lot like the WWF world title did circa 1996/1997 when the game was originally developed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDr0nv17qPFd22bXag_h4DhLyVO4QVg42ITwg-0ylBwly8Kk_wUS-btQJyq0IGkS6hAmZjJwvmbyh-An3RKGMnSyqqz8BH1-KUBTlj8wHk97mdvwF80j5edlpK-1H1t-7DYwCfz9iPcpkUYlaPYjscn98qMihCq1LfPYFcxy7BVbYD6ZTRhnHhzWY05SSr/s4000/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(30).jpg"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDr0nv17qPFd22bXag_h4DhLyVO4QVg42ITwg-0ylBwly8Kk_wUS-btQJyq0IGkS6hAmZjJwvmbyh-An3RKGMnSyqqz8BH1-KUBTlj8wHk97mdvwF80j5edlpK-1H1t-7DYwCfz9iPcpkUYlaPYjscn98qMihCq1LfPYFcxy7BVbYD6ZTRhnHhzWY05SSr/w640-h298/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(30).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jenova Dreamweaver, who I still think should have been called Jenova-CONCEPTION.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpF5nZNcB1KuSB6P1iO1Y1mDf1zekVTE_JNLZCb3L2mmfR0F5sXeerswo1ZWkAWTrnjUlwm-l1p5Z0z4JIzggTbSWV5NBVxgNXLeEFZ7-os_kggbKjF2f3zJ6M31q85ey9uZE-usN1HepKpkywZjn9erZ3hpmcG8Q4YVjiSGpK5CfYpq-q0BuwxO2KSXv/s2713/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(31).jpg"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpF5nZNcB1KuSB6P1iO1Y1mDf1zekVTE_JNLZCb3L2mmfR0F5sXeerswo1ZWkAWTrnjUlwm-l1p5Z0z4JIzggTbSWV5NBVxgNXLeEFZ7-os_kggbKjF2f3zJ6M31q85ey9uZE-usN1HepKpkywZjn9erZ3hpmcG8Q4YVjiSGpK5CfYpq-q0BuwxO2KSXv/w640-h440/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(31).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A breakdown of the Bombing Mission track from the beginning of the game. When I think <i>FFVII </i>this is the first tune I think of.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjn4dhW2_ENShS8O4xYRnnQ6KabL07bpbsLQPXxZE2XlHAXN6-nebSX24KBLu-ONSFuK11MJXs_ig_2n82-YZuThXvMAJXgCoGLSqqZbzCtr5-02pWjjNJvS9YwuCaXwI3UTzhOOXctYmqj2SauohnNf6Goq1jHGEueXJAOOR6uq7qmFz-BziRyW-hWWG/s2413/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(32).jpg"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjn4dhW2_ENShS8O4xYRnnQ6KabL07bpbsLQPXxZE2XlHAXN6-nebSX24KBLu-ONSFuK11MJXs_ig_2n82-YZuThXvMAJXgCoGLSqqZbzCtr5-02pWjjNJvS9YwuCaXwI3UTzhOOXctYmqj2SauohnNf6Goq1jHGEueXJAOOR6uq7qmFz-BziRyW-hWWG/w640-h446/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(32).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is noteworthy because it was originally the overworld theme, but they used it in Sector 7 instead of Barret's Theme. In the original game Barret's Theme was one of my favorite tracks in the game and I was looking forward to hearing it here, and I think they made a mistake switching it out for this theme.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2yYdLc3fsCjDennyydeGg233U1ri-lbJAcQ8L0xD4eFxzQ0yBMrjykye_bHhrHVELcpLyuPIQCHZ1T7TB84TKonx0pFEdaG6Z1SjVeeXGZvlavce1hyISWSH80wyq_US2iTzkqa6Cj2OIJKnqPA7bxAwYYZI-AnG19clDqbDngBGAghEABaMvPYQ__Hd/s1868/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(33).jpg"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR2yYdLc3fsCjDennyydeGg233U1ri-lbJAcQ8L0xD4eFxzQ0yBMrjykye_bHhrHVELcpLyuPIQCHZ1T7TB84TKonx0pFEdaG6Z1SjVeeXGZvlavce1hyISWSH80wyq_US2iTzkqa6Cj2OIJKnqPA7bxAwYYZI-AnG19clDqbDngBGAghEABaMvPYQ__Hd/w508-h640/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(33).jpg" width="508" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jessie, the most fun <i>FFVII</i> lady.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTF4iE3gGt-xnVH2Zt1zo6adGmVWg__amzXPo3b8E54v0DBWcIeLuS_IB0ZJs_KdJ92iTvOrXxlxysE-9i9dBwbB7aiL4mGeBuBEflk4QWQqATsy_lXDVj7NHPufopXrc_uexg035QtICqsmpQ-HL7mmLmQq2mtYHU2QervXYwwNODjytPvxp1QfClkMD/s3247/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(34).jpg"><img border="0" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTF4iE3gGt-xnVH2Zt1zo6adGmVWg__amzXPo3b8E54v0DBWcIeLuS_IB0ZJs_KdJ92iTvOrXxlxysE-9i9dBwbB7aiL4mGeBuBEflk4QWQqATsy_lXDVj7NHPufopXrc_uexg035QtICqsmpQ-HL7mmLmQq2mtYHU2QervXYwwNODjytPvxp1QfClkMD/w640-h368/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(34).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They even did mock-up CD case artwork for the various tunes that you can play on the jukebox in the game. Know which one ended up being a shockingly good surprise?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/69to5vmTTlY" width="320" youtube-src-id="69to5vmTTlY"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">This track. I mean, damn. Plays during the scenes where Cloud is learning how to dance, which is his greatest battle of all. <i>Remake</i> needed more of this track, 'cause it was one entirely-new theme that actually made me feel something. Probably because that entire section was a really meaningful leap forward for a game to portray, I don't know.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig3NwjlStFa3uC1kjhVO6i6BIBiA7WiU48NXxby_pjQSnipRW2EHmuq8npOMVgDCTvIO1NB5EjXp8NcXrxqyr9C-3a3RTPrzdq6rLyAkw5e3KvZcfIW3x0pgiagDZc8p0lZl_Erxyf6kQsn_i_pvxDi22Epwm88Y8_9I03G3rj7FyKVsj14qN1BV_u5Xn/s3287/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(35).jpg"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgig3NwjlStFa3uC1kjhVO6i6BIBiA7WiU48NXxby_pjQSnipRW2EHmuq8npOMVgDCTvIO1NB5EjXp8NcXrxqyr9C-3a3RTPrzdq6rLyAkw5e3KvZcfIW3x0pgiagDZc8p0lZl_Erxyf6kQsn_i_pvxDi22Epwm88Y8_9I03G3rj7FyKVsj14qN1BV_u5Xn/w640-h364/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Remake%20Ultimania%20Artbook%20(35).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One thing <i>Remake</i> needed way less of was Sephiroth. He was all over the place. There's gonna be a reason for that revealed shortly though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Regardless, awesome art-book here and got me really psyched up for the next game in a day or so.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-10002882416931271882024-02-26T14:44:00.006-05:002024-03-02T07:12:41.397-05:00Mortal Kombat 11 (Playstation 4, 2019)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvf5VkMgcAgQpJW6sPohcYqrVwELugLTwlSX1hFmWHUc-WIHlwb_29CZBZerQ72peQCiDcTfSPt4HXeBrhjofUctRasC1burBRaJWUqfPB2CqV0ieiHgHwIyfKj1PdBts9xN9OsAnlG1ra/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190427150506.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvf5VkMgcAgQpJW6sPohcYqrVwELugLTwlSX1hFmWHUc-WIHlwb_29CZBZerQ72peQCiDcTfSPt4HXeBrhjofUctRasC1burBRaJWUqfPB2CqV0ieiHgHwIyfKj1PdBts9xN9OsAnlG1ra/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190427150506.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">Alternate timelines and meeting your past self were all the rage in our entertainment circa 2019, and this game is no exception. Considering it came out the same week as <i>Avengers: Endgame</i>, it shares a lot of concepts with that movie.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(This is the only MK post that isn't entirely new, as I did this in 2019, so I'm rewriting it now. It probably won't go as in-depth as some of the others as a result.)</div>
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We've got a lot of options here. You've got the traditional towers where you fight a bunch of random opponents in a row, plus a 4-ish hour story mode.<br />
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The versus mode / arcade roster is pretty robust at this point. Kind of funny to think about how the old Mortal Kombat games started and ended with their towers. That was it for single-player gameplay.<br />
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The first thing that jumps out about this game: The visuals. They're far beyond every other game in this series so far. <i>MKX</i> was a PS3 game originally and got ported to PS4 (which is the version I played), while this game was built from the ground-up for PS4.<br />
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Kitana MURDERS THE CAMERAMAN with her blade-fan.<br />
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Fan spin of death! The camera zooms in on some of the bigger moves.<br />
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The iconic "FINISH HIM" has returned. I like to do something super-lame like throw a low punch.<br />
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Kitana's knee-lift when throwing fans has been my favorite Mortal Kombat move since <i>MKII</i>.<br />
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When you finish a traditional tower as a character, you get a traditional ending. All of them involve time-travel, since winning this tournament gives the winner time-travel powers.<br />
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Kitana's ending has her going back in time to keep her homeland of Edenia from falling into ruin and becoming Outworld.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
She then hangs out on the Iron Throne and teaches young people to fight while a Wrestlemania-sized crowd looks on.<br />
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Onward to the actual story mode, where Kitana is dead / a revenant, along with most of the characters I like.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This is moody and atmospheric right off the bat.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
THESE VISUALS THOUGH<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The story begins with Shinnok's severed head on a table. Welp, his arc is over! Still think he's probably the lamest MK villain. He shouldn't be, considering he's a full-on Elder God, but yeah.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden beheaded him at the end of the previous game, which was a risky move, and apparently angered the Time God. More on that soon. ...or maybe we already got more on that yesterday? One thing is for sure, angering the Time God is, was, and will be a bad idea.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The first chapter of Story Mode has us on a miltary base, picking up right where <i>MKX</i> left off.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Cassie Cage vs Sonya! Is it Sonya Cage, or Sonya Blade? We don't know. It's just "Sonya"<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Johnny is a Miz-like movie star, that goes a long way.<br />
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It just me or does Sonya look younger and hotter than Cassie? ...it's just me? Alright.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Earth's Special Forces investigate the house from <i>Resident Evil</i>. It seems Netherrealm has been ignoring Raiden's warnings and antagonizing Earthrealm, so our heroes are now attacking Netherrealm's outposts.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The signature ultra-violence is back and bloodier than ever! A lot of these moves make you wonder how the character isn't completely dead, like this one where Cassie shoots her opponent with giant kryptonite bullets.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
At the end of chapter 1, Sonya - spoiler alert - gets killed during an assault on a Netherrealm outpost. It's a super-emotional moment for everybody...until a little while later when they go back in time and Sonya is still alive there and it's like nothing happened. Future Sonya is no more, however.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Next, our heroes visit Netherrealm, which looks more like the land of <i>Mordor</i>. Said with an Aragorn accent.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's the actual villain of this game, Kronika. ::giddy giggling is heard::<br />
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She's the Time God in question. No word on if she's also a fan of the ganjaweed.<br />
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In any case, meeting her sets into motion a chain of events where our heroes get taken...back to the past. And the ironic part is I don't think this game is actually remaking any of the others. Yeah, the one with full-on time travel is also the one that doesn't repeat any storylines.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This means meeting their past selves. Here's Older Johnny Cage meeting Younger Johnny Cage. On the right is Cassie, on the left is Younger Sonya. Here she's closer to the age of her daughter. This is, of course, super-weird for the older characters because they just lost her in their timeline.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Time-travel also means they can bring back literally everybody from the earlier games that they killed in <i>MK9</i>. Shao Khan has a weirdly monster-ish chest here. In the old games he had a very human chest and didn't look like a monster at all.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Raiden, unfortunately not played by Christopher Lambert, is here to unleash lightning bolts.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(2024 Editor's Note: There is now a DLC that lets you play as <i>Christopher Lambert Raiden</i>. It's like they read this post between 2019 and now)<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
This is a callback to <i>MK9</i>, right before Kung Lao got slain.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's Skarlet, a character I'm not familiar with. I think she was a secret character in one of the earlier games.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">For some reason Jade is now in a relationship with Kotal Kahn (Note: Still no relation to Shao). They're basically the two rulers of Outworld at this point.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEefIKpzH9av2GjMZa_jn9NouCPBWED2SuQ1yatcbCisSyuJUu6rnY1CzOcFeButHtHMYmx7H0Pth9hsI7HNCqCY5eHMepaQGUU_8UkinMv8S8k8jIHbmnwKA_opL0fB5t8YEJh5-KYVBM/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190427174527.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEefIKpzH9av2GjMZa_jn9NouCPBWED2SuQ1yatcbCisSyuJUu6rnY1CzOcFeButHtHMYmx7H0Pth9hsI7HNCqCY5eHMepaQGUU_8UkinMv8S8k8jIHbmnwKA_opL0fB5t8YEJh5-KYVBM/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190427174527.png" width="640" /></a><br />After she says this, he goes "no other woman was you". That is rizz, as the kids say.<br />
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Next thing we know, Shao Kahn announces that he's invading Russia and Britain at the same time! Is that really the best idea? He then goes back to his bunker to do more morphine.</div><div style="text-align: center;">
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Kotal Kahn gets to be the one to beat Shao Kahn this time around. Surprised to see this fight so early in the game, as if they're clearing the deck for new ideas.<br />
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The past version of the Shaolin Monks. So Kung Lao is back and so is Liu Kang. They're just gonna kinda ignore that whole undead revenant thing, I think.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The story gets so convoluted in <i>MK10 </i>and <i>11</i> that I can barely even keep track of it or cover it. Nothing really matters because they kill off and bring characters back constantly, there are often two versions of characters based on which timeline they're from, etc. The next game is gonna make it even worse by introducing a multiverse where there are a bunch of realities with a bunch of versions of characters, too. Yes, they went from Marvel Phase 3 timey wimey stuff in this game to Marvel Phase 4 multiverse stuff in the next game.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Our heroes get to find out how their future selves died and it makes for some awkward conversation. So far this game is pretty much just a direct continuation of <i>MK9</i> and doesn't have much to do with <i>MK10</i> besides the Shinnok head on the table (and the existence of the New Generation)</div>
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Raiden gets a mission from the Elder Gods. He's got to get the heroes together so they can take on Kronika ::giddy giggling is heard::</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, glad the Elder Gods are against her, considering Raiden is the one who kinda beheaded an Elder God at the end of the last game.</div>
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We get a particularly cool chapter with pre-crisis Sub-Zero and pre-dead Scorpion. They were master assassins of the Lin Kuei.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Sub-Zero looks like noted Best Friend and AEW superstar, Trent Baretta. Scorpion bears a striking resemblance to an Uso Brother of WWE fame. Neither is nearly as egregious as what's coming up though.<br />
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I always thought Cyrax was a robo Scorpion, since Scorpion was missing from the game Cyrax debuted in (<i>MKIII</i>). Nope, not Scorpion at all. Here they are on the same screen.<br />
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This is an interesting subplot, as Sub-Zero and Scorpion refuse to go through with the Lin Kuei's new initiative of turning themselves into robots. Here's Noob Saibot. Wait, this is before <i>MK9</i>... and Noob wasn't a bot in <i>MK9</i>. Well, don't think about it too much.</div>
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The good ones weren't the only ones to go Back To The Past. Future Kano is here, and he's ready to form an alliance of bastards with Past Kano.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Also, Future Kano is none other than noted wrestling standout AUSTIN ARIES. This time it isn't just a coincidental resemblance, they made him the spitting image of A-Double.<br />
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<img alt="austin aries" height="360" src="http://stillrealtous.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/austin-aries-696x392.jpg" width="640" /><br />I hope he got paid for his likeness being used. When this game was in development he was fresh off his WWE run.</div>
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Kronika's daughter is the Poison Ivy esque Cetrion. She's also Shinnok's sister. What a tangled web!<br />
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Past Sonya is working on computer stuff and being creeped on by...<br />
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...TWO JOHNNIES. As if one wasn't already bad enough!<br />
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Old Johnny takes Young Johnny to task for his disrespectful attitude towards Sonya, and Younger Johnny offers up this bit of Dad-Wisdom. Older Johnny then points out that their father was an asshole.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
I think Older Johnny is amazed that Sonya ever got together with him back then. This would probably be a really common sentiment if people could jump back in time like this.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Of course, this inevitably leads to JOHNNY VERSUS JOHNNY. For all the marbles! Note how younger Johnny is posing and acting like a douche while older Johnny is just kind of over it all.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
As Older Johnny, I proceed to punch Young Johnny in the groin as much as humanly possible. NO MORE CASSIE! HAW HAW!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WM92Lz86-2OPconX_N60knHehv41KUgZOe9tra1WUfGC27JnFCbiIxseFikZz-1Um3LzPu3XXk-H0wU0z-N0fhzHnblfsPR0MWv3vzlZbyaIidMp_etsVDUxvgqIw_FrP2ABZB6-eugl/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190427185218.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WM92Lz86-2OPconX_N60knHehv41KUgZOe9tra1WUfGC27JnFCbiIxseFikZz-1Um3LzPu3XXk-H0wU0z-N0fhzHnblfsPR0MWv3vzlZbyaIidMp_etsVDUxvgqIw_FrP2ABZB6-eugl/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190427185218.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He then punches Kano in the groin! CRACK!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Johnny is preventing all kinds of future timelines!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Unfortunately, dick-punching only wins most battles, and the Kanos emerge victorious thanks to Older Kano's resourcefulness.<br />
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Oh hai, it's Sheeva. ...she has seen better days.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Meanwhile, Skarlet hungers for Jade's blood. Really not into this "beast" version of Shao Kahn, and there's no real explanation as to why he looks different.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
The core hero-group hasn't changed much all these years. Except for when they were all dead throughout <i>MKX</i>... glad we're just kinda ignoring that now.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
A few fan throws (w/ sexy knee lift) later and Skarlet is defeated. We barely knew ye.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Shao Kahn: Somehow still around. Now he's equipped with his extra-large Thor hammer.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
He unleashes Lex Luger's Torture Rack on Kotal Kahn while walking around. It's about time someone smashed Kotal Kahn. TBH Kahn vs Kahn was something I kinda wanted to see from the minute Kotal showed up.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Story mode dictates that Kitana be the one to fight Shao Kahn this time. That's more like it!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
He has the same charge-based offense as he did in the past, only now with added 3D zooming.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Later, story mode takes you to Shang Tsung's Island. This is of course the setting of the first movie, the gathering place of the world's fighters.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpniceLXAEdvPemSOwvWc3C1vBCy1Pn1UWgQ5UC6iAGaqnOExTk8OGwe7p4WSlS0QonWufjXvQcloTaiXKaqkklOlQPXU9TQpiN4xR7F7e6wzFlSEjWShfmjMWFMUZ5Izb0F0_7GYWHftb/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429140007.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpniceLXAEdvPemSOwvWc3C1vBCy1Pn1UWgQ5UC6iAGaqnOExTk8OGwe7p4WSlS0QonWufjXvQcloTaiXKaqkklOlQPXU9TQpiN4xR7F7e6wzFlSEjWShfmjMWFMUZ5Izb0F0_7GYWHftb/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429140007.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Next up, lots of shooting as our heroes deal with the Terminator-like onslaught of...<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
...Kano, who now has A DAMN MINIGUN!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Somewhere in there Johnny Cage gets shot in the arm. It's just the shot in the arm (...) he needs to be a little more humble with the woman he's been stalking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5rkQL_HpNlImhsqKujmgHyzfboyizhL04eq2dJyH6jfWR0kfBpqCUSPnRu5_nJozhBn3fqA3cKs_bDvQNQite2F-i5T05_JjKYYXpTfwybFdFpxEwQm3o7tRT6xq0pUixt7_CMoaGk1e/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429141848.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5rkQL_HpNlImhsqKujmgHyzfboyizhL04eq2dJyH6jfWR0kfBpqCUSPnRu5_nJozhBn3fqA3cKs_bDvQNQite2F-i5T05_JjKYYXpTfwybFdFpxEwQm3o7tRT6xq0pUixt7_CMoaGk1e/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429141848.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Meanwhile, Jax spends quality family time with his future daughter, Jacqui Briggs. One thing this game does well: Character development and bonding moments. It's a more grown-up MK.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">......not sure if this is future Jax or past Jax who hasn't had her yet or what. I'm so confused.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLwYMU42oPiVS1cVqxVVNl505tFyS2uc8eLlDGb1kBuzvSJyw7T6k4ROAuKIgpXgjlPg5NJrLM6qLRLR6ps2oTy0BlGlDHTxakC7VFIiurKRkTC3x532EcdM-dYvB1fgjCFpSoJxqnVG2/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429142007.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaLwYMU42oPiVS1cVqxVVNl505tFyS2uc8eLlDGb1kBuzvSJyw7T6k4ROAuKIgpXgjlPg5NJrLM6qLRLR6ps2oTy0BlGlDHTxakC7VFIiurKRkTC3x532EcdM-dYvB1fgjCFpSoJxqnVG2/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429142007.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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OH SNAP, it's the original MK emblem falling apart on Shang Tsung's Island.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqp8MkGouE4Mu4d4H7rI7inxrSZ9ZroJ6xxIXrpWSyeCVXT73igis0mTDud6T72YByUA_LRsZZ0PTv_kG-6O9fMHxkeaSuHvr3bF5ZnTbl3h9-JvDT0Nh3odX2NVtbRr9PfRqe89HsWa8/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429142243.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqp8MkGouE4Mu4d4H7rI7inxrSZ9ZroJ6xxIXrpWSyeCVXT73igis0mTDud6T72YByUA_LRsZZ0PTv_kG-6O9fMHxkeaSuHvr3bF5ZnTbl3h9-JvDT0Nh3odX2NVtbRr9PfRqe89HsWa8/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429142243.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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If that background looks familiar, it should. It's the tournament stage from the very first game in the series. It's in disrepair now, obviously.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFq5ygXtOaN1uDYv3dF8gw4bN8Z-9as2o07PlfMo9-vjwGxotRnzkmR1fz4-ySt9zBH2gvbFENytGNWZ7mJCyNT2FFoal_bw_SWmgsMQ8d_qssoOeLxuDrAksamWdXqTdihT1SjEDjvsB/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429143142.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkFq5ygXtOaN1uDYv3dF8gw4bN8Z-9as2o07PlfMo9-vjwGxotRnzkmR1fz4-ySt9zBH2gvbFENytGNWZ7mJCyNT2FFoal_bw_SWmgsMQ8d_qssoOeLxuDrAksamWdXqTdihT1SjEDjvsB/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429143142.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's Goro's lair, complete with...Goro? petrified in the background.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbkisS_aKR1M99P9AFt-oryNdHQSYPSbt0DkPhQHjLuWKpi7oDPKu6iBNCEw42xHnzUsyXJAiJbQaldU5jU04DAbZ-KUBQlrbQmh7eEdVjHQrXxAjeEk2JXPCEJvowuOgbpZlxIly3wFz/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429211023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbkisS_aKR1M99P9AFt-oryNdHQSYPSbt0DkPhQHjLuWKpi7oDPKu6iBNCEw42xHnzUsyXJAiJbQaldU5jU04DAbZ-KUBQlrbQmh7eEdVjHQrXxAjeEk2JXPCEJvowuOgbpZlxIly3wFz/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429211023.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We also get a sweet cutscene with our heroes fighting thousands of goons on a bridge.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6alKdRyNsZfpUFp3Ae-IPeI1zp1S02SSDTg1C6yRllR2GYkLShm_7pz2vAOOWZGkpZhxPLF5aR_PJb-X4CfnswU73VhxENa0Z2N7lXnalNKdnQfiX4SrRHKH6rXXCToqcsvS68VbIxLYh/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429214255.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6alKdRyNsZfpUFp3Ae-IPeI1zp1S02SSDTg1C6yRllR2GYkLShm_7pz2vAOOWZGkpZhxPLF5aR_PJb-X4CfnswU73VhxENa0Z2N7lXnalNKdnQfiX4SrRHKH6rXXCToqcsvS68VbIxLYh/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429214255.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Shang Tsung's Island also shows up in Krypt Mode, as does...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDYPJJw7jwuFiauunLmftM95WkvzQyYVX0xjObjUf8d4CpJfZgCFvFjxPAn9yIVf3x9fEm8Q6yC2At0HokERg2C1Uo8kQN7gbnledNY107BhTBrO4TWL4jMLb8W8NMHeqyLf8ribzZGuQ/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429214345.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDYPJJw7jwuFiauunLmftM95WkvzQyYVX0xjObjUf8d4CpJfZgCFvFjxPAn9yIVf3x9fEm8Q6yC2At0HokERg2C1Uo8kQN7gbnledNY107BhTBrO4TWL4jMLb8W8NMHeqyLf8ribzZGuQ/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429214345.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...OH MY GOD. It's the real Shang Tsung.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38AVrUsVxy2g6yIVIYUGfo-FWVQ1OZYXsr8FO9EhpIgJVcFU5WGVa2GbeiQqJKs7z2gZrTTsTAeHT1PKb2LLqLjnAkSdOQVUcXMR2Fe542ysnAYx6JIKggxWj20-wxGo5TwsAMUgViSeQ/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429214927.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg38AVrUsVxy2g6yIVIYUGfo-FWVQ1OZYXsr8FO9EhpIgJVcFU5WGVa2GbeiQqJKs7z2gZrTTsTAeHT1PKb2LLqLjnAkSdOQVUcXMR2Fe542ysnAYx6JIKggxWj20-wxGo5TwsAMUgViSeQ/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429214927.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here's Past Scorpion (R) Vs. Present Scorpion (L)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUz2Qfl6s9mW-eSu5g2uh7JB8o_FT_IM65vw1jzd-gNFnxgIkiezWcSm89KesOSmfJMJ2UcLbbXUBzPHPNr3YxM9ZjFJixM82FXZhj1A-KkgC3S84MPXx5MrA-pVoGHJmTaUGfUluzGXY/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429215257.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUz2Qfl6s9mW-eSu5g2uh7JB8o_FT_IM65vw1jzd-gNFnxgIkiezWcSm89KesOSmfJMJ2UcLbbXUBzPHPNr3YxM9ZjFJixM82FXZhj1A-KkgC3S84MPXx5MrA-pVoGHJmTaUGfUluzGXY/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429215257.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Young Scorpion: "My future self and me! My future self and meeeee!"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrPxm_NpCezah-zM7yqsLZRzEmZWJp5pLJbbz__gjkYGjb11DBB-3hSwoXfxSIuBrfdwC1ZWXkfJnhryD0HBj1M5b8dH3mJ66R78998tH1uOaLy4HgxN1uHlC4G3txGXhxgVEhZt5D-2q/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220046.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCrPxm_NpCezah-zM7yqsLZRzEmZWJp5pLJbbz__gjkYGjb11DBB-3hSwoXfxSIuBrfdwC1ZWXkfJnhryD0HBj1M5b8dH3mJ66R78998tH1uOaLy4HgxN1uHlC4G3txGXhxgVEhZt5D-2q/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220046.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Rayden puts Liu Kang to the test.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-a5JqE7atiKzbHhfZNFRiE-i9mD-T91hgbf-yeagMHUPlUEWBqj5AEj7sGGU2D2jEHNB4ATmNm6AWl56Chb1HEONDAgxbhBVTaN69-k6TeEmNrYSC-qmbWxHS4Nl9OBb9yfL7wdLQJjr/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220251.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG-a5JqE7atiKzbHhfZNFRiE-i9mD-T91hgbf-yeagMHUPlUEWBqj5AEj7sGGU2D2jEHNB4ATmNm6AWl56Chb1HEONDAgxbhBVTaN69-k6TeEmNrYSC-qmbWxHS4Nl9OBb9yfL7wdLQJjr/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220251.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His electric attacks look particularly rad here, in the raddest-looking of MKs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCScwe5K_eeMK4BDvDHJou6sUnMIb3tWV9uEyl3h1I7-q73-buVniGcz2U9M9cd-FlChfoWwM9k-n6-DJL2IHsmIuJAazbC21e-pN3bgrvZ_y5NfnEV-esBwUzS5MchgUUr-nwD6YS0It/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220640.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdCScwe5K_eeMK4BDvDHJou6sUnMIb3tWV9uEyl3h1I7-q73-buVniGcz2U9M9cd-FlChfoWwM9k-n6-DJL2IHsmIuJAazbC21e-pN3bgrvZ_y5NfnEV-esBwUzS5MchgUUr-nwD6YS0It/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220640.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">Kronika is basically like an evil Doctor Strange. Which figures because she looks just like the bald lady from <i>Doctor Strange</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquL0LPuBc-oFToED2Z96vIKZqyU7uAYAd0RIszZlGFc-bFOZfEeMjBGsBaZmEwjAF02JMG4EoMY7TgTW78XVNSFBY8vWDGOIWCVCgNLsZlOvMKdZj-Gq0VP2LAYYqhfL_IxIkbH-waKR5/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220657.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjquL0LPuBc-oFToED2Z96vIKZqyU7uAYAd0RIszZlGFc-bFOZfEeMjBGsBaZmEwjAF02JMG4EoMY7TgTW78XVNSFBY8vWDGOIWCVCgNLsZlOvMKdZj-Gq0VP2LAYYqhfL_IxIkbH-waKR5/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429220657.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So every time Liu Kang has to fight Raiden for real, he dies? If I were Liu Kang I'd be going "now wait a second" right about now. Turns out Kronika has been manipulating events to ensure that Liu Kang always dies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsGhGo2v_XwYroSrEWnSCRStjUKaAx86AH-wccL38a6kW3abIjmkviwlX86CNdvxVCjrJH57dmcO7Ai5PpOTK90LZj3c-PQEQficanWdPzhBlT6JI22wcM8r-uTXopDtWUSzDuQ6e70YE/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429221545.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOsGhGo2v_XwYroSrEWnSCRStjUKaAx86AH-wccL38a6kW3abIjmkviwlX86CNdvxVCjrJH57dmcO7Ai5PpOTK90LZj3c-PQEQficanWdPzhBlT6JI22wcM8r-uTXopDtWUSzDuQ6e70YE/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429221545.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Whatever, DOCTOR. Raiden realizes that the best way to foil Kronika is to combine his powers with Liu Kang somehow.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTWM3EVO4678HmgfPCF2PV-wDCqd111f7r_lJ1PhZg9cSdNY5oKQtYETpspcZJc4xXxzriLaW30vYToefivCDy1Hs95Fvfie5VWtbEKBRxu7KZPArXZdtOjH6ROfl4Lnt9rf9JZq3Zcmn/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223231.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioTWM3EVO4678HmgfPCF2PV-wDCqd111f7r_lJ1PhZg9cSdNY5oKQtYETpspcZJc4xXxzriLaW30vYToefivCDy1Hs95Fvfie5VWtbEKBRxu7KZPArXZdtOjH6ROfl4Lnt9rf9JZq3Zcmn/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223231.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">So long story short, Revenant Liu Kang finally shows up again and merges with Past Liu Kang, then Raiden merges with the combined Liu Kang to become...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyKINXErSA0bZFqCt-lrigMkC0HwhSv_BQwBV_XjNvvUAduvyrnDBmTniIshLfUax70FDPXKIReEifsZeFcRwQdtjkw7pVR_ZNFjMKVgrDjtq3Mfgwi07JF7S19TiuYkfwm_XCrPZnu4Di/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223255.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyKINXErSA0bZFqCt-lrigMkC0HwhSv_BQwBV_XjNvvUAduvyrnDBmTniIshLfUax70FDPXKIReEifsZeFcRwQdtjkw7pVR_ZNFjMKVgrDjtq3Mfgwi07JF7S19TiuYkfwm_XCrPZnu4Di/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223255.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
...Fire God Liu Kang. He now has the power of both himself and Raiden. This means he can claim his place once again as top MK hero, after two games where he ceded that title to Raiden and a bunch of kids. He's got fire power, lightning power, Liu Kang power, and is an all-around total beast.</div><div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1GHDnm96JLS6rNM9Z9Ue9aSOc9wHxfFDeZ8ogDXa8kuwMelkou2q7qYEcVTq2m-gIVqf3P1EmralWfwHBBStKZdF6pW-0hpv0oVkaOTWmMsm5Rx6vLdn70bqXUYZj2maKPt9ApZN3Uws9/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223405.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1GHDnm96JLS6rNM9Z9Ue9aSOc9wHxfFDeZ8ogDXa8kuwMelkou2q7qYEcVTq2m-gIVqf3P1EmralWfwHBBStKZdF6pW-0hpv0oVkaOTWmMsm5Rx6vLdn70bqXUYZj2maKPt9ApZN3Uws9/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223405.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Fire God Liu Kang is the single most powerful character in the MK series. Not sure why they didn't just do this earlier to annihilate Shao Kahn all those years ago. It's like a Namek fusion. Were Piccolo and Kami just sitting on that idea while the Saiyans murdered everyone??</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKdrL5sHJYr3Xq4xXvTLEYp8n5xjEpqmRdgC5xcjJnjc3I9m4ScclPyEvkS1u4XMl9XkEs8V2FoVzpHvawpTDKgx9tU1GQmI2ti3ZYbE3ZYmpiWd3sunZlTh3TD-XuHinNJn0kZOgCNr_/s1600/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223824.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKdrL5sHJYr3Xq4xXvTLEYp8n5xjEpqmRdgC5xcjJnjc3I9m4ScclPyEvkS1u4XMl9XkEs8V2FoVzpHvawpTDKgx9tU1GQmI2ti3ZYbE3ZYmpiWd3sunZlTh3TD-XuHinNJn0kZOgCNr_/s640/Mortal+Kombat+11_20190429223824.png" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He leads the liberation army of Earth against the minions of Outworld and Kronika.<br />
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This also means he has to defeat the undead future versions of Kung Lao, and Kitana, to finally end this dumb revenant storyline.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">He's so strong that he pretty much obsoletes the entire rest of the cast. Nobody can stand up to this dude. Even Kronika is probably getting worried right about now.<br />
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Cetrion is the penultimate fight. She's Shinnok's sister, hope everyone is keeping up with all of this.<br />
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At last, Fire God Liu Kang sends Kronika to fucking Narnia with a barrage of flying kicks, and I've officially won<i> Mortal Kombat 11</i>.<br />
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Kronika turns to shattered gems, our heroes go back to their correct times, and...<br />
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...everything gets wrapped up in a neat bow. Well, that was a fun game, and ends a really outstanding trilogy. The best the MK series gets, IMO.<br />
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As credits roll, we get this shot of Sonya kicking Kano in the groin so hard that his entire spine gets launched out of his body.<br />
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Oh, MK.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But wait! <i>MK11</i> isn't over yet. They dropped a DLC for it, <i>MK11 Aftermath</i>, that continues the story like a full-on sequel. It's about the same length as this game, and really good for the $10 or so that it runs. Checking that out next. The one-two punch of <i>MK11</i> and its DLC sequel is probably the best overall game in the entire series, usurping <i>MK9</i> for that honor. <i>MK9</i> is my favorite game in the series as a stand-alone. If <i>MK9</i> had an excellent DLC maybe it would win, but nope.</div>
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Mortal%20Kombat" target="_blank">Other Mortal Kombat Posts</a></div>
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<br />Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-25439606986221853252024-02-24T05:12:00.002-05:002024-02-24T05:14:35.671-05:00Mortal Kombat X (Playstation 4, 2015)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifd89J22q2UsYsWzGLdYC155QPAFrabsWj3mRYxKmjr7O82dzWwgAWvzdM6AQ8oe_lDEPhuuRIDOGzMZUVSPaiWsVHJmFwl7-uGi8a2ob8vOxZ0-uHCb6FBghYTBwBZNLPmwNiBPB3PJyjkdxG3UEleig3oFnVzJzoVzuTBuP3abCy-RSOHVAUHTMC0yTN/s1080/mortal-kombat-x.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1080" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifd89J22q2UsYsWzGLdYC155QPAFrabsWj3mRYxKmjr7O82dzWwgAWvzdM6AQ8oe_lDEPhuuRIDOGzMZUVSPaiWsVHJmFwl7-uGi8a2ob8vOxZ0-uHCb6FBghYTBwBZNLPmwNiBPB3PJyjkdxG3UEleig3oFnVzJzoVzuTBuP3abCy-RSOHVAUHTMC0yTN/w640-h356/mortal-kombat-x.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After <i>MK9 </i>basically remade the first 3 games in the series, this one is a retelling of <i>MK4. </i>Except it does way more than <i>MK4</i> does, giving us a sizable time jump and showing what everyone had going on 20 years or so later. We've got characters with grey hair, grown-up children of the old guard, and so on. It's good stuff. Also Liu Kang and Kung Lao are both DEAD. How will MK do without its Shaolin Monks?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>MK11</i> is pretty much entirely new (and my favorite of the new crop of post-<i>IX</i> MKs) while <i>MK1</i> (which should have just been called <i>MK12</i>) retells the <i>Deadly Alliance, Deception,</i> and <i>Armageddon</i> stories to an extent. So at this point they've kinda remade the first seven games all over again, over two different new timelines for some reason.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Welp, I'm almost done with the series, two left after this one. Let's go.</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDBc211b24eh-eJijUTSZg2optF44bVZ9fDhh2tZrPT3pewhzSyYkb4fCciSL7T3VwBwtEWVY3ECM_HGuF44z07m7F8NGNu53r7D2nE5jdJPkN90kfTkHlDaCdsfEP05JDORHwcoi8gJon9dzZaUbk6PCl9AEaQNkoMstovtKz7crfR48gfckISblDYz9/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDBc211b24eh-eJijUTSZg2optF44bVZ9fDhh2tZrPT3pewhzSyYkb4fCciSL7T3VwBwtEWVY3ECM_HGuF44z07m7F8NGNu53r7D2nE5jdJPkN90kfTkHlDaCdsfEP05JDORHwcoi8gJon9dzZaUbk6PCl9AEaQNkoMstovtKz7crfR48gfckISblDYz9/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005111.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We've got the traditional arcade ladders, which are a total formality at this point. Notable that Tremor from the <i>Special Forces</i> spinoff makes his debut in the main series here, by popular demand, as the brown/earth elemental ninja. Wait, purchase?? That's right, a bunch of characters are locked behind microtransactions. This is why we can't have nice things anymore.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UBzpkNX_mvLz-UVgEEBIspKb1tO4UFYnRbL7z-kfo2EPaNwGvtxOZZ9Lm_rWP6sO_vs54QKaNn3GSc_6krx_qDeY0wZhbe6PL3b8ULN0EiCGnS8PlMDbCuBUDx9jbmIVpl7QoYM6kd-WspfHG31p65TEWT1YwSYlLpLbf3a5MiBKKCQw-BFa6BtrS9P1/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005620.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2UBzpkNX_mvLz-UVgEEBIspKb1tO4UFYnRbL7z-kfo2EPaNwGvtxOZZ9Lm_rWP6sO_vs54QKaNn3GSc_6krx_qDeY0wZhbe6PL3b8ULN0EiCGnS8PlMDbCuBUDx9jbmIVpl7QoYM6kd-WspfHG31p65TEWT1YwSYlLpLbf3a5MiBKKCQw-BFa6BtrS9P1/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005620.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The meat of the game is in story mode, which picks up after <i>MK9</i> with Shinnok and Quan-Chi about to attack Earthrealm. Johnny Cage and Sonya are leading a crack team of special forces.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF3GzHLbgYzrUUQtWtWN5eIAZJ6WEION1CMAnCFVvCrtU2nuqddScXnDeyK0JH0QjorPkQAU4nCTT5PgL_qrMm8EK9gZOswvDq0HAqoVlV9dLNJFmPu0CGrkkEJzxebQrOUHXNpp4yQF4cLVKQN0-EQkmT2Q5GS5gnpEmpOlh_Hp3apyhkoeiTz3uJ_6Kx/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005744.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF3GzHLbgYzrUUQtWtWN5eIAZJ6WEION1CMAnCFVvCrtU2nuqddScXnDeyK0JH0QjorPkQAU4nCTT5PgL_qrMm8EK9gZOswvDq0HAqoVlV9dLNJFmPu0CGrkkEJzxebQrOUHXNpp4yQF4cLVKQN0-EQkmT2Q5GS5gnpEmpOlh_Hp3apyhkoeiTz3uJ_6Kx/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005744.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But wait! Scorpion ambushes them and we get...a quicktime event? My God. Microtransactions AND quicktime events? What happened to you, MK?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDjbQlOUDp8BHDHT9CsRPtkYSOqImw8B5QraF5atKs95rTjc8GUB2cvsiUjjA99c6M9RmvU4hsFIL_1hCNOAZI3X0xyTrl6Arkvdhfe5oIYC75dhoq-TRedZvfiZWsZkxh9LZi4k1k7z95WPcaKhg-SrvuWGCm-8gAB9UhkwcF8yuYhlobVVwvdQEQouir/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005944.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDjbQlOUDp8BHDHT9CsRPtkYSOqImw8B5QraF5atKs95rTjc8GUB2cvsiUjjA99c6M9RmvU4hsFIL_1hCNOAZI3X0xyTrl6Arkvdhfe5oIYC75dhoq-TRedZvfiZWsZkxh9LZi4k1k7z95WPcaKhg-SrvuWGCm-8gAB9UhkwcF8yuYhlobVVwvdQEQouir/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207005944.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Other than the few glaring issues, this game is solid. Looks good with the jump to PS4 (but not too good, as it also had a PS3 version) and handles very well. Pretty much the same as <i>MK9</i>, just more of that. Plays much the same, right down to the X-Ray mini-fatalities being a large part of your strategy during the fights.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtCshZLiMNvtMtYKZTGIzKv0PtbSSItoWAWiAGqAJdhCZaoVKO7cMxOGulZU4olbaLQv5zmJ5dHwslZY3u5qyluFo_CtZ5OqED01PUpnbcNE7SFl1sBNyWq-StIQOrMCbdskm9rnw2dZM05GB_XLdIGcwSosPOocO-GRfh2-9oGNG58hTbHT_4OR8MTYF/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207011620.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDtCshZLiMNvtMtYKZTGIzKv0PtbSSItoWAWiAGqAJdhCZaoVKO7cMxOGulZU4olbaLQv5zmJ5dHwslZY3u5qyluFo_CtZ5OqED01PUpnbcNE7SFl1sBNyWq-StIQOrMCbdskm9rnw2dZM05GB_XLdIGcwSosPOocO-GRfh2-9oGNG58hTbHT_4OR8MTYF/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207011620.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Quan-Chi arrives, and he's not alone. He's got an entire army of...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPfcDIekw46UWte9SouwcPLVzGtHO_seAq0JbV__JLRm6lwF9O-fIIJbpoNfYcTMb-_ytJPnoKTrvjYjoOlDUsw1oqSuOw7tsQTgzu9lJ9D1Ky1r-BDWYv3agyLvYe8OkqAfSUPd-JH5l9sNx65zx1s1CyjccxZ4BrGY-QuGnhh53eYEFv594VGuAzn0w/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207011638.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPfcDIekw46UWte9SouwcPLVzGtHO_seAq0JbV__JLRm6lwF9O-fIIJbpoNfYcTMb-_ytJPnoKTrvjYjoOlDUsw1oqSuOw7tsQTgzu9lJ9D1Ky1r-BDWYv3agyLvYe8OkqAfSUPd-JH5l9sNx65zx1s1CyjccxZ4BrGY-QuGnhh53eYEFv594VGuAzn0w/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207011638.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...characters who died in <i>MK9</i>, reanimated to fight for Shinnok.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaS7ZJJd3wK6EkNt_yevJRKAdhgX3QbxOUPYlNn_QsIHzq3HVv7mwjL32I9vCrvEHaAdvSPtnL-nvsCW0fYw24Exm1vWKGKIAI51rJWdtb5uxb7_5lN2UHmj-wj6hJUHeeIOceOrcHIUjNa1gHgxdDWBCMvueblcKd82YdGP7xHeI-myixVepL-WXsEAHR/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207011840.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaS7ZJJd3wK6EkNt_yevJRKAdhgX3QbxOUPYlNn_QsIHzq3HVv7mwjL32I9vCrvEHaAdvSPtnL-nvsCW0fYw24Exm1vWKGKIAI51rJWdtb5uxb7_5lN2UHmj-wj6hJUHeeIOceOrcHIUjNa1gHgxdDWBCMvueblcKd82YdGP7xHeI-myixVepL-WXsEAHR/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207011840.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This leads to Johnny having to fight former allies like Jax.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEch_AezhTdJqg58k7S_xQwEyWYLX4x4otsMYOCsCgllQ7CLjBJWk19NVUnMndkhN55GZdFvI0xD2ycOMgG_2ZVL50pClxQ5Hk3MK3cHc1n97Uv_lFoCZ3fKpk3herI7DjE1V90JnEC7Pgyx9noUd8u3tNBoNidmO326Frx815_58rCYTvboe-dZJ4tSIW/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207012316.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEch_AezhTdJqg58k7S_xQwEyWYLX4x4otsMYOCsCgllQ7CLjBJWk19NVUnMndkhN55GZdFvI0xD2ycOMgG_2ZVL50pClxQ5Hk3MK3cHc1n97Uv_lFoCZ3fKpk3herI7DjE1V90JnEC7Pgyx9noUd8u3tNBoNidmO326Frx815_58rCYTvboe-dZJ4tSIW/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207012316.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">New character alert: Blind Kenshi, who wields a bad-ass sword. This guy was new for <i>MK4</i> and he's one of the better additions to this one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9BC9aTUeMjk9ahlNbpJWzv7TJ3sKS8QelCzvEFVt1Ry3rStqQcjjfoTSl1NawJtl3MABLZtLx48rvsiy6A2y-nWQFa5R1h3wTd0kAm1gRoQ2yZW3u_EjI8qeR4NzLZ0ct_Lu4lSswJwZROhRM3iSxhdyIT2ti3mcqtzpeBh_-RPU76Hm-67Al3U8MwtWG/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207012500.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9BC9aTUeMjk9ahlNbpJWzv7TJ3sKS8QelCzvEFVt1Ry3rStqQcjjfoTSl1NawJtl3MABLZtLx48rvsiy6A2y-nWQFa5R1h3wTd0kAm1gRoQ2yZW3u_EjI8qeR4NzLZ0ct_Lu4lSswJwZROhRM3iSxhdyIT2ti3mcqtzpeBh_-RPU76Hm-67Al3U8MwtWG/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207012500.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shinnok is cornered by the Earthrealm squad. His whole thing is that he wanted Outworld and Earthrealm to go to war in order to weaken both of them so he could conquer the remains. After <i>MK3(9)</i> he finally had his time to strike.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZARmqEsIeW5hQ7Pgn7TezdBz_h0H01nFSDWAmO1dvTzASsTRVIwE-7u6VI3NNO5jvxt0GAZEntuNO0R2icVStemVEketaLr6g2i6VDWXaQLUuIDS8dOP5tXkhiSOwxBaCfCihyphenhyphenIGTegs-4cU5t-mOTzOdapaIbAlhgnX-SWKXHtNbxIZRpFZrWSbJXvax/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207012618.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZARmqEsIeW5hQ7Pgn7TezdBz_h0H01nFSDWAmO1dvTzASsTRVIwE-7u6VI3NNO5jvxt0GAZEntuNO0R2icVStemVEketaLr6g2i6VDWXaQLUuIDS8dOP5tXkhiSOwxBaCfCihyphenhyphenIGTegs-4cU5t-mOTzOdapaIbAlhgnX-SWKXHtNbxIZRpFZrWSbJXvax/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207012618.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden is joined by Noted Wind God Fujin, another guy from <i>MK4</i>. I was never particularly interested in anything Fujin-related... or anything <i>MK4</i>-related for that matter, but here he is!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxQDYRXFRc1fCX386wYa3ORiBa_YUPoGrdT_5zhnGqdAYI9saFJpRV5dJa62tA1NYvArHJv4ce7NPpfsCblO0gOYjF3__b9kFWz7KsdcMQOID0z0VNx36BQmPLPnzaAtxr9qNg20GkytRtKcgStWwqwhU1J136Rh3c1zEYzM4NdLbGVbRKpOesoFYjOyC/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013106.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdxQDYRXFRc1fCX386wYa3ORiBa_YUPoGrdT_5zhnGqdAYI9saFJpRV5dJa62tA1NYvArHJv4ce7NPpfsCblO0gOYjF3__b9kFWz7KsdcMQOID0z0VNx36BQmPLPnzaAtxr9qNg20GkytRtKcgStWwqwhU1J136Rh3c1zEYzM4NdLbGVbRKpOesoFYjOyC/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013106.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">For the final battle of the first chapter, Johnny faces off with Shinnok. He's no Shao Kahn, that's for sure, and there's a reason the series took a downturn once he replaced Kahn as the main antagonist (at least for a little bit).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-I2dOVu3YqmC8lkSd61dQRQvzqlpHiuSPqTvQ7xhKGuUAc5N19jy2Zu99HgcKLcOjEEv-CAIzrxLv_yMwO6eyUdrqA1ZbSxBpwdkpXmO5jj82U-Q39BJ378FEv_l212UeVeiK6sJ1YSCeduDuIW1lp-l0cR8UsvsiRcd6LbxAdmBc_dijouuwsT0u0Q2e/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013243.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-I2dOVu3YqmC8lkSd61dQRQvzqlpHiuSPqTvQ7xhKGuUAc5N19jy2Zu99HgcKLcOjEEv-CAIzrxLv_yMwO6eyUdrqA1ZbSxBpwdkpXmO5jj82U-Q39BJ378FEv_l212UeVeiK6sJ1YSCeduDuIW1lp-l0cR8UsvsiRcd6LbxAdmBc_dijouuwsT0u0Q2e/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013243.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After whooping him, Raiden and Fujin step in and seal him away in an amulet.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsJID2LPHyeJNmdR1q4eFTib67vdn4Y7Ej33OCUJ1nHNy7lwNM883B96hdOcy3p8l8uZ0lzf52ESql1VMGCBhTsuyVMp0-OzsTnZiOkInslNs94fG2h6llHw-zTauJmCE0maWDkZv1yXi1WNQj5FYRzVsZ8BHv1LYmaKZWuKNuTJAP0seUjlGsNHG8Hr_/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013302.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWsJID2LPHyeJNmdR1q4eFTib67vdn4Y7Ej33OCUJ1nHNy7lwNM883B96hdOcy3p8l8uZ0lzf52ESql1VMGCBhTsuyVMp0-OzsTnZiOkInslNs94fG2h6llHw-zTauJmCE0maWDkZv1yXi1WNQj5FYRzVsZ8BHv1LYmaKZWuKNuTJAP0seUjlGsNHG8Hr_/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013302.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We get a tender moment as Johnny checks on Sonya after the fight and she calls him by his first name for the first time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shinnok is defeated, and <i>MK4</i> is already done with. From here they're off into uncharted territory. The trilogy of games that led up to <i>Armageddon</i> never happened, and there was relative peace all this time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">TWENTY YEARS LATER...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOakavQdBpRKXPHp_rGsDFFDCnzNhI0s-Ci2JxDo8hR9b5xeDsUi7MOZcCTFymzDwk4hydX0m6buguqE26OPYAft5FwI3xAfaJc46iA00Hwp9mDUjHfNVSqXQZ1CEZToa0KFWKDVC1ahkK28CixXQbzxkFP8VVFIa05MyS-EhbFtxprXP8VIF4iX-rjiMM/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOakavQdBpRKXPHp_rGsDFFDCnzNhI0s-Ci2JxDo8hR9b5xeDsUi7MOZcCTFymzDwk4hydX0m6buguqE26OPYAft5FwI3xAfaJc46iA00Hwp9mDUjHfNVSqXQZ1CEZToa0KFWKDVC1ahkK28CixXQbzxkFP8VVFIa05MyS-EhbFtxprXP8VIF4iX-rjiMM/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013408.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A now silver-haired Johnny Cage is married to Sonya and they have a daughter. Jax has a daughter too, plus there are some other young guys here. Takeda (some guy), and Kung Jin (Kung Lao's nephew... not son, mind you, because that would require Kung Lao to shaboink with a lady and he's a monk)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This group makes up the New Generation (tm) of special forces, led by Johnny and Sonya.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIv6jwS9xTwKU5QzS6Mjg3S6ghShxDhM8D0ZTqIKXlgNfw2ICuNgsZ72CyY7miESgGCnJ_CMMJ6SRy22uZSq8hnAwjR-QOQszKFYbOhjo0wwKG1_-DAKSPlCz7TgyJEHKxRog1BfG4-kGNDy50oniW_mVFo9n54PE8kuKtbfpPfZpzkQsFUlVU4e-rS9F/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013908.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIIv6jwS9xTwKU5QzS6Mjg3S6ghShxDhM8D0ZTqIKXlgNfw2ICuNgsZ72CyY7miESgGCnJ_CMMJ6SRy22uZSq8hnAwjR-QOQszKFYbOhjo0wwKG1_-DAKSPlCz7TgyJEHKxRog1BfG4-kGNDy50oniW_mVFo9n54PE8kuKtbfpPfZpzkQsFUlVU4e-rS9F/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207013908.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Their mission is to go into Outworld, which is in the midst of some kind of civil war. And after all the work we did to free the place from Shao Kahn!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldnRJuK6UrWBA3W9441LaUCMVeDVvq3b6nIlkq5UKW-TvrBL1Th0o1jWdpgDByaCuEIrWCfAz2qvyez7KH01BrEgK840HAb2x13j6MaF2GM2PikZskepAtYJiHeBiXbNzocTNvTPMoBRa_sDbbOaDRmpZNS2m7ThtyJ2iuS_RaDfTg2_YvJv_iWNoCRt3/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207014758.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjldnRJuK6UrWBA3W9441LaUCMVeDVvq3b6nIlkq5UKW-TvrBL1Th0o1jWdpgDByaCuEIrWCfAz2qvyez7KH01BrEgK840HAb2x13j6MaF2GM2PikZskepAtYJiHeBiXbNzocTNvTPMoBRa_sDbbOaDRmpZNS2m7ThtyJ2iuS_RaDfTg2_YvJv_iWNoCRt3/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207014758.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kotal Kahn (no relation to Shao) is the new emperor of Outworld. Not sure why they named him this if he isn't related. Especially after the previous scene where we were introduced to all of the new generation kids, most people will immediately infer that this guy must be Shao Kahn's son.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Yeah, I know Kahn is a title moreso than a name, but I'm looking at it from the perspective of The Normies)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTsNOzhU6Y0HlGTjfADauV0IAObOFTJyNkXPCxuqZmKvHrJGbUQSrC44xTRVEKC1Nw64quWTk5ugPCx0eYR5pEA7Vhs0xOdLDF-7LBaoF2IlgtJQb00WloPVCg6_2uKRpp3I5nZs4_sL6yWizEqLAwRND9ZAsbgABmg2veeOnytLQHuFmUHPi2EV0rJ7s/s600/Mortal%20Kombat%2010%20Gif%201.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicTsNOzhU6Y0HlGTjfADauV0IAObOFTJyNkXPCxuqZmKvHrJGbUQSrC44xTRVEKC1Nw64quWTk5ugPCx0eYR5pEA7Vhs0xOdLDF-7LBaoF2IlgtJQb00WloPVCg6_2uKRpp3I5nZs4_sL6yWizEqLAwRND9ZAsbgABmg2veeOnytLQHuFmUHPi2EV0rJ7s/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2010%20Gif%201.gif" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kotal Kahn is a bit beastly and OP, and here I discover that I can actually <i>chain uppercuts</i> in this game if my opponent is against a wall. Nice.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1j7vTksUUj-2wTNu3hI7jVgz-rH2PCDSEDEbQeEcEXrwwuvpLHswzkyHYRm6QJeY2FUu2rh1bAzoMuurxWf2p4MEa9i8Aq_QS9PuBG2MyoC0_thYf5fal8zTY9dCuYpokXfs3gp-iHdvHcWQLiK1vAR_yhdXtlarotiotHfYeuTn45E0ljPJuMVfhKDG/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207015457.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1j7vTksUUj-2wTNu3hI7jVgz-rH2PCDSEDEbQeEcEXrwwuvpLHswzkyHYRm6QJeY2FUu2rh1bAzoMuurxWf2p4MEa9i8Aq_QS9PuBG2MyoC0_thYf5fal8zTY9dCuYpokXfs3gp-iHdvHcWQLiK1vAR_yhdXtlarotiotHfYeuTn45E0ljPJuMVfhKDG/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207015457.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kotal is dealing with a rebellion led by Mileena, who claims to be the rightful ruler of Outworld as Shao Kahn's successor. I mean, she's kinda right, Kotal is just Some Guy while she can claim semi-direct lineage as a clone of his daughter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1w2_DJmnCqPzzRgoY-wG-ewM2HLHPyprk3nxIDPjAWcCD-SGRQaqySFZZGPNu8m3Kef8IqT-Qnh0SHMQEpoojmx3E9G9chXTzydfKTxTUiQxA3e1elBdvDxy0ReoTNsf8m7BGyZoX_RlRvKUCkOlYCk3gyEVUspGnL3MUYhfBk2JlCcpAppyvemzqaCgE/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207015920.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1w2_DJmnCqPzzRgoY-wG-ewM2HLHPyprk3nxIDPjAWcCD-SGRQaqySFZZGPNu8m3Kef8IqT-Qnh0SHMQEpoojmx3E9G9chXTzydfKTxTUiQxA3e1elBdvDxy0ReoTNsf8m7BGyZoX_RlRvKUCkOlYCk3gyEVUspGnL3MUYhfBk2JlCcpAppyvemzqaCgE/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207015920.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">However, Kotal has much better relations with Earthrealm and signed a peace treaty between the realms, so the Earthrealm guys rush to his defense.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFShMyzMCERjI815xISz9H_swwdQAyc23W5wv5c-VLm44yc1ByEd_y3KZ3MChKLRypcwyJftucB1I7CqmtE8wlAH7zPlHrvUjI6Dx1-1ZHmOm93N8BOrKjrSsVkjRyD5bXav1-K8UWq4sxuHddKSaCGpssSNQTkNPgeknMon3apAwtH3KuLzTf2_jSfk4/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207031332.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXFShMyzMCERjI815xISz9H_swwdQAyc23W5wv5c-VLm44yc1ByEd_y3KZ3MChKLRypcwyJftucB1I7CqmtE8wlAH7zPlHrvUjI6Dx1-1ZHmOm93N8BOrKjrSsVkjRyD5bXav1-K8UWq4sxuHddKSaCGpssSNQTkNPgeknMon3apAwtH3KuLzTf2_jSfk4/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207031332.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Johnny and Kenshi lead the New Generation into battle against Mileena's forces.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqTXwnB3wxs0a8NJY4alJONoOl-BSSgV2pWEYK_w4_9XVcLp2UvR1Drn_22bRQssF3rN494a04pSnBVe3Y-qhhyphenhyphenZoN3kmbkRpTUrcwUDBqNNrFPb9YEUA3bWrDp2TYY4_8_eIKBENED2YKLDJkMRgvQIjSr7-IYOzimQATd77Jsquensc1FT03JjsSHt2/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207032506.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqTXwnB3wxs0a8NJY4alJONoOl-BSSgV2pWEYK_w4_9XVcLp2UvR1Drn_22bRQssF3rN494a04pSnBVe3Y-qhhyphenhyphenZoN3kmbkRpTUrcwUDBqNNrFPb9YEUA3bWrDp2TYY4_8_eIKBENED2YKLDJkMRgvQIjSr7-IYOzimQATd77Jsquensc1FT03JjsSHt2/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207032506.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's a weird-ass new character, D'Vorah, who is evidently some sort of insect. She's Kotal's right-hand minion, but is actually working for Quan-Chi (yeah, he's still around).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWysKAXCNY_dOMr-Os6mMiFrNkqU-QhYTNe2UOWoDZZ0CkeSj7WWd-YEIfhSX4M76mmnmO1eRsQ4EO-ELiUyx9YBDr8dd6hzwwUx-S_VeOjhAvhYeBo5B2cslBZ90FXXxOUBpdUSymvc1RZkT13cbIYGbMRuAbIMKX-AmUSmsPp4AaP6nZpDZPLK7hajr/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207034723.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWWysKAXCNY_dOMr-Os6mMiFrNkqU-QhYTNe2UOWoDZZ0CkeSj7WWd-YEIfhSX4M76mmnmO1eRsQ4EO-ELiUyx9YBDr8dd6hzwwUx-S_VeOjhAvhYeBo5B2cslBZ90FXXxOUBpdUSymvc1RZkT13cbIYGbMRuAbIMKX-AmUSmsPp4AaP6nZpDZPLK7hajr/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207034723.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It seems Mileena got possession of an amulet that previously belonged to Shinnok, which has enabled her to try and conquer Outworld. Quan-Chi is also lurking about, trying to get this amulet for himself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUguxrtt80KDUVDfmOP0mL_B20wBLJDgs_vlHwPc07MFdY1RxJghvSHHRLtZ7JWRHTeUyVop3Gfue5ecZyB2dwfwICFj1qhxkSlfDpeRFYPDtSJoeF_ono_cJI-ZmxqiQYiDbSCL1urJjLiQb5nq2yb5lM4AjtTGl4Q72lAd7T3w-_GDkdh8ixv_J4hVCN/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207040526.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUguxrtt80KDUVDfmOP0mL_B20wBLJDgs_vlHwPc07MFdY1RxJghvSHHRLtZ7JWRHTeUyVop3Gfue5ecZyB2dwfwICFj1qhxkSlfDpeRFYPDtSJoeF_ono_cJI-ZmxqiQYiDbSCL1urJjLiQb5nq2yb5lM4AjtTGl4Q72lAd7T3w-_GDkdh8ixv_J4hVCN/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207040526.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kano, seen here being 20 years older, was the one who stole Shinnok's amulet and delivered it to Mileena. That rat bastard!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XHv-GdExHSe1w9A0qryhLu5drT0ei2tpmcK9lGdY4BBxHGqqDIS6g8B0YKD0ul8775mlBJvYEU_iv9LPdFawpCBSzPgilt3BQ3e3mfn9ahZ7MankPAAIC17ou_n8PWClx6uancPZfMoRSjH79aAOcYKkvZgBmSkE0HhZ5qXxkS3sbtoNQ_K_FeRwSMiv/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207040557.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XHv-GdExHSe1w9A0qryhLu5drT0ei2tpmcK9lGdY4BBxHGqqDIS6g8B0YKD0ul8775mlBJvYEU_iv9LPdFawpCBSzPgilt3BQ3e3mfn9ahZ7MankPAAIC17ou_n8PWClx6uancPZfMoRSjH79aAOcYKkvZgBmSkE0HhZ5qXxkS3sbtoNQ_K_FeRwSMiv/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207040557.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Of course Sonya is the one to take him on, as always. I like Sonya's look in this, she's back to her normal athletic look instead of whatever that was for a few games there.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCp7pGSrt8Re0C339Xd1kYUs2sSLIPcQVwdtfK-KBqcTQLxD-VmiSCOO5dbbNF0syvQjzrFv_79rYsSMElOOUE5jv-x1uwMgh5DKAMcRgWd1qwTRrQtCSsBtkfqYuMgG8NrOHefGDUCjo7uG1KvYu24fWBe2hsYXBRasWeqRWNDDHiC_8B0NBboXoXYRzf/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207042553.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCp7pGSrt8Re0C339Xd1kYUs2sSLIPcQVwdtfK-KBqcTQLxD-VmiSCOO5dbbNF0syvQjzrFv_79rYsSMElOOUE5jv-x1uwMgh5DKAMcRgWd1qwTRrQtCSsBtkfqYuMgG8NrOHefGDUCjo7uG1KvYu24fWBe2hsYXBRasWeqRWNDDHiC_8B0NBboXoXYRzf/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207042553.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">New character alert: It's Tanya, who appeared in the mid-games in the series and everyone forgot about her. She also looks completely different from game to game for some reason. Who is she? ...I forgot.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77mrzw0m1A9Bb-nPW1fmP6yI9LEyLt_EWHQMXkEtfW-g-gt-ARRtziUqC9KYOJrN7_fJkNIrVsFOyzmVOIJvEg8HdveSAh52IWe2IyTTzc1qBc7-w8g22_xAwpDWQBIQgLuFhHPuXlxPRXIGU-BG_5t7zDBhFAT1Nv1ArC4OC21bc_lsgPQzli6bOmHd6/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207043448.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh77mrzw0m1A9Bb-nPW1fmP6yI9LEyLt_EWHQMXkEtfW-g-gt-ARRtziUqC9KYOJrN7_fJkNIrVsFOyzmVOIJvEg8HdveSAh52IWe2IyTTzc1qBc7-w8g22_xAwpDWQBIQgLuFhHPuXlxPRXIGU-BG_5t7zDBhFAT1Nv1ArC4OC21bc_lsgPQzli6bOmHd6/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207043448.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mileena makes a really solid antagonist for the majority of this game. I'd say she's the most worthwhile villain in this series who isn't Shang Tsung or Shao Kahn.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbM3itkOqJYIkXKXPrXCMug5ZiVFSCGJKbUYL7tIap-yTkxZEqpRLlhyAZyn989ULsYWWFzwOmH9Us26cytm51_MLQjAP7TDPOVewXyWq_X7R7rsvYlOVnJPiAChaM46ulwMHHfKYa28P-ygUut6qr2VOv8eyze9EFX-Fc9pMPSzUjDndDHomEmzfZeEyP/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207043923.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbM3itkOqJYIkXKXPrXCMug5ZiVFSCGJKbUYL7tIap-yTkxZEqpRLlhyAZyn989ULsYWWFzwOmH9Us26cytm51_MLQjAP7TDPOVewXyWq_X7R7rsvYlOVnJPiAChaM46ulwMHHfKYa28P-ygUut6qr2VOv8eyze9EFX-Fc9pMPSzUjDndDHomEmzfZeEyP/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207043923.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She also has this sweet split-legged sai throw attack.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately that's it for Mileena, as our heroes capture her and Kotal orders her execution.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7H-FDkBDPVP2tkReuD75gDYwcbMt8xi89XdVx4hpJgNQZPoIfiiTSXeoitR9lBgp3PC0X8-D80BlEV5Rc2HXBTIStmcujRsAAgTsntd27VJavz_d36a-AqYHD6WK_n03mBsfM6Csc-duCnf5McdPdheyDOA5COQjqB-g9x5cfnt6IknaaEvAklleg1D_/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207044108.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7H-FDkBDPVP2tkReuD75gDYwcbMt8xi89XdVx4hpJgNQZPoIfiiTSXeoitR9lBgp3PC0X8-D80BlEV5Rc2HXBTIStmcujRsAAgTsntd27VJavz_d36a-AqYHD6WK_n03mBsfM6Csc-duCnf5McdPdheyDOA5COQjqB-g9x5cfnt6IknaaEvAklleg1D_/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207044108.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Specifically, D'Vorah plants one on Mileena and it causes Mileena to basically get dissolved by acid from the inside. Well, that happened.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOkGpWjxKaiFo3ahKijs4S1sWOhg-E9fU_96mTMHkiQrgp2gbJ3fv9SNCNGH91Js9tGJvmGIZzmGMrLCJQMKZmC5yGjLzRZl7M7979qamWrv-pWsydjsad_soG-Auz10IbgTT16_OUhOPah8CR0WKMltePxYw_Tf8fkJbnywglt4dB3A_NyN_YR6YyP_E/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207044139.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOkGpWjxKaiFo3ahKijs4S1sWOhg-E9fU_96mTMHkiQrgp2gbJ3fv9SNCNGH91Js9tGJvmGIZzmGMrLCJQMKZmC5yGjLzRZl7M7979qamWrv-pWsydjsad_soG-Auz10IbgTT16_OUhOPah8CR0WKMltePxYw_Tf8fkJbnywglt4dB3A_NyN_YR6YyP_E/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207044139.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Also I'm just now noticing how fetching Jacqui Briggs is.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately, Kotal believes he can no longer trust Earthrealm to keep things stable, so he takes Cassie and friends hostage. Wat?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiHYAlvTvITarnWk_gVJ3dUfYYT_Rj-mkx475KkWhnMxlIlzSW9WiCw2ha-7WPY8c-CwuyHW-d9DAqF9bryKJSgmzZiMnVK3mki26bL20DxLUmkDPoGNy6qU-NdX3QPoUUn-XrBIfiw4JnOhxWyCdEMwvCg49Nl1vXTI3LxPHbXOgUdcb7jConpvocDiZ/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207044428.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLiHYAlvTvITarnWk_gVJ3dUfYYT_Rj-mkx475KkWhnMxlIlzSW9WiCw2ha-7WPY8c-CwuyHW-d9DAqF9bryKJSgmzZiMnVK3mki26bL20DxLUmkDPoGNy6qU-NdX3QPoUUn-XrBIfiw4JnOhxWyCdEMwvCg49Nl1vXTI3LxPHbXOgUdcb7jConpvocDiZ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207044428.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Speaking of Briggses, Jax himself shows up. I thought he died in the previous game? In any case, he's working on a farm somewhere and retired, but Sonya gets him to return to save Earthrealm one more time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-0m3CVd7NhC65TAf4G6Fhj_72L_Si-YQHzrSULyT74rDhAVbcwujtEkMGTjavuu2b7RlblVZ_9-ZNjuyVP57ZrQRL1H20s6T6W-Fdu1F4onVJ7gVz_5lCGRUdV8b83mDCFr0PE-L44LikjSBPei08tpPHvsV2BlURzDmCf58cNbOCw_uuKcHjdQu3Ibu/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207045041.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-0m3CVd7NhC65TAf4G6Fhj_72L_Si-YQHzrSULyT74rDhAVbcwujtEkMGTjavuu2b7RlblVZ_9-ZNjuyVP57ZrQRL1H20s6T6W-Fdu1F4onVJ7gVz_5lCGRUdV8b83mDCFr0PE-L44LikjSBPei08tpPHvsV2BlURzDmCf58cNbOCw_uuKcHjdQu3Ibu/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207045041.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Elsewhere, Scorpion passes down his sword to Takeda.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx57yVHtydhcPSZXQa1nK7jNoWeHE8Bt0ttuqUxZKFQtPJnbxsGiIdNF8R_rB-MzGPXprMfC9GX56po5Rnvqg_LufsQYhFbGFg70-8uwkWHMBIe3j5z9I84_hY1ggMx4C8wIwrtVKJRWrkUCTY3nVcpFTBJ-JOgfWad_kxKUPDF6nq8NI1bXFYqpDxuJKu/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207045207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx57yVHtydhcPSZXQa1nK7jNoWeHE8Bt0ttuqUxZKFQtPJnbxsGiIdNF8R_rB-MzGPXprMfC9GX56po5Rnvqg_LufsQYhFbGFg70-8uwkWHMBIe3j5z9I84_hY1ggMx4C8wIwrtVKJRWrkUCTY3nVcpFTBJ-JOgfWad_kxKUPDF6nq8NI1bXFYqpDxuJKu/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207045207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lotta torch-passing happening in this game. They're trying to get the New Generation over and I respect that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOsq_U-p25QNvjHmJ87IaJVV6SQQswiQLVbttlEN8iQd7WRaaBXmNSJt_3gf9t3WTaD-hKbFVO0l4yoUGTfqfvCRArHBhLpCe2B2PBK-oNOJl0OYXoIsXyog2_OFwtsHlyD1SwnWZ2OQr9Dzkx7Cx9hSCw5eF9jiso_kHV0vLG61LKhDH2gCYDV-x0faz/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207051403.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnOsq_U-p25QNvjHmJ87IaJVV6SQQswiQLVbttlEN8iQd7WRaaBXmNSJt_3gf9t3WTaD-hKbFVO0l4yoUGTfqfvCRArHBhLpCe2B2PBK-oNOJl0OYXoIsXyog2_OFwtsHlyD1SwnWZ2OQr9Dzkx7Cx9hSCw5eF9jiso_kHV0vLG61LKhDH2gCYDV-x0faz/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207051403.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next we're introduced to Sareena, a fan-favorite character, who helps Jax and Kenshi break into the Netherrealm. This is an entirely different plane from Outworld, and is the home of... the dead.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Things get really convoluted around this point, and suffice to say, the good guys are trying to stop Quan-Chi from reviving Shinnok with the amulet that Mileena stole and then D'Vorah stole from her. Completely ineffectual in all of this is Kotal Kahn who spends most of his time angry at all of the constant betrayal around him. Turns out Outworld was The Swamp all along.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRAY6Lnp0tTcptxYm0saok21z_50eNSwksAI42NKTWBs_N6Y6Z7gqHHxp342twlgF7BSwzBVzm48dTBs6c3Vn8f9vrQji6VOUdHq2ymZXGY2Bc1pesiXiMxquYr0BhIOBl2PsXUaO0RWT01FSy3DObyXx9OYZ0KqNnT-jJUSxbPhnCKVpeSLd_4RKXr2i/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207051617.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidRAY6Lnp0tTcptxYm0saok21z_50eNSwksAI42NKTWBs_N6Y6Z7gqHHxp342twlgF7BSwzBVzm48dTBs6c3Vn8f9vrQji6VOUdHq2ymZXGY2Bc1pesiXiMxquYr0BhIOBl2PsXUaO0RWT01FSy3DObyXx9OYZ0KqNnT-jJUSxbPhnCKVpeSLd_4RKXr2i/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207051617.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">In Netherrealm, I get to fight a bunch of revenants of characters who died in the previous game. Quan-Chi's forces are a real threat with the likes of Kung Lao on board.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisR4JV4p6T7VPYVD-rrZTJ7bpWsAUeNBg4ll6W7NWkaXZ1JokdQhnbZiRb2-_oZjUYEEIg1wxAzG2dftDpVS-pvlDfif__kNKNX8s284Mv9NJYtK7XbuLpVS5In3F376ovVtbrGKZbqjlru3Damen0qk8dIkpMVpns8EcTPcKppxmA2n-sgnrHrAEyaYdA/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207051816.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisR4JV4p6T7VPYVD-rrZTJ7bpWsAUeNBg4ll6W7NWkaXZ1JokdQhnbZiRb2-_oZjUYEEIg1wxAzG2dftDpVS-pvlDfif__kNKNX8s284Mv9NJYtK7XbuLpVS5In3F376ovVtbrGKZbqjlru3Damen0qk8dIkpMVpns8EcTPcKppxmA2n-sgnrHrAEyaYdA/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207051816.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whoa! It's Anchor Baby Sindel! She no longer looks like Angelina Jolie, probably because they didn't want to get sued.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKn8ywVbPmMPW7rA8Rn_1_NcvUU2FF1i_fUUB_EgAnJn2yM5RDoLSu59cN_TNM2Md5ywoPmKrNVltc-4FlVwInTrwFFlE5FJG5sRAiydVOzYTRhZa6-sgYWJBHH8SeYul-Z_1H67dC2yVy0JuKCb_OgTVUHKCjbOWnyy_U8Cg7UxAisEmDEcpDW5fjIqSk/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKn8ywVbPmMPW7rA8Rn_1_NcvUU2FF1i_fUUB_EgAnJn2yM5RDoLSu59cN_TNM2Md5ywoPmKrNVltc-4FlVwInTrwFFlE5FJG5sRAiydVOzYTRhZa6-sgYWJBHH8SeYul-Z_1H67dC2yVy0JuKCb_OgTVUHKCjbOWnyy_U8Cg7UxAisEmDEcpDW5fjIqSk/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052021.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I see why Sareena is a fan-favorite character.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTaXaRArONdOvArGy3l8egiszpNsVcuOkNPxWrrrt7yYQN2oONK09WU6qG6RlSYrxD4JQWWcB74nLV4yC8E0WIyguyj5Z18kqw8cX7VO6OkVMAqntKUXBhOV0KtzAKflpDmOsTGRreRj0k7Wl0sFwX-RisAEpLsXMqvDleo1TTmKLoRpoBmcsKjbwJdpe/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052105.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTaXaRArONdOvArGy3l8egiszpNsVcuOkNPxWrrrt7yYQN2oONK09WU6qG6RlSYrxD4JQWWcB74nLV4yC8E0WIyguyj5Z18kqw8cX7VO6OkVMAqntKUXBhOV0KtzAKflpDmOsTGRreRj0k7Wl0sFwX-RisAEpLsXMqvDleo1TTmKLoRpoBmcsKjbwJdpe/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052105.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jax battles the revenant of Kitana! It's kind of depressing having most of my favorite characters be undead minions of Quan-Chi at this point. One of several reasons why <i>MKX</i> is my least-favorite of the modern (<i>IX</i> onward) MKs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPw2nSsh9KkCURwAibSDl-qbapS36tdQEELdV-1skuVL4N4MG7Fte_hhIKLAuGSMgDVk5ddfqognrBN0Ir5n6fb1GO9QUb68WPw_CsDiTymnMhLLp9afCnZT_TUJ7WLjXx1rs9sRyhW_NDI7SVm81lUH1bs07ar09_r9WVNzp7kfXp5a2udfphNZRsWIp/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052404.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPw2nSsh9KkCURwAibSDl-qbapS36tdQEELdV-1skuVL4N4MG7Fte_hhIKLAuGSMgDVk5ddfqognrBN0Ir5n6fb1GO9QUb68WPw_CsDiTymnMhLLp9afCnZT_TUJ7WLjXx1rs9sRyhW_NDI7SVm81lUH1bs07ar09_r9WVNzp7kfXp5a2udfphNZRsWIp/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052404.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liu Kang's revenant shows up. Kinda feels like the creators of this series just kinda wanted to shit on Liu Kang every chance they got. Then again they turn him into all-powerful Ultra Instinct Liu Kang in the latest games so IDK.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KxXxP5iwdoZzeqiBqTfX80qqITHNHtnZJsgE0kvzygs6SCmQ0LdQ-HlL1mA23wOmnvRsuu3zxqP65S42fNMjPJlI_Hk5755m2oetqqZ5I9zykfcnXxeckuq196BX1vanERrb6xEZjx1vy0PfkmfnoK9oPz-5UYBSetAHC11P7ZldkS_P6X9hyphenhyphenJmqfp-s/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KxXxP5iwdoZzeqiBqTfX80qqITHNHtnZJsgE0kvzygs6SCmQ0LdQ-HlL1mA23wOmnvRsuu3zxqP65S42fNMjPJlI_Hk5755m2oetqqZ5I9zykfcnXxeckuq196BX1vanERrb6xEZjx1vy0PfkmfnoK9oPz-5UYBSetAHC11P7ZldkS_P6X9hyphenhyphenJmqfp-s/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207052913.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scorpion is a pretty big deal in this game, and has a whole arc where he's pursuing Quan-Chi. At one point he fights through the good guy squad to try and get to Quan-Chi, who is hiding out in an Outworld refugee camp.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwiqJXk73tsNL2Ivj_A5xHGDfvH1HFHIy8UVl7kiRLnqKLleiBYe9qztcxHvMtPPGe0Ixyd7-tauX__UkCLhr0MFKxRHD3Df9w8n4ngBBMIv_QgLbU_W3gWj-YaB85iuFD5EGsE960JYmQFsW8Q-orrn22I2ryAcZU5g6gXJzfDDdCtBHZ-9dEFEvnBdx/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207053925.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjwiqJXk73tsNL2Ivj_A5xHGDfvH1HFHIy8UVl7kiRLnqKLleiBYe9qztcxHvMtPPGe0Ixyd7-tauX__UkCLhr0MFKxRHD3Df9w8n4ngBBMIv_QgLbU_W3gWj-YaB85iuFD5EGsE960JYmQFsW8Q-orrn22I2ryAcZU5g6gXJzfDDdCtBHZ-9dEFEvnBdx/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207053925.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Older Sub-Zero makes an appearance late in the game, and he and Scorpion are able to actually sit down and be allies again.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG0zfTrcs0tCo4ia-f-dx7svPFJXnhZHz9faBsQPTwGSJZ55RGrUu1BH8rmFfT9ReaX0NZG8v73gKBh6GpY-uDClHlo1C8Cq1FETnxM166VWEy_Mt2-m324GbCNJxePEBx9gwN1Z6WiDjTpzglgKD0GzPGJ9DzN0M5jeSGwwK8Ucb2rgvHgTCawJ8hGyE/s600/Mortal%20Kombat%2010%20Gif%202.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG0zfTrcs0tCo4ia-f-dx7svPFJXnhZHz9faBsQPTwGSJZ55RGrUu1BH8rmFfT9ReaX0NZG8v73gKBh6GpY-uDClHlo1C8Cq1FETnxM166VWEy_Mt2-m324GbCNJxePEBx9gwN1Z6WiDjTpzglgKD0GzPGJ9DzN0M5jeSGwwK8Ucb2rgvHgTCawJ8hGyE/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%2010%20Gif%202.gif" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is an older version of the guy from <i>MK3</i> and he's pretty distinguished now. He also has a pretty awesome ice sword uppercut.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BxkQiL0Y6fXiwTYZL6bkqVlPEPUq0Ij2WP4LFsJTOZeKG6yB6RleOyy1ynKXd5Y1YRW_o9u26feKI0X4Z1C7aprc46KzTIi0C0sptJ1SAs6y9EolZp-k1ROouLdQD0eG_BVnGZnT7HRk79A6uU_HPhHdhFoNI11NRwtvthOf2Yjkrk1dNw9jWuRKLPwK/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207054609.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BxkQiL0Y6fXiwTYZL6bkqVlPEPUq0Ij2WP4LFsJTOZeKG6yB6RleOyy1ynKXd5Y1YRW_o9u26feKI0X4Z1C7aprc46KzTIi0C0sptJ1SAs6y9EolZp-k1ROouLdQD0eG_BVnGZnT7HRk79A6uU_HPhHdhFoNI11NRwtvthOf2Yjkrk1dNw9jWuRKLPwK/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207054609.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Scorpion finally gets ahold of Quan-Chi.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4iMWyhEG9ct8irGrzDcPoZMduDE9QY9fXNUeQMAJbu4AQKK86BM0aSODQ6b_N5QGEkwKoQxgeyekkE85gQy4uxs84Y-WyQqC4nHm9lSI11ZRrYEXtHncq2DGWn9klX8MwuYGcqPu9AkDNeU-FvEdsYj82U_vsqeeP2oHYkEWB-HofY4fe10N9rC5i4sWJ/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207055219.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4iMWyhEG9ct8irGrzDcPoZMduDE9QY9fXNUeQMAJbu4AQKK86BM0aSODQ6b_N5QGEkwKoQxgeyekkE85gQy4uxs84Y-WyQqC4nHm9lSI11ZRrYEXtHncq2DGWn9klX8MwuYGcqPu9AkDNeU-FvEdsYj82U_vsqeeP2oHYkEWB-HofY4fe10N9rC5i4sWJ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207055219.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is probably the main feud of the second half of the game. Scorpion wins and actually beheads Quan-Chi, but apparently his Shinnok Rezz Spell was finished seconds before Quan-Chi lost his head.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGB34eRUaLu8Q_NyaBW5pfFpiYBkeu0aVbErbhG0CaC4dRfrDnxn7xr7kNOXUAlPG5Z3IPyjtgETOCotLvBjGGseU759tGewA-6ekBGBBKs6PTzh8U97AtztQZCRqVSZ9RsthC5Xq-tV-G0bFPw88HhUGSl36IdCuTpEZ-moh5LpovVdy5c01Rrcin71-/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207055746.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiGB34eRUaLu8Q_NyaBW5pfFpiYBkeu0aVbErbhG0CaC4dRfrDnxn7xr7kNOXUAlPG5Z3IPyjtgETOCotLvBjGGseU759tGewA-6ekBGBBKs6PTzh8U97AtztQZCRqVSZ9RsthC5Xq-tV-G0bFPw88HhUGSl36IdCuTpEZ-moh5LpovVdy5c01Rrcin71-/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207055746.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And lo and behold, Shinnok is back. Again. Inside of the same game! This is like <i>MK4</i> on Super Shredder steroids. They really got the most out of this Shinnok guy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WDd9SgXb7m9zhzLIPtXwNHJgcZed6mIxDuEIfSv7AdzND69gMO_mY5PTdr0rfguh4R069X1KjIjFnPGMLUUtyMV5zdEFkCrF0KGazpsu0L2vUcWbobtEu30q4NBq_4Wg4fBr1lwWxlaX7NhW9NUaH98JMgZ3JnX3kMJbxQlwcci7Kj-jEnYWAJcPxWV5/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207055936.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WDd9SgXb7m9zhzLIPtXwNHJgcZed6mIxDuEIfSv7AdzND69gMO_mY5PTdr0rfguh4R069X1KjIjFnPGMLUUtyMV5zdEFkCrF0KGazpsu0L2vUcWbobtEu30q4NBq_4Wg4fBr1lwWxlaX7NhW9NUaH98JMgZ3JnX3kMJbxQlwcci7Kj-jEnYWAJcPxWV5/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207055936.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh my God! It's BO RAI CHO. I haven't seen his black ass in ages!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KKFK_qJL421FYZKIQ_ugm_dIti1eOn4q5DeMipwrnoFDYRxSiOln5AMaj4g9ZWAzsQx35M7VotMi05DMV65N89wd2iEYloHZn4-7TU2vy624mJjHmJnImfmBCmFTzSaHNkATZSDCT7vUE1Cfx2uBVC3usTZvwvIt50DgZZjfZqSXiJsiWC1QgVvVB3Hp/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207130130.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0KKFK_qJL421FYZKIQ_ugm_dIti1eOn4q5DeMipwrnoFDYRxSiOln5AMaj4g9ZWAzsQx35M7VotMi05DMV65N89wd2iEYloHZn4-7TU2vy624mJjHmJnImfmBCmFTzSaHNkATZSDCT7vUE1Cfx2uBVC3usTZvwvIt50DgZZjfZqSXiJsiWC1QgVvVB3Hp/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207130130.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next up we play as Raiden for the third-to-last chapter. Wonder who will get top billing over him, since he's been the top good guy for a couple games now. He's got a pretty great X-Ray move where he electrocutes his foe.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXMG4E6JW41mebQTJhk5UEzDQzfiK9huaViZdVVSvwID1pvbRiY6VoEwLkbyMzqjNudMc_bGjokL8Fz5r-6DGOTPOixFHmN1nRwLcHi8XroQzBc86fSZM5_mRv0ZiDAdE2RJ9V5FY1s3fQU_lB9dEqRaNZBb51PW5ul79QXRr6C6Kdp2rVm5gm9TaDUGS/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207130352.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSXMG4E6JW41mebQTJhk5UEzDQzfiK9huaViZdVVSvwID1pvbRiY6VoEwLkbyMzqjNudMc_bGjokL8Fz5r-6DGOTPOixFHmN1nRwLcHi8XroQzBc86fSZM5_mRv0ZiDAdE2RJ9V5FY1s3fQU_lB9dEqRaNZBb51PW5ul79QXRr6C6Kdp2rVm5gm9TaDUGS/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207130352.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shinnok (now basically Super Shinnok) takes control of Quan-Chi's revenants.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDX53uvOsYmbx2rPHtXpqzDBH1qicQ8COlhyzPTw6lL0IjDbd9mSRZORp-LAgsWL0P71nailuroo5bUU_UjqzmxUg9KEsaaG3ar438M0yPctdAdQ1LRkjL_WBwJg-BTz77FxflrC-RXE0O24m5m934otn-itEQdGs7ctDJGZuLu603GAV9ddXE0NMIcs2h/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207132900.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDX53uvOsYmbx2rPHtXpqzDBH1qicQ8COlhyzPTw6lL0IjDbd9mSRZORp-LAgsWL0P71nailuroo5bUU_UjqzmxUg9KEsaaG3ar438M0yPctdAdQ1LRkjL_WBwJg-BTz77FxflrC-RXE0O24m5m934otn-itEQdGs7ctDJGZuLu603GAV9ddXE0NMIcs2h/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207132900.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jacqui Briggs takes over for the 2nd to last chapter. Her whole thing is boxing, so most of her attacks are punches.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklPyF_B3GGv0qTZDX1iSu0APbhygWpaHDAnNeD3BhCOs640Jr3J6f6l8upZW6SA4q8HR6x_4BMBDL6rWlsbbmSQoKJ03iDcZbyvIuWq-XQYKRJrewMDQiCccHdgVevWbrr4-bQ1MeUlVeCGKxK_tapuajDsSO9Ixyp1xLWCehyphenhyphenhnsZK2df7uTV8c5aiXA/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134157.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjklPyF_B3GGv0qTZDX1iSu0APbhygWpaHDAnNeD3BhCOs640Jr3J6f6l8upZW6SA4q8HR6x_4BMBDL6rWlsbbmSQoKJ03iDcZbyvIuWq-XQYKRJrewMDQiCccHdgVevWbrr4-bQ1MeUlVeCGKxK_tapuajDsSO9Ixyp1xLWCehyphenhyphenhnsZK2df7uTV8c5aiXA/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134157.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Kotal Kahn decides to kill the Earthrealm crew to curry favor with Shinnok, thinking Shinnok can't be beaten so he may as well join him. I knew Kotal was a useless l00zer.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1AtVGmyKC0DvwSJS_MvvRntSDUisaKdjqcrupaU2YJxIt7ckCTV036D-uejc1ZN1w9sORq39lXIyWpb_GXZAryYFLnqxzUcNcEfxJ29FVBijTzoR-WSLIFGT7BjxKZMLQfO3eVq_n-Z33jKDB0TAbMBNYaRKenm04ra7DRm_22_4-m5Z4Kqke9mwfwwe/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207133838.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1AtVGmyKC0DvwSJS_MvvRntSDUisaKdjqcrupaU2YJxIt7ckCTV036D-uejc1ZN1w9sORq39lXIyWpb_GXZAryYFLnqxzUcNcEfxJ29FVBijTzoR-WSLIFGT7BjxKZMLQfO3eVq_n-Z33jKDB0TAbMBNYaRKenm04ra7DRm_22_4-m5Z4Kqke9mwfwwe/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207133838.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">So our heroes dispatch him and the other remaining Outworld guys. RIP Kotal, we barely knew you. Well, he doesn't die, he retreats to Outworld like a little punk. So much for the Outworld/Earthrealm alliance.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnELEAevJTWdjKHWNaIbbYSknx8GEu84bQ_EuBrtP4YZMHCCOX60TL-B8wXIN3h1WJWGUM0SpAUZtvVFS6VFwqbUq8rrMqytcaKq4RZGm17ej0g5ce92xq25hGSOct64JmpA1gjdSI6qbayIzk2IIWWIvXSts1w5LcfZ4HPUkIxRnM0XjtHndu0X1imzx6/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134224.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnELEAevJTWdjKHWNaIbbYSknx8GEu84bQ_EuBrtP4YZMHCCOX60TL-B8wXIN3h1WJWGUM0SpAUZtvVFS6VFwqbUq8rrMqytcaKq4RZGm17ej0g5ce92xq25hGSOct64JmpA1gjdSI6qbayIzk2IIWWIvXSts1w5LcfZ4HPUkIxRnM0XjtHndu0X1imzx6/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134224.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sub-Zero and the Lin Kuei (now faces again) show up at the end to run off the last of the Outworld minions, freeing up the Earthrealm crew to go after Shinnok.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTqHly-2JTVgi6OrHgj0jUO3-y4sUnNh4x77lDQtUSEde7SMcf4LsS5soFSS1rFWgaqoyQ6tQ4a7JtkSjm-J8lDG9XXZxifG-c7tU1jOqFxPTG_SYdxBTu1-on6pHsv3_IMwf6e_70kxCZofrgxvW3VVszPxrGoEnDM2bpyvR9-OarcUskJD-bfi7xwiC/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134306.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTqHly-2JTVgi6OrHgj0jUO3-y4sUnNh4x77lDQtUSEde7SMcf4LsS5soFSS1rFWgaqoyQ6tQ4a7JtkSjm-J8lDG9XXZxifG-c7tU1jOqFxPTG_SYdxBTu1-on6pHsv3_IMwf6e_70kxCZofrgxvW3VVszPxrGoEnDM2bpyvR9-OarcUskJD-bfi7xwiC/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134306.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Final chapter is... ::drumroll:: Cassie Cage. They really went all-in with pushing the New Generation here, though by the next game and especially the one after that they're right back to emphasizing the OG cast. Maybe the metrics showed that not many people were playing as the new stars in comparison, I don't know.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYB04x38mcGKmOTjJpIOrIo_FsFZkEPvxMYTsFroAa7ARo3va58F_JWbh-QutR71WoTCbLYZ7I_McbYDXohR-_t7Qc4XGmQSV3WyU5oNOULAbiMib25xerWveEomSsH3pOdTkSfCl2DbzFCHKM4KQ_MReaUxXjgHcAiLoa0DbUrD1VeKMWas_k2Ae171C/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134435.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYB04x38mcGKmOTjJpIOrIo_FsFZkEPvxMYTsFroAa7ARo3va58F_JWbh-QutR71WoTCbLYZ7I_McbYDXohR-_t7Qc4XGmQSV3WyU5oNOULAbiMib25xerWveEomSsH3pOdTkSfCl2DbzFCHKM4KQ_MReaUxXjgHcAiLoa0DbUrD1VeKMWas_k2Ae171C/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134435.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">In any case, this final chapter is just taking on Super Shinnok and his revenants.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Since the revenants are reanimated, if one were to make love to Sindel, would that be necrophilia? Asking for a friend.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsobTjlF2t6C2MuwbxhVcw7UStUpEYIjE6nXa9NS5BjeEpk5ZGbU_L75XJGvw7J3wK-pkMYFCQz7XO6VJSFqTXUeyn3Q7EFpmvJjPWmGE7I1_XejOqkFizpxYEuLQ5CYe03Dduuzzdz3T0L3nEWEzMKlCNQ8DtRSckMSJJ_dgCTqKZV1EmwcJTnv-iYwh/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134538.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQsobTjlF2t6C2MuwbxhVcw7UStUpEYIjE6nXa9NS5BjeEpk5ZGbU_L75XJGvw7J3wK-pkMYFCQz7XO6VJSFqTXUeyn3Q7EFpmvJjPWmGE7I1_XejOqkFizpxYEuLQ5CYe03Dduuzzdz3T0L3nEWEzMKlCNQ8DtRSckMSJJ_dgCTqKZV1EmwcJTnv-iYwh/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207134538.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cassie has a Stone Cold style Lou Thesz Press with punches.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jIjuQu1FxiAdfTCWTTtjfKvLKurAh407-BCQ_cZbWtaDPtyGz6dS_Vu3ZHXzSAGxzs8nBTDfiXpTxR-My66pEqe33q_XhBuPiSDXjCJIBCbXsYVWfXBrGae3HcCra_7ct8wd6qPf8d7SqQFmSzjO-fi5XppkwDeciC7wBiRgPy5gRKH1FWsGlpKtB5hO/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3jIjuQu1FxiAdfTCWTTtjfKvLKurAh407-BCQ_cZbWtaDPtyGz6dS_Vu3ZHXzSAGxzs8nBTDfiXpTxR-My66pEqe33q_XhBuPiSDXjCJIBCbXsYVWfXBrGae3HcCra_7ct8wd6qPf8d7SqQFmSzjO-fi5XppkwDeciC7wBiRgPy5gRKH1FWsGlpKtB5hO/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135046.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cassie is like 2A Marian in that one Double Dragon game, and proceeds to just whip out a pistol and blast her opponents. She doesn't have time for all this hand to hand combat stuff. I would say this makes her the smartest character in MK, except most of these characters can shrug off bullets.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2aYXJxsvWcEYgS2o85sP2AqJxOptrxHhFq3OZGA7wcWkS_G449J8elnINzG2s6WdzYQjEcKGxPyUPB2aYOamlOKnPe9QvGSYneUZd1b0CkVZ0L_xFh4BSdKpIOHlJ1g8oK0WC10vnKCHu-YMW7tmiYWFWsys_ewPmhsjHrMsrb8g4L_pj_YqTk7yPB1t/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz2aYXJxsvWcEYgS2o85sP2AqJxOptrxHhFq3OZGA7wcWkS_G449J8elnINzG2s6WdzYQjEcKGxPyUPB2aYOamlOKnPe9QvGSYneUZd1b0CkVZ0L_xFh4BSdKpIOHlJ1g8oK0WC10vnKCHu-YMW7tmiYWFWsys_ewPmhsjHrMsrb8g4L_pj_YqTk7yPB1t/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135207.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She also has a rising version of Johnny's Shadow Kick that knocks her opponent into the air, which is pretty cool. One thing I really like about the New Generation( characters is the way they tend to have abilities that make reference to what their parents had.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpxWvV4n787LzMrVHF6WqIZyjH6EPG64Xnp9on6CWR4wWxNIG2cGMIF5Hktra-_gpsXBR4qasMg2FyxIwYN7HppDDJqyu1fqeI4YXboYpMOAsrzdexpWVc-0IKzbADSd6n1uHJBaMhlWMSr03uWfrb2AfaUw-5dpmRXZMZ8MS94IIFwjkAoEU9_DzZ39H/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135804.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJpxWvV4n787LzMrVHF6WqIZyjH6EPG64Xnp9on6CWR4wWxNIG2cGMIF5Hktra-_gpsXBR4qasMg2FyxIwYN7HppDDJqyu1fqeI4YXboYpMOAsrzdexpWVc-0IKzbADSd6n1uHJBaMhlWMSr03uWfrb2AfaUw-5dpmRXZMZ8MS94IIFwjkAoEU9_DzZ39H/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135804.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shinnok finally shows up again at the end, now all mutant and corrupted. This is our final boss and he's a real beast.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLrkts1iGyjOCBQ2swftNru92v14sj6xXv0csIqymfAHWAHiLB8_Njy9OSQo0DMMOPwvGYKpiNqgFF_LnEUTZbu0K9cvpg243WmRcIBS2PtInRl_Lfcz19z4nOc2PFLmFEUPWOjf6Fn5TUEeWIoyhZ7rSGztrUjmJNct9DfiaDoEP64aGaJOn2HFOg9Ur/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135908.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLrkts1iGyjOCBQ2swftNru92v14sj6xXv0csIqymfAHWAHiLB8_Njy9OSQo0DMMOPwvGYKpiNqgFF_LnEUTZbu0K9cvpg243WmRcIBS2PtInRl_Lfcz19z4nOc2PFLmFEUPWOjf6Fn5TUEeWIoyhZ7rSGztrUjmJNct9DfiaDoEP64aGaJOn2HFOg9Ur/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207135908.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">So in essence, this game is a very long retelling of <i>MK4</i> that extends it forward 20 years and finishes the story there. As for Shinnok, he isn't much of a challenge compared to the likes of Shao Kahn and his minions, even in this super form.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIylafHgQvA7kAZ8kkf6-A_64J3qk-xc8u_P5l4XSh-QpG_0JeX8ITmWQ_3jQezZQKbQG8dOLCt7tq40sbpXaddtlghxSVCnD74HpSzmujbEddLn5EK2ayTo7cOUhHNYfLCM0XJjSEYlcMuznLsAm9vKUbnXYtELBAQyxLXnZSfRRqvukA3KqYHG-6ffBm/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207141615.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIylafHgQvA7kAZ8kkf6-A_64J3qk-xc8u_P5l4XSh-QpG_0JeX8ITmWQ_3jQezZQKbQG8dOLCt7tq40sbpXaddtlghxSVCnD74HpSzmujbEddLn5EK2ayTo7cOUhHNYfLCM0XJjSEYlcMuznLsAm9vKUbnXYtELBAQyxLXnZSfRRqvukA3KqYHG-6ffBm/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207141615.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cassie wins with a Johnny Cage Split Punch, followed by...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcI1QuVVGnKfh9dcgHKQ55W1kbKYI4WjCn2Nw4Av6P7oK_keGXACGr3XPnjjG0_kGQQt7HK2lfoma49fvlU3O8Ca5pbQfPO2MpBGgoh8UDR8cGGydvZJCyU-S6Etw_oCXq9uXf_BvJhhe6BwH9hZLTbkiji2DFRjJyKU2K43_81RkLp1GhV_TFEE41-krG/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207141650.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcI1QuVVGnKfh9dcgHKQ55W1kbKYI4WjCn2Nw4Av6P7oK_keGXACGr3XPnjjG0_kGQQt7HK2lfoma49fvlU3O8Ca5pbQfPO2MpBGgoh8UDR8cGGydvZJCyU-S6Etw_oCXq9uXf_BvJhhe6BwH9hZLTbkiji2DFRjJyKU2K43_81RkLp1GhV_TFEE41-krG/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207141650.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...BLAM BLAM BLAM to the face. Shinnok was 833.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And that's it for <i>MKX</i>, everyone lived happily ever after and went home. Except that the ending leaves no doubt that things are going to continue:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheYQCnkvf1PPFr9SZKUc6XEbaU5HZY0uLTz4kNPkGxusBcwl4_FvJbEhVZLw9I5bJjIIdlpk3KUKQ5KYLYZl2SkVW6Cie2I9bNuvoWAp9ZIpoR6f8p9j7rg9qa7lrKOpc_SmldsdKj11Ewum3no9Pssptx7jeqAnfXzSIgR6a70bZY8Tt5sVT5973K3QZ/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207143817.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhheYQCnkvf1PPFr9SZKUc6XEbaU5HZY0uLTz4kNPkGxusBcwl4_FvJbEhVZLw9I5bJjIIdlpk3KUKQ5KYLYZl2SkVW6Cie2I9bNuvoWAp9ZIpoR6f8p9j7rg9qa7lrKOpc_SmldsdKj11Ewum3no9Pssptx7jeqAnfXzSIgR6a70bZY8Tt5sVT5973K3QZ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207143817.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden visits Netherrealm, which after Quan-Chi's death is now ruled by revenant Liu Kang and Kitana.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlBsB93-yWY6G4JzhjszNDahlpxAa0vm22ueIWwkciWPALO73Sjnm84oWdQ8kdnD08Of3yrnXl9JONC7cVxNtWlMLcrUpW6chHakNUW6dwvXy5x9F93rbtklINORo1PgRqSQJoyUKbb5zXGNi3LeyTtSQx8J_mC9ntfCciW49XyOGyHdUnWhUmdy5lqMJ/s3840/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207143714.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2160" data-original-width="3840" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDlBsB93-yWY6G4JzhjszNDahlpxAa0vm22ueIWwkciWPALO73Sjnm84oWdQ8kdnD08Of3yrnXl9JONC7cVxNtWlMLcrUpW6chHakNUW6dwvXy5x9F93rbtklINORo1PgRqSQJoyUKbb5zXGNi3LeyTtSQx8J_mC9ntfCciW49XyOGyHdUnWhUmdy5lqMJ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%20X_20231207143714.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He then informs them that any attempt by Netherrealm to attack Earthrealm will be met with overwhelming force, before dropping Shinnok's severed head in front of them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Damn, Raiden.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So this game ends with Outworld basically in shambles with Kotal trying to put things back together. Netherrealm is just kind of there, with new leaders. Earthrealm is just reigning supreme for now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The indication is that the next game will have the revenants as the villains, facing off against the New Generation, but <i>MK11</i> quickly abandons all of that in favor of a time travel storyline that lets them bring back all the characters they've killed. Again. I give <i>MK11</i> a lot of credit for a lot of things, and one of them is that it gives us an entirely new storyline rather than retelling earlier games.</div><p style="text-align: center;">As for <i>Mortal Kombat XL</i>, that wasn't a new game at all, but rather a version of this game that included all of the DLC and came out a year later. Wasn't worth covering it as its own post, since it's the same exact game with a bunch of extra characters for versus mode. The extra characters can get pretty weird, like Jason Voorhees.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Next up: <i>MK11</i>. Fun fact, it's the only one I ever covered on here before I started doing the full series.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Mortal%20Kombat" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Other Mortal Kombat Posts</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-12104250068252703942024-02-22T14:13:00.004-05:002024-02-22T16:05:40.156-05:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#239 - 255)<p><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Je_oz2LcIM0xxbXXAV-FF1kxDtLoYzR41WXeK-JOM9TWNH0Zifz9ZO4YvUT2o1QUMoWp1x_7atLgKbh2FoOeG0uJvAh2ChjE-LaCJMQVqSk06KsjTh-fsQFUB09b6cLXtxS2iOduTZTobIC5J-GjtJwxGAtDe77MCcjIU5QUHTWh9yGNgW4GtlWoc8W1/s474/budokai%20tenkaichi.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Je_oz2LcIM0xxbXXAV-FF1kxDtLoYzR41WXeK-JOM9TWNH0Zifz9ZO4YvUT2o1QUMoWp1x_7atLgKbh2FoOeG0uJvAh2ChjE-LaCJMQVqSk06KsjTh-fsQFUB09b6cLXtxS2iOduTZTobIC5J-GjtJwxGAtDe77MCcjIU5QUHTWh9yGNgW4GtlWoc8W1/w400-h300/budokai%20tenkaichi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#239 Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi (Playstation 2) – Winter 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Another good DBZ game that I can't remember much of. I think there were a couple more Budokais between the first one I played (end of 2002) and this one. I remember being super stoked about this one and telling people about it and them not knowing what I was talking about. It's a 3D fighting game and probably heralded the latest step forward for DBZ games because it played extremely well. I don't think I did much with this, and mostly remember <i>Tenkaichi 2</i> being the really awesome one that I spent a lot of time with a few years later.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Thing I Missed: At this point I had a driver's license so the era of "reading the instruction booklet in the passenger seat on the drive back from the game store" was completely over. Which is both good and bad. That era was pretty nice, but so is having a car.</p><span><a></a></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIPnVjsYuWD8_QWcnzXqfle7SNoK8CD1UKBTQVGELUFTPVoMzTmtT4Z-JgTTmWE4coY8_KaBLX1Nule8nsC83iyGftvsetOsgO5E84b8bg63So8frqODNwBSD7-cRn0iN2LvMJCOY3uRiL3QNkYt1dPxBvVQU17XFTH2pO0KIkEhVKlE0Hi9qT8Z4iUib/s882/super-bomberman-snes-15.png"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghIPnVjsYuWD8_QWcnzXqfle7SNoK8CD1UKBTQVGELUFTPVoMzTmtT4Z-JgTTmWE4coY8_KaBLX1Nule8nsC83iyGftvsetOsgO5E84b8bg63So8frqODNwBSD7-cRn0iN2LvMJCOY3uRiL3QNkYt1dPxBvVQU17XFTH2pO0KIkEhVKlE0Hi9qT8Z4iUib/w400-h321/super-bomberman-snes-15.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#240 Super Bomberman (Super NES) – Winter 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Don't remember much about this, just that I didn't like it as much as <i>Super Bomberman 2</i> years earlier. It's more rudimentary in comparison. Either way, it's Bomberman. You can't really go wrong with this series. I was most likely going back to finish this for completion's sake. My OCD kinda goes off when I play the second game in a series but not the first. Hell, I've been staying away from <i>Nier Automata</i> for six years because I wanted to play the predecessor first.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Note: You CAN go wrong with this series. Out of curiosity recently I tried playing the two NES Bombermen. While <i>Bomberman 2</i> seems decent and in-line with the later SNES games (just more rudimentary), the original <i>Bomberman </i>verges on unplayable due to having a very unforgiving timer. Even level 1 was a PITA and I didn't get very far. Think I'll just stick to the SNES games.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhFTTtd577NE24rp-ghXaG4pNUDakbIfZAswD2_mHnFCcINKw2DAdsFwkGXP8A8kxTgxVpToRQvdStaTv25mUeSC6h67H-cey_bH_Rw_C2ZYoB98B4XVXMlHPF9mBrH1UfMWzx-Gd-JLPKBaDKntX46qOdYJXB6fGD8IoW5U1eYlBYVcYda9c6cEbLETx/s1280/phantasy%20star%201.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAhFTTtd577NE24rp-ghXaG4pNUDakbIfZAswD2_mHnFCcINKw2DAdsFwkGXP8A8kxTgxVpToRQvdStaTv25mUeSC6h67H-cey_bH_Rw_C2ZYoB98B4XVXMlHPF9mBrH1UfMWzx-Gd-JLPKBaDKntX46qOdYJXB6fGD8IoW5U1eYlBYVcYda9c6cEbLETx/w640-h360/phantasy%20star%201.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#241 Phantasy Star 1 (Sega Master System) – Spring 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Here we go, now this is something I remember well. I love this game and it's easily my favorite of the series besides <i>Phantasy Star 4</i>. If you put this series up against, say, FF and DQ, I think this first game could hang with their first games and maybe even take first place. (It did come along later, but yeah)</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqEntLYZplK0W9B3F9qgOLdM1XuFUGXnQdUgBmBDQ9WbS8d1tBtE6DgxqztTss4ECQfrZDQR-lGzGrhX6_g-pyxjeCpjn14YrJm3-bJh3EKhMVHlZTl5HvZ6KDPUJuA6hZ1vwLP6V4DR0S0r3dED_EAW0B09CRg2DhPlGnv4qHsFBqz2NbaElf3v1gXxh/s1280/phantasy%20star%201%20battle.jpg"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVqEntLYZplK0W9B3F9qgOLdM1XuFUGXnQdUgBmBDQ9WbS8d1tBtE6DgxqztTss4ECQfrZDQR-lGzGrhX6_g-pyxjeCpjn14YrJm3-bJh3EKhMVHlZTl5HvZ6KDPUJuA6hZ1vwLP6V4DR0S0r3dED_EAW0B09CRg2DhPlGnv4qHsFBqz2NbaElf3v1gXxh/w400-h225/phantasy%20star%201%20battle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">It's a fairly basic game, and I'm not the biggest fan of the "3D maze dungeon where all the walls look the same" that was also used by some early Ultimas. However, the game has memorable characters, memorable villains, and is just plain fun. It also ties into <i>PS4</i> really well and functions as a solid prequel to play before that game. <i>PS2</i> is also a prequel game but it has less to do with <i>PS4</i>, and is a lot longer and more tedious, so I'm not sure about that one.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Either way, outstanding introduction to the series here and I liked it a lot. Too bad I've never replayed it and don't really have a reason to, so it's pretty much just relegated to the memory banks.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjWzhUj4HqNuPb30fpA9QFczIkm7d1PfVZHDO44cMEOvygUqDf-xPYeTWVHL-TXX254jc1Kk_QTyvHlByOItGP7Y8EeJlUOWkUaUSlzuBFS6aUzdAJQ86TsU0tshm8HwRk8IGITnHrbt32MLncuaBTM-c4n6j0QeLtcgWEu5EMz-1lBq63gzgXcqt0csP/s740/phantasy%20star%202.jpg"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjWzhUj4HqNuPb30fpA9QFczIkm7d1PfVZHDO44cMEOvygUqDf-xPYeTWVHL-TXX254jc1Kk_QTyvHlByOItGP7Y8EeJlUOWkUaUSlzuBFS6aUzdAJQ86TsU0tshm8HwRk8IGITnHrbt32MLncuaBTM-c4n6j0QeLtcgWEu5EMz-1lBq63gzgXcqt0csP/w400-h306/phantasy%20star%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#242 Phantasy Star 2 (Sega Genesis) – Spring 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">I've got mixed feelings on this one. I said it was long and tedious, but it's also a decent game in general. A lot of the mechanics <i>PS4</i> uses started in this one, and it plays well. The main problem is the dungeons, which tend to be sprawling mazes that go on for way way WAY too long. Those certainly hurt the replayability.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAZSwKd6V8Kw5emoPownF-aO1sUUQi8VKI2axFOABlG_VwM3TGh4dx_mOAr1sxFwSpv71zwD2RQq-a7YG94YT184LKa6KehiXb_BiHAUCjZiImuvPoCXBefD8TwZpe0p4ObGG0ywVOv5Gozhph4wwQQfprpYv_x996r4zmGuR4KaaBb5yUJpwf4eHfuFp/s640/phantasy%20star%203.png"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYAZSwKd6V8Kw5emoPownF-aO1sUUQi8VKI2axFOABlG_VwM3TGh4dx_mOAr1sxFwSpv71zwD2RQq-a7YG94YT184LKa6KehiXb_BiHAUCjZiImuvPoCXBefD8TwZpe0p4ObGG0ywVOv5Gozhph4wwQQfprpYv_x996r4zmGuR4KaaBb5yUJpwf4eHfuFp/w400-h300/phantasy%20star%203.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#243 Phantasy Star 3 (Sega Genesis) – Spring 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">And here we've got the one made by the B-Team. It's pretty bad. It does the "generations" system also used by <i>Dragon Quest V</i> and <i>Romancing SaGa II</i> where you're basically playing as several generations of characters as time goes by. However it does it worse than those two games, and there's really zero change in the world as time progresses. You'll find people 50 years down the line still doing the same things and still the same age. Very little attention to detail in this game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Un-Fondest Memory: The giant towns where all the buildings were spaced way out from one another, forcing you to walk a lot to even go to an inn or shop. Or maybe the weird enemy designs. Or maybe the fact that the generational characters pretty much had no differences besides their hair colors.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBSXb9F9xmkfot-aOC1Sj4_3dRXBKSs8VbenSChxBNJ9-5gidI0eVm9SheU4mTBNoJ422_op9Kd78ZA8MJsSd5OziffWg3m8Ymq97HnFOXDMOxyFjLQQEudKYgObVqHiZDaNTgZ7RCs-nnCZAPyQhRyLi4O-d3EwwfRvBkgby069P-5oWSKIE-wTSgk-p/s1200/sword%20of%20mana.jpg"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBSXb9F9xmkfot-aOC1Sj4_3dRXBKSs8VbenSChxBNJ9-5gidI0eVm9SheU4mTBNoJ422_op9Kd78ZA8MJsSd5OziffWg3m8Ymq97HnFOXDMOxyFjLQQEudKYgObVqHiZDaNTgZ7RCs-nnCZAPyQhRyLi4O-d3EwwfRvBkgby069P-5oWSKIE-wTSgk-p/w400-h266/sword%20of%20mana.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#244 Sword of Mana (Game Boy Advance) – Spring 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Remake of <i>Final Fantasy Adventure</i> that goes off in new directions and takes great liberties, with a <i>Legend of Mana</i> "Precious Moments doll" artstyle which isn't my favorite. I prefer the <i>Adventures of Mana</i> remake that came along in the late 2010's and follows the original <i>Seiken Densetsu</i> game a lot more closely while giving it bright colors and HD visuals. Regardless, this was a cool game in its day and I enjoyed it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Sword%20of%20Mana" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5x0625vtO-UWjLo8f_4BBYpqQTmB8YaTYFHKcwv9yNND0qXO_AAleibHt6beNWuroRTkrQJzWlCXUDMWeuGMhAs_Zrcv0mvcprqKu3bLq_09Vq8s1VNZXwzsBAWev5myglqqmHlgZzSUxb84TIygbqqF68NWmIIC2pQRNCout0Xuu0H5s9qWUzQq5YyZq/s400/yoshi's%20safari.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5x0625vtO-UWjLo8f_4BBYpqQTmB8YaTYFHKcwv9yNND0qXO_AAleibHt6beNWuroRTkrQJzWlCXUDMWeuGMhAs_Zrcv0mvcprqKu3bLq_09Vq8s1VNZXwzsBAWev5myglqqmHlgZzSUxb84TIygbqqF68NWmIIC2pQRNCout0Xuu0H5s9qWUzQq5YyZq/w400-h348/yoshi's%20safari.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#245 Yoshi's Safari (Super NES) – Spring 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">At this point I realized Super Scope games were playable in emulator via a mouse. This unlocked several games I was really pumped to check out. The first one I went for was Yoshi's Safari, which shows the power of Mario to draw you in. It isn't the best Super Scope game or anything but it's got all kinds of iconic Mario foes. I would have loved this and probably played it for dozens of hours back in 1992. Crazy that I played it first, before even...</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRF2C2T_b_NKO_XVw-2pWm386viV_Mki-Bf9c89q2oVkyxKhbxoSM65DpytuhD-0rwV0gKKIlh9uqlOkeD5deCzM5W4_uySnmGP26CftYhVeA1Gq9lBCu-jBImUDFYIjgKwr7D9MAk3IE0kiZ0LAeBWy2o50xXWvy_7oG8t5iRD5NHtXv9ctIPxWS_ksq/s256/T2%20-%20The%20Arcade%20Game%20(USA)_00006.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRF2C2T_b_NKO_XVw-2pWm386viV_Mki-Bf9c89q2oVkyxKhbxoSM65DpytuhD-0rwV0gKKIlh9uqlOkeD5deCzM5W4_uySnmGP26CftYhVeA1Gq9lBCu-jBImUDFYIjgKwr7D9MAk3IE0kiZ0LAeBWy2o50xXWvy_7oG8t5iRD5NHtXv9ctIPxWS_ksq/w400-h350/T2%20-%20The%20Arcade%20Game%20(USA)_00006.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#246 T2: The Arcade Game (Super NES) – Spring 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">...this rad to the max arcade port of something I was mildly obsessed with in the 90's. I loved this game in the arcades, though I did get rattled the first time I played it. Once I got over that, I kept going back to try and progress in the game. I never made it past the first level in the arcade, but in this home version and with quarters out of the equation, I was able to finally play the whole thing. Was surprised at how short it actually was.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItCR2XGbIfUf_cJF5CiQQ5RzmNYoUdgGhmmKCiIm3_0S-QApzTCDF59Mw-yWf7-_Cq5QVI6_EzTjk0VNzCJnpOlv29qeNuYUcHHN94OEcef1ipmUq7yHN1tPy2blX37F105gLBOShQSBq9BNzPfhGQAkvQJSThkQj_1JSxpW0Bux0XQzpTyFDGmuKq8L6/s256/T2%20-%20The%20Arcade%20Game%20(USA)_00011.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItCR2XGbIfUf_cJF5CiQQ5RzmNYoUdgGhmmKCiIm3_0S-QApzTCDF59Mw-yWf7-_Cq5QVI6_EzTjk0VNzCJnpOlv29qeNuYUcHHN94OEcef1ipmUq7yHN1tPy2blX37F105gLBOShQSBq9BNzPfhGQAkvQJSThkQj_1JSxpW0Bux0XQzpTyFDGmuKq8L6/w400-h350/T2%20-%20The%20Arcade%20Game%20(USA)_00011.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Stage 3. This is about the halfway point of the game and it's easily the toughest thing the game serves up. You're defending Connor's truck against an onslaught of gold terminators that can run at like 50 MPH. I bet everyone remembers this level, and it seemed like nobody could get past it in the arcade, so it may as well have been the endgame.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2016/11/terminator-2-arcade-game-various-1991.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPCzhPi6b6QWXi2qqGY-5RiL53StGcILDopDwbfemHv3Hqqmoq94Iyh13PetkmN-BxqyNEK27Kj7aqNw24J_IPXzTJ96Wq0IVtT-z2mqlMnRkuQ4AOMVFW-c9WvIhqijDVAaovnPVLn6Nr_T5rlFJIFdCFI7BuNicSFBI7uq-ZscyKUVXOiIK6SLWo-lA/s240/Metroid%20-%20Zero%20Mission_13.png"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPCzhPi6b6QWXi2qqGY-5RiL53StGcILDopDwbfemHv3Hqqmoq94Iyh13PetkmN-BxqyNEK27Kj7aqNw24J_IPXzTJ96Wq0IVtT-z2mqlMnRkuQ4AOMVFW-c9WvIhqijDVAaovnPVLn6Nr_T5rlFJIFdCFI7BuNicSFBI7uq-ZscyKUVXOiIK6SLWo-lA/w400-h267/Metroid%20-%20Zero%20Mission_13.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">#247 Metroid Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2006</div><p style="text-align: center;">Much like <i>Fusion</i>, I waited like two years to actually get to this game. Very surprising in retrospect. I get waiting a while on Zeldas or RPGs, but these Metroid games are just a few hours long. You'd think I'd be pouncing on them, given my connection to the series.</p><p style="text-align: center;">In any case, this remakes the first game in the series and it's a damn fine Metroid game, one of the best. Totally obsoletes the NES original, to the point that I've only replayed that game once since this one popped into existence. The only real issues with it are that it's short and pretty easy, and not really something I tend to replay.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0lP91xkesBSjJm3pIzhWeqHHhcPv6DLvSXcUneDh8nJiuamFQU5qaNJF_ISnKOwfT3xRM7l4yuEi7X1OapGIg5dTIxkgOm8JxGvvBKXMmq5bsTHj9WeUCc28p5xJmjpn2koCI2IeSa6bmbucwWcj07VlpKrPaTlYETBzzQBMuLyOT_XQeu5IalBRLkKK/s240/Metroid%20-%20Zero%20Mission_36.png"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ0lP91xkesBSjJm3pIzhWeqHHhcPv6DLvSXcUneDh8nJiuamFQU5qaNJF_ISnKOwfT3xRM7l4yuEi7X1OapGIg5dTIxkgOm8JxGvvBKXMmq5bsTHj9WeUCc28p5xJmjpn2koCI2IeSa6bmbucwWcj07VlpKrPaTlYETBzzQBMuLyOT_XQeu5IalBRLkKK/w400-h267/Metroid%20-%20Zero%20Mission_36.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Getting "unknown items" throughout the game and not knowing what it meant the first time through.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwLNV3d_Uz9UEODFfO1Q30fgO316PoG50cUOTS3y90cdGjyErk65Qpf9HzMqZnVEDeLIqf7MvSPx_rYIQN9w4owsiRpVxdWdDzuP2L336EgJzHY44Yc0meW4apk3LFMRkF4a59ouFP5X-HeAlvVOeWleqfmwW_MYC38aUe1PScpuBnmrLR0FnLtUhirZv/s240/Metroid%20-%20Zero%20Mission_46.png"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPwLNV3d_Uz9UEODFfO1Q30fgO316PoG50cUOTS3y90cdGjyErk65Qpf9HzMqZnVEDeLIqf7MvSPx_rYIQN9w4owsiRpVxdWdDzuP2L336EgJzHY44Yc0meW4apk3LFMRkF4a59ouFP5X-HeAlvVOeWleqfmwW_MYC38aUe1PScpuBnmrLR0FnLtUhirZv/w400-h267/Metroid%20-%20Zero%20Mission_46.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Biggest Surprise: The game having a whole new postgame with the largest area out of all of them and Zero Suit Samus making her debut. Or... de-butt, considering all the ass shots. I'll show myself out.</div><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2012/08/metroid-zero-mission.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwd4hxPSvOFFQPJ4lW9KODER8LGwPdjXqtwXsvwKzYbg0DiStVD0jddpSR0UEQaDF50GDIuVuILhM6EMlUdGrNn5rkbv_BbdltMH0QpWHLtPfBZZqxPvK3TVLnqF4NzK6fQ8ZgQyBMU8vp9DjR2sQz1injsDVzoS3bs2SkYBKMdGWfp-HBSYpTnCMI9If/s960/advance-wars-gba-009.png"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwd4hxPSvOFFQPJ4lW9KODER8LGwPdjXqtwXsvwKzYbg0DiStVD0jddpSR0UEQaDF50GDIuVuILhM6EMlUdGrNn5rkbv_BbdltMH0QpWHLtPfBZZqxPvK3TVLnqF4NzK6fQ8ZgQyBMU8vp9DjR2sQz1injsDVzoS3bs2SkYBKMdGWfp-HBSYpTnCMI9If/w400-h266/advance-wars-gba-009.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#248 Advance Wars (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Very cool Fire Emblem style strategy game where you command various units to capture resource points, gain control over maps, and win battles. It's got a great soundtrack and the story is intriguing: Several nations are at war because a shadowy group has been manipulating events behind the scenes to turn them against each other.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Eventually (like, the last two battles or so) the shadowy group is uncovered and it's the Black Hole Nation, a formidable power that has been growing unbeknownst to the main nations. In the next game you're basically fighting Black Hole from the get-go, and I tend to prefer the sequel for that reason.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuh_I-SLaF7ixOAWugVXIoCmshjOVAb2WFvXdqiBp8XKLNA9QGSmaPsxSaKYzJox7_8oUA7ZBUReYKm41kgj1PZbQoFG3saxhJvKs3v08RtQVB2JFJk7dM_P06AZRAk6XVza_Xns3kwcTiBV8CK9qQGVSN34Oq73Lz_ZFcfSiGuzZB1zP_rtgVJTDW3feP/s474/advance%20wars%202.jpg"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuh_I-SLaF7ixOAWugVXIoCmshjOVAb2WFvXdqiBp8XKLNA9QGSmaPsxSaKYzJox7_8oUA7ZBUReYKm41kgj1PZbQoFG3saxhJvKs3v08RtQVB2JFJk7dM_P06AZRAk6XVza_Xns3kwcTiBV8CK9qQGVSN34Oq73Lz_ZFcfSiGuzZB1zP_rtgVJTDW3feP/w400-h269/advance%20wars%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#249 Advance Wars 2 (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Basically the same game, just bigger and better. It's compulsively playable and fun, and they did a great job converting the Fire Emblem format into a more modern war/strategy game. It has kind of a rock/paper/scissors design like an FE game, except there are like 15 types of units that go around in a circle and have various strengths and weaknesses to others. So in that sense I guess it's kinda like a Pokemon game as well. If anyone were going to play any game from this series I would say the second is the way to go.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5m4Q2E0yJPjGy2i_A_Q3hzIWLH6frLBjqyZOVKjoDY9JngZLrYKkXoM9QyKCPBE6tvJ_jmLX4_L5rWpTqawkeX6-vxhT4ok2L-QLIVlNPAlXPCKl33Vp8jANRwoxUhZgg4lwN6rrMmL0UPD5PhJBu29rC9tuzW7Qo9_l8ibYft7jJyz55SGHydHEY0zn/s640/WoWScrnShot_010718_125840.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5m4Q2E0yJPjGy2i_A_Q3hzIWLH6frLBjqyZOVKjoDY9JngZLrYKkXoM9QyKCPBE6tvJ_jmLX4_L5rWpTqawkeX6-vxhT4ok2L-QLIVlNPAlXPCKl33Vp8jANRwoxUhZgg4lwN6rrMmL0UPD5PhJBu29rC9tuzW7Qo9_l8ibYft7jJyz55SGHydHEY0zn/w640-h360/WoWScrnShot_010718_125840.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#250 World of Warcraft (PC) - Summer 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">I think this is the second and final MMO to make it onto the list. This is a pretty big one because I revisited it a bunch of times over the years to play new expansions and sometimes just replay old ones. It fell off with me by the end of the 2010's (along with everyone else, it seems like) but I popped onto this game many times over the years in short bursts.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The first burst was in 2006 and that's when I played it the most. A bunch of friends were playing it and crowing endlessly about the game and how I had to get it and join their guild, then when I finally got the game, they like all quit within 3 weeks or so. Well, like 8 out of 10 of them anyway. So that was pretty lame.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZ-8ufHhlEd5VJjnYq1FF0B-Ka0rX8hWBXGwLovVauB5dmZwnIR6eRtkYfyx9cGB_ARDHFsjOmINOpf9Lrp3IDvLeeL4-N7RUPO3TBEMvMJWvpzaZEjgI55_-1y4ygpTYZ5Pq2brLYcxZyundpRVyNFVo-4PLAdYBtrtnVPTD-kDBfbuyjMKMu7CAgJuf/s1920/508348-World-of-Warcraft-The-Burning-Crusade-Silvermoon.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaZ-8ufHhlEd5VJjnYq1FF0B-Ka0rX8hWBXGwLovVauB5dmZwnIR6eRtkYfyx9cGB_ARDHFsjOmINOpf9Lrp3IDvLeeL4-N7RUPO3TBEMvMJWvpzaZEjgI55_-1y4ygpTYZ5Pq2brLYcxZyundpRVyNFVo-4PLAdYBtrtnVPTD-kDBfbuyjMKMu7CAgJuf/w640-h360/508348-World-of-Warcraft-The-Burning-Crusade-Silvermoon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The Burning Crusade expansion was in January 2007 and I played on and off up until a couple months into that. Think I was subbed for like 9 months straight altogether in that first run. It was a good time, especially early on when the game was still really mysterious and interesting.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I really fell off with it when I revisited it again at later points and realized how damn easy the game actually is. By the WOTLK expansion I could run into a pack of 5-6 enemies <i>as a mage</i> and AOE them down before they killed me, by spamming one button. At one point I even tried taking gear off just so enemies in leveling content would present some kind of actual threat. The easy-fication of WoW really kinda killed it, because what's the point of micromanaging and being a badass when nothing poses any threat whatsoever?</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-cuWHqHf1Xzp5JgbWz_81xjtKm9rOPo4WuW6U6buRwEfe5KrFpekkVeJ6-WkeGZ1NZdp4pDDACAZkGFiILRB4iWpX_1rymFtQqXrf_ijhR7Q8hStkkyg9Q8gMVeButkfibT2WKimeljW-codH3tz1vjVlGEvqgMY7KbXerhfSrJgMGNpDoIcjDbjljOD/s640/WoWScrnShot_011818_004254.jpg"><img border="0" height="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT-cuWHqHf1Xzp5JgbWz_81xjtKm9rOPo4WuW6U6buRwEfe5KrFpekkVeJ6-WkeGZ1NZdp4pDDACAZkGFiILRB4iWpX_1rymFtQqXrf_ijhR7Q8hStkkyg9Q8gMVeButkfibT2WKimeljW-codH3tz1vjVlGEvqgMY7KbXerhfSrJgMGNpDoIcjDbjljOD/w640-h413/WoWScrnShot_011818_004254.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Later on, I loved the <i>Legion</i> expansion. It's the only one after <i>Mists of Pandaria</i> that I got much out of. Unfortunately that was pretty much it for the game. I couldn't get into any expansions after that and just kinda stopped trying. My favorite thing about <i>Legion</i> was the raid game, and it had some really good raid fights.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwu-9XDQ3mQnufnVCw7maNlM2l9-YphTG4BYtYvjZy2lCNjdrn36Sfo3j81LdZhQMLgARlyPKvzw9Cf5cLimDd1vebEMuAPjffm2PHepkFZND7hqNUZ_YqiUgz8YFViuipU3I3CnalOc0vv0Zn3y44pY6XyDJeBeMgU4gVNKbhzCgT-eDnuisWell333W3/s640/World%20of%20Warcraft%2030.jpg"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwu-9XDQ3mQnufnVCw7maNlM2l9-YphTG4BYtYvjZy2lCNjdrn36Sfo3j81LdZhQMLgARlyPKvzw9Cf5cLimDd1vebEMuAPjffm2PHepkFZND7hqNUZ_YqiUgz8YFViuipU3I3CnalOc0vv0Zn3y44pY6XyDJeBeMgU4gVNKbhzCgT-eDnuisWell333W3/w640-h360/World%20of%20Warcraft%2030.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">All of that said, I think the game is at its best during the quiet moments, like milling about in the woods back in the n00b areas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Quick thoughts on each expansion. <i>EQ</i> had too many to do something like this but <i>WoW</i>'s fewer and denser expansions are worth talking about a little more. Gonna rank each one on a 1-10 scale, with 10 being the height of having fun with the game and 1 being something that I got nothing from and want a refund. The game never got that low though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Classic (10/10) - This is all there was when I first played the game, and I really enjoyed it a lot. The world was pretty and serene and there was a lot to see. I played a Mage and went full solo-mode as usual, maxing levels in the otherworldly desert of Silithus. Also liked Winterspring (endgame) and Dun Morogh (newbie area) for their snow. Trying different classes/races was so much fun in this timeframe when everything was nice and simple, and I think I tried all of both.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Burning Crusade (10/10) - Great expansion here that did everything a first expansion is supposed to do. Outland was an extremely interesting place with all kinds of sci-fi elements and battles raging everywhere you looked. The only potential slight strike against it is that a lot of the areas were a little bit empty and there wasn't as much specific content to do as later expansions. The zones were so memorable and fun that you barely noticed this, though, and you pretty much made your own adventure anyway. Nagrand was an incredibly gorgeous landscape and Netherstorm was just plain exciting, with everything in-between being rad too. Not a single weak zone in the expansion, which I'm not sure I can say about any other MMO expansion ever. Except maybe...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wrath of the Lich King (9/10) - This one also didn't really have any weaknesses. Only issue with it was that the difficulty of the game was taking a nosedive, from "medium-low / perfect" to "dirt easy so nothing means anything". At least it picked up a bit for the next expansion and I had to actually micromanage and strategize a bit instead of being able to win any fight with no equipment on by hammering "1" until it ended. In any case, the snow continent theme of this was terrific, especially given that snow areas were so underutilized in the base game, and we had some more truly atmospheric locales like the Nordic alpine region of Grizzly Hills and the "frozen Mordor" landscape of Icecrown Citadel. There were also some stunningly nice dungeons, like The Nexus, which was like something out of a (really good) Final Fantasy game. I imagine I would have gotten even more out of this if I'd played <i>Warcraft 3</i> but alas I still haven't gotten to that one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Cataclysm</i> (6/10) - This is kind of hit or miss. There are only a few new zones and most of its addition to the game is a total revamp of the old world / classic zones. Unfortunately a lot of those revamps were for the worse, and some zones I loved like Darkshore and Thousand Needles were kind of ruined by the apocalyptic wreckage and scarring of the landscape. At least the new zones were pretty nice, going for an "elemental planes" theme with a dangerous Plane of Fire equivalent. There was also a desert zone with a lot of ruins and an Egyptian theme, and I really liked that one. Fun Fact: They followed the pattern of the first few <i>EQ</i> expansions and had this one be a revamp of the leveling game + elemental planes, while the previous was an ice continent. Same thing <i>EQ</i> did. The connections are more tenuous with <i>Burning Crusade </i>and they're tenuous after this, but for a couple of expansions they were really drawing inspiration from <i>EQ</i>. Turns out <i>WoW</i>'s content designers were mostly former <i>EQ</i> players and the guy leading the team was one of <i>EQ</i>'s most famous players, the guy who formed the first power-guild and fundamentally shaped the raid game. Now he brought that extensive knowledge to <i>WoW</i> and it showed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mists of Pandaria</i> (7/10) - Here the game takes a turn into the strange with the Panda race, but I gotta say, this one is mostly a good time. The new zones are all very pretty and have distinct Asian visual themes. Jade Forest is one of the greenest zones I've ever seen in a game. The antagonists for this one are weird shadowy spirit-demon things that don't really do it for me the way previous foes in the game did. It felt like the game had gone off the reservation and pretty much shed any D&D type roots by this point. But it was still a good expansion and there were a lot of interesting things to do.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Warlords of Draenor</i> (5/10) - For this one they basically just remade the first expansion <i>Burning Crusade</i>, only not as good. I mean when it comes down to it this does look better, have more content, and have more QOL. However it's mostly reusing zones we've already seen, with a couple new ones, and the whole thing kinda has this "been there done that" vibe to it. Wasn't really into the orc villains either, and the whole thing felt like it was just setup / a prequel to the next expansion where all the REAL stuff was goin' down.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Legion</i> (8/10) - I loved this one and it was definitely the most fun the game had been since <i>Wrath</i>. It's all top-heavy endgame content like raids, it continues right off of <i>WoD</i>'s launching pad, and it has us fighting the extraterrestrial Burning Legion head-on in full-scale war in a way that <i>Burning Crusade</i> just gave us a taste of. They went full sci-fi with this one as you go from broken islands (the arrival point of the Legion) to futuristic ships to the very <i>homeworld</i> of the bad guys. That's right, the last 3 zones of the expansion are actually on another planet. That's pretty sick. Was glad I went back for this one. Felt like a real course-correct, but also felt like The End and I wasn't sure where the game was supposed to go from here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Battle For Azeroth</i> (6/10) - This had a distinct feeling of being "extra", like the game should have ended with <i>Legion</i> and now they were just giving us more postgame or something. Nothing about it felt like it was building off of what came before and it all had the vibe of unused content from old expansions that they had to throw together and form something coherent out of. They even changed the logo to a dull metal color instead of the traditional shiny gold logo, which I think was emblematic of how dull the game got by this point. I barely even remember anything about this era except that I had a tough time finishing the leveling content without being bored out of the game, much less anything else. This did have a few things going for it though. The South Seas was a nice setting and gave this a different feel from earlier expansions, and the endgame raids had you going up against N'Zoth and other Cthulhu monsters that weren't really something the game had done much with before this.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Shadowlands</i> (3/10) - This was the first expansion that I couldn't finish. It's all weird gloomy undead stuff, the main story quest didn't seem to work very well, and it simply wasn't interesting. It's the most recent one I played, and yet the one I remember least. So for me, <i>WoW</i> kind of petered to a sad conclusion. I did try to go back and play it again once or twice, each time getting myself worked-up to revisit the game and give it a good shot, and each time finding myself losing interest rapidly once things got underway. The content just wasn't good here and it was pretty obvious the game had far-exceeded its sell-by date.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Dragonflight</i> (N/A) - Never played this one, sadly. I hear it was pretty good, but over quickly and didn't really address a lot of the issues. Was all geared-up to give it a shot at launch, but <i>Shadowlands</i> did me in in the weeks before that.</div><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/World%20of%20Warcraft" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNuXSEp9u4xTrulCrC2CI9h1nVUYnqH-0sp8rtmi5xoLxGt-wO3eN1zZ-DE3XCBV4mwQNmCEhjBpDqqbM97CKiddfC5jKZwzXKEvwEYUrtF_eKO6SvZQvincioafQqQDWN5JFO1qHNHum1g6l9UxelqDYszq9Bqt0oB41MA6oKkGQ_qr1ZrajKGuALnum/s1280/battleclash.jpg"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNuXSEp9u4xTrulCrC2CI9h1nVUYnqH-0sp8rtmi5xoLxGt-wO3eN1zZ-DE3XCBV4mwQNmCEhjBpDqqbM97CKiddfC5jKZwzXKEvwEYUrtF_eKO6SvZQvincioafQqQDWN5JFO1qHNHum1g6l9UxelqDYszq9Bqt0oB41MA6oKkGQ_qr1ZrajKGuALnum/w400-h225/battleclash.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#251 Battleclash (Super NES) – Summer 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Back to the Super Scope to knock off the other two games I was interested in. And lo and behold, what we have here are what might be the two best "light gun" games ever on home consoles. Definitely the best up to this point. <i>Battleclash</i> is tremendous. The whole game is just boss fights with giant mechs, one after another, no big whoop. Each one has its own strengths and weaknesses.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWX2UdYuemhOL6If_CTBMlC6q-e2RNPJtMW1ZM9Xwj0yEDvMO_LOXaqRyDRhHVv-hxrAn2O0-p7hYwrCkFC27bXfOy24hQp6QSMWYCtNAMTY_yZMl7yw-UnJ3qVFU9_PoCeUOOOqgcWsWq-iPIshotAOqseTifU559QNUSLl3z1zgaIP7VhZ1oo2PLlKxI/s256/15827468-battle-clash-snes-endgame.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWX2UdYuemhOL6If_CTBMlC6q-e2RNPJtMW1ZM9Xwj0yEDvMO_LOXaqRyDRhHVv-hxrAn2O0-p7hYwrCkFC27bXfOy24hQp6QSMWYCtNAMTY_yZMl7yw-UnJ3qVFU9_PoCeUOOOqgcWsWq-iPIshotAOqseTifU559QNUSLl3z1zgaIP7VhZ1oo2PLlKxI/w400-h350/15827468-battle-clash-snes-endgame.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fun Fact: This game was designed by members of Nintendo R&D1, who had made previous similar games like <i>Duck Hunt</i>. Maybe that's why it's so good?</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: The same one everyone has, that first fight with hulking green robot Garam. That dude is so iconic that Garam MK2 was the first fight in the sequel.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXruMC0gJ2B4dfqUkIOCEb4B47SA0WK00beVwELS7IJ2mLkVr5z8U1-Zy0ZdAzbmMHoN8s2LDGnqJqvDtuQZhH7PHkibANtHQQAUd3_PnS-HW2HiSe9CQQuvnrwDIj-ka_It-Ppe3_vrOo2B9oqSKCIn-mrs4t4g9YCxYMt4Mcz95urUC0_rzFmTRaooN/s640/battle-clash-07.png"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgXruMC0gJ2B4dfqUkIOCEb4B47SA0WK00beVwELS7IJ2mLkVr5z8U1-Zy0ZdAzbmMHoN8s2LDGnqJqvDtuQZhH7PHkibANtHQQAUd3_PnS-HW2HiSe9CQQuvnrwDIj-ka_It-Ppe3_vrOo2B9oqSKCIn-mrs4t4g9YCxYMt4Mcz95urUC0_rzFmTRaooN/w400-h300/battle-clash-07.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Mech Boss: Probably Ivan, the giant spider mech. Of course the Russian pilot would be the one with the largest mech in the game. 2nd place probably goes to Schneider, the efficient silver German mech with drill arms. That thing was pretty stylish. Hell, ALL of the bosses in this game are stylish. The sequel is even better in that regard.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_UH9YBv-4AtUvcv04wzmzRWRfLUtW8BUS-jf_O1dspnvSbi8Jz9_XgjylA9C0KIeQSqkq3d1MxWcXDCmlIrT6c_gCB3tfXoNDdZN7BVPzf61RUu9RjkFaltFKjFNK3x6WtS5rCsYhnX4dnFufmxs8l8XurVviqJlb-LaSON4bTw6rEWIDGmoijWqVT_z/s960/metal%20combat%20griffin.png"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_UH9YBv-4AtUvcv04wzmzRWRfLUtW8BUS-jf_O1dspnvSbi8Jz9_XgjylA9C0KIeQSqkq3d1MxWcXDCmlIrT6c_gCB3tfXoNDdZN7BVPzf61RUu9RjkFaltFKjFNK3x6WtS5rCsYhnX4dnFufmxs8l8XurVviqJlb-LaSON4bTw6rEWIDGmoijWqVT_z/w400-h289/metal%20combat%20griffin.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#252 Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge (Super NES) - Summer 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">While <i>Battleclash</i> mostly stuck to Earth, this sequel takes you on a tour of the entire solar system to fight all kinds of bad-ass mechs. The villain Anubis and his mech Thanatos is one of the more memorable mechs in the history of mech games, as is the winged archangel mech Spika.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XPe5_T51uchzYoluBHDjOGpTOfEfstWkbz1p-QGAss0lDFXv1Ho-tXHBWOmTSPz4RuoxNge2eAu_Zcpe8uVEUNI5rm84jI6MB2pQD-0hynva0ts4aEjnpb41TEa8DnqpMM02cr95nAr70HC-eqseyyySa5cKLdTSUReJ25XoCrjX0LXVJo06SXgnHKSQ/s768/2677692-metalcombat002.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XPe5_T51uchzYoluBHDjOGpTOfEfstWkbz1p-QGAss0lDFXv1Ho-tXHBWOmTSPz4RuoxNge2eAu_Zcpe8uVEUNI5rm84jI6MB2pQD-0hynva0ts4aEjnpb41TEa8DnqpMM02cr95nAr70HC-eqseyyySa5cKLdTSUReJ25XoCrjX0LXVJo06SXgnHKSQ/w400-h350/2677692-metalcombat002.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">In a way I think this game was kind of the predecessor of things like <i>Zone of the Enders</i> that captured the same vibe. Unfortunately it loses a lot if you play it on emulator with a mouse (compared to playing it on a TV with a Super Scope, which isn't exactly all that feasible anymore). Still a cool game to play regardless.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtVLB_VJGsqf6-YFHKsevcXyusa4fB6T4x69ht2ixhMk19rLJY8UR7S92cOZCqifvLjdg93nkqJik7pICR5oMWk_7M33Hc2uvhL0BkrDn9AVqKVLkRiVpIVCABbC06c1TCMyL9JxLJ2fzCNxKXXpwax2H71oms_T77DIP944DJ234AuWeAjTqie3eemjX/s480/viscount.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDtVLB_VJGsqf6-YFHKsevcXyusa4fB6T4x69ht2ixhMk19rLJY8UR7S92cOZCqifvLjdg93nkqJik7pICR5oMWk_7M33Hc2uvhL0BkrDn9AVqKVLkRiVpIVCABbC06c1TCMyL9JxLJ2fzCNxKXXpwax2H71oms_T77DIP944DJ234AuWeAjTqie3eemjX/w400-h300/viscount.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Mech Boss: Viscount, the gold knight mech with a shield and a bazooka. Probably the best fight in the game and also the one that springs to mind when I think of the sequel.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Reading about the game in magazines, over a decade before I ever got around to playing it. The mech designs were awesome and I knew the names of all of them.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JGWCxXQB58FRAyus7TZqWTKStLHAVs3eCOW_W_PY-8oPSvb7N8yLiTerdzMwisquMa72h5DLPWwBx4oS_WAaZJThX9mulQVDAtjKXM7YiiVfuTFsTXR5JLlv0ub5NQaJ-pbM4pgqxaPmD5hZmfMnTXO8-8RDvEoRJhXqe631qftVzo2m0k43LvD9vHi7/s480/doom%202%20gba.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_JGWCxXQB58FRAyus7TZqWTKStLHAVs3eCOW_W_PY-8oPSvb7N8yLiTerdzMwisquMa72h5DLPWwBx4oS_WAaZJThX9mulQVDAtjKXM7YiiVfuTFsTXR5JLlv0ub5NQaJ-pbM4pgqxaPmD5hZmfMnTXO8-8RDvEoRJhXqe631qftVzo2m0k43LvD9vHi7/w400-h300/doom%202%20gba.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#253 Doom 2 (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Much later I finished the PC version, which is pretty much identical (just way, way, WAY nicer to look at) and it won't be on the list because it's basically the exact same game in different resolution. Back in the day though, for whatever reason, I decided to play this on the GBA, so it was a bit of a low-res mess like the first game on the SNES. I find it to be a far inferior game to the first one for a variety of reasons. Not a lot else to say about this one except that I was chipping at it for a while, doing like a stage every couple days, until I eventually got to the end. I also remember playing this a lot on emulator during breaks at work, alongside <i>Phantasy Star 2</i>, earlier in the year.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmcibouWXX_nrfqQoTM2d-uoWJFWPAUnro_3FqPMvXFwbhi4gf4K9auDLB5KxBoKk4b27rUncArnltPWqplsuenuVrnsSk-Na29KTpLoQax9uP4KNZfqBeSPBNuRwMRMBLCXoFUh6trsDarLpa9zaT5SRrmCHKgyCywXlzJ4yXJMpRHrpx1P2DENmv0IH/s1000/Castlevania%202%20Game%20Boy%20Box.jpg"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmcibouWXX_nrfqQoTM2d-uoWJFWPAUnro_3FqPMvXFwbhi4gf4K9auDLB5KxBoKk4b27rUncArnltPWqplsuenuVrnsSk-Na29KTpLoQax9uP4KNZfqBeSPBNuRwMRMBLCXoFUh6trsDarLpa9zaT5SRrmCHKgyCywXlzJ4yXJMpRHrpx1P2DENmv0IH/w376-h375/Castlevania%202%20Game%20Boy%20Box.jpg" width="376" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#254 Castlevania 2: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy) – Fall 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Huge improvement over the previous game in the series to say the least. It uses the same slow game engine, but a few design tweaks make all the difference. You don't lose your weapon powerups when you get hit like you did in <i>Castlevania Adventure, </i>so your powerups actually persist and get to be useful. It also adds special weapons like throwing axes, which were glaringly absent from the first game. Add in level design that actually makes sense with these controls (compared to the awful level design in the first game) and a stage select, and you have a game actually worthy of the 'Vania pedigree. This is the best of the three Game Boy 'Vanias by a country mile.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLM5SVTte5G5QCcjFujuyPUq3SvwMs3oVpSQLoNGDMwWKNmEfZpEMiTHMI_5dLmxnT-pVOQ_cNKxTUgzMqYKBGzlkl3OGANN2FWv_fqedTTrhVoZpu_Rq186ij-O_ibyUdCXVpwarbXjbY0XNdb2T2zkQURTJRLulOWkb-imXyJoHbHhx0llSk26PBm1cX/s1280/Castlevania%20Adventure%20(50).jpg"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLM5SVTte5G5QCcjFujuyPUq3SvwMs3oVpSQLoNGDMwWKNmEfZpEMiTHMI_5dLmxnT-pVOQ_cNKxTUgzMqYKBGzlkl3OGANN2FWv_fqedTTrhVoZpu_Rq186ij-O_ibyUdCXVpwarbXjbY0XNdb2T2zkQURTJRLulOWkb-imXyJoHbHhx0llSk26PBm1cX/w532-h299/Castlevania%20Adventure%20(50).jpg" width="532" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Also, it's a little bit on the intangible side, but the game also has a lot of heart and soul. Like you can tell they really put a lot into this one. The only real downside to it is that the game is really, really hard. However it's hard in that normal 'Vania way where it's tough but fair and you can keep trying until you get it. Rather than the previous game which was full of cheap deaths. This one absolutely annihilates its predecessor. Unfortunately the third and final Game Boy 'Vania is more like the first one than the second, but it is what it is and it's passable.</p><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNrW7N-JmYx8xgcChXkxg_8RT2z9jOgc8jG_V2kic86fQbOG_9jGQPjU9XOS1InSlaGeFBWR1ZK9robIpz2UP2As6KSXRjHvjO0gpD_Mi97_YwwG9eDS1RPIGkYUacp0zEGj0DqSdamz23-yjgCDVarxVkcxwdJ0f_dxHOKQDDsyTU4WDRYw9NAjIOjoy/s256/Kirby%20Super%20Star%20015.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRNrW7N-JmYx8xgcChXkxg_8RT2z9jOgc8jG_V2kic86fQbOG_9jGQPjU9XOS1InSlaGeFBWR1ZK9robIpz2UP2As6KSXRjHvjO0gpD_Mi97_YwwG9eDS1RPIGkYUacp0zEGj0DqSdamz23-yjgCDVarxVkcxwdJ0f_dxHOKQDDsyTU4WDRYw9NAjIOjoy/w400-h348/Kirby%20Super%20Star%20015.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#255 Kirby Super Star (Super NES) – Fall 2006</p><p style="text-align: center;">Very surprising that it took me a full eight years after discovering emulation to get back to one of my most-wanted SNES games. This one was touted as a bunch of games in one, but when it came down to it, it was more like one big Kirby game with a lot of variety.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-kevJu7zOgZSH11KTA7wHlpbxemj0badZhfF4ZBNe-3EZnM13KlXV5leq5qQSFov7TKfcDxfWmIYT461eyMLCknNvPr6ixJ9sOSKJGpbArlQji8PKYQdKLtHZJvOSH3fo5zkIGD1Ub3u3vJGsKVzuZWQPAc9t3WwUgcU7xy7or2GIOgP8V0XH5JzPcQv/s256/Kirby%20Super%20Star%20160.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3-kevJu7zOgZSH11KTA7wHlpbxemj0badZhfF4ZBNe-3EZnM13KlXV5leq5qQSFov7TKfcDxfWmIYT461eyMLCknNvPr6ixJ9sOSKJGpbArlQji8PKYQdKLtHZJvOSH3fo5zkIGD1Ub3u3vJGsKVzuZWQPAc9t3WwUgcU7xy7or2GIOgP8V0XH5JzPcQv/w400-h348/Kirby%20Super%20Star%20160.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The Great Cave Offensive is as close as we're probably ever gonna get to a Kirby RPG.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDAgePXkv40ZHX-vkEXFr6VayqOREgOkXvMP8dRHSQAJZDivGXXqbrI31l_-Jv_Crz0QANCB-BbH4tYsUyv5MBvxnmfpV5LqvoXHfG_iVmMgQCLN2RtBdd_m3A6DoToqspGCIc0Dm4Nj0paF_JZKOBYKaZWFjPh5Vw1ShdD6mTn6sYF5Z8P4IuBKJwYLN/s256/Kirby%20Super%20Star%20202.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDDAgePXkv40ZHX-vkEXFr6VayqOREgOkXvMP8dRHSQAJZDivGXXqbrI31l_-Jv_Crz0QANCB-BbH4tYsUyv5MBvxnmfpV5LqvoXHfG_iVmMgQCLN2RtBdd_m3A6DoToqspGCIc0Dm4Nj0paF_JZKOBYKaZWFjPh5Vw1ShdD6mTn6sYF5Z8P4IuBKJwYLN/w400-h348/Kirby%20Super%20Star%20202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I'd say even now this game probably stands the test of time as the best Kirby game out there (including any remakes it got, which I haven't played).</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Kirby%20Super%20Star" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;">Next up: Taking a break from these for a few weeks before I go onto 2007+... got multiple things I need to finish.</div></div><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-11912801248105840692024-02-20T10:00:00.001-05:002024-02-20T10:00:00.378-05:00The Terminator (Sega Genesis, 1992)<p> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7Xe_l9SZEvYScZz_eVM_P8-g91XPv-yhyphenhyphenxabB_gc4DTnF-LnBTouycJagWC7u1phab_bsEYnY5EkJwwRIM3qNfp0bi04vECUFvPzwNYI5sSyyGhMDjqvt6i5g-eoClbBzezSAdakLMY7UtY8o-J429226rwNmTWCl1x6hXigVfZJUFrkFQODfXI9AYp-/s320/_gallery_terminator-the-sega-genesis-box-front.jpg"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ7Xe_l9SZEvYScZz_eVM_P8-g91XPv-yhyphenhyphenxabB_gc4DTnF-LnBTouycJagWC7u1phab_bsEYnY5EkJwwRIM3qNfp0bi04vECUFvPzwNYI5sSyyGhMDjqvt6i5g-eoClbBzezSAdakLMY7UtY8o-J429226rwNmTWCl1x6hXigVfZJUFrkFQODfXI9AYp-/w306-h430/_gallery_terminator-the-sega-genesis-box-front.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wait hold on. There's another good game based on the first movie? And somehow I didn't know about this until 2024 when it got ranked on a "good Terminator games" list.</div><p style="text-align: center;">It isn't the Sega CD game, but this appears to be a respectable earlier attempt at a Terminator video game by a completely different developer. We've seen a lot of Terminator games go very badly, so any time I find out about a decent one I have to check it out.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Future Editor's Note: This game isn't actually good. It's quite bad. A respectable attempt, but a bad respectable attempt. Did I mention it's bad? The good news is, it's only like 15 minutes long.</p><span><a></a></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0U_kNdyKPsuaEHkYNbl8I7HuNY1t8HfsjK6DQzYY7u4y_2ZVhvPXc7kdaD0aYbRGZMmcPtabWDMspcOrD4KG_VxlkNM1VhVFmytHF3Sqir1i2-zVh3oahqfS-eOVrFBDnHmYx5uCoZUi8RaoCv53QzL7TSJDJNHg9T8yYpF2MbQWiIh_PxsZ-0843fpO/s640/The%20Terminator001.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0U_kNdyKPsuaEHkYNbl8I7HuNY1t8HfsjK6DQzYY7u4y_2ZVhvPXc7kdaD0aYbRGZMmcPtabWDMspcOrD4KG_VxlkNM1VhVFmytHF3Sqir1i2-zVh3oahqfS-eOVrFBDnHmYx5uCoZUi8RaoCv53QzL7TSJDJNHg9T8yYpF2MbQWiIh_PxsZ-0843fpO/w400-h300/The%20Terminator001.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We get a pretty solid intro with a couple of still shots from the Future War. They're blink-and-you-miss-them, and I missed them.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLX24UJ37SOeRTkPQ3TBdNFdk1scTmwVpkMNkBIiLc4E3H5v4IunDCuRoKIqm1MQS4Be3flZtah-Rv5PXDwHoCB1oIwHVI6PJlbVhyphenhyphenlqHO-Xxg9CC6ivASAu9Wvtfhyphenhyphenqq_IlCD0m75OUKS0iJ4om4Cw0RgX6SFb3hKSaHGzsyvXb-k2_UIKnKgFmWCiHh6/s640/The%20Terminator002.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLX24UJ37SOeRTkPQ3TBdNFdk1scTmwVpkMNkBIiLc4E3H5v4IunDCuRoKIqm1MQS4Be3flZtah-Rv5PXDwHoCB1oIwHVI6PJlbVhyphenhyphenlqHO-Xxg9CC6ivASAu9Wvtfhyphenhyphenqq_IlCD0m75OUKS0iJ4om4Cw0RgX6SFb3hKSaHGzsyvXb-k2_UIKnKgFmWCiHh6/w400-h300/The%20Terminator002.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The game then drops you (as Kyle Reese) on the battlefield in front of some sort of bomb. I'll never get why all the Terminator video games in this era had to get all cute and complicated with their first levels. Just let me jump and shoot!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In any case, you have to collect 6 of these bombs to make it through the level, and plant them with the A button (the one that isn't jump or shoot). You can actually camp this one bomb until it respawns and get enough that way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40p9VLRm720xKO_u_ctb9TcVlEsaEbDNszp-XuUwf9YoqVbk2HJvalf2_Zd-Py6lwESmk5OHQhioZK1lXlsNhvLYpP3R6kori0NmJuJSVYwcbfUz9xuWT5VjTZaC30CA7EbF9go1p9u8pONHFpfBuGDOsnXtrPrjyj9YYC8cvHIF1HHXZ6aarQHube0XT/s640/The%20Terminator003.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj40p9VLRm720xKO_u_ctb9TcVlEsaEbDNszp-XuUwf9YoqVbk2HJvalf2_Zd-Py6lwESmk5OHQhioZK1lXlsNhvLYpP3R6kori0NmJuJSVYwcbfUz9xuWT5VjTZaC30CA7EbF9go1p9u8pONHFpfBuGDOsnXtrPrjyj9YYC8cvHIF1HHXZ6aarQHube0XT/w400-h300/The%20Terminator003.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kyle doesn't start with any kind of gun, but he does have unlimited grenades to throw. That's super weird, but it's kind of fun how they fly in an arc. He is basically a Hammer Bro. First enemy you fight is a ground HK, usually a boss in these games, and winning is a matter of just standing and banging it out with grenades before it kills you.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjcaBpPwUzXX9pfTGgoHjqSOYfDoN8-ESxXkCXtQq8Pm6qEtkrQ0n9oFMSHvcHqCvrW07PVxeMaOVU7VkOwYBprb6tJbYuoCF9wLBBHu-nTsmO0INCbkEuEdyW_D0wU_7YrQsP4n-5lG5z9F-YVh9d6b67wDRFBrPRMhglxZ9OlfDu04uXDtxmc1la5m9/s640/The%20Terminator005.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJjcaBpPwUzXX9pfTGgoHjqSOYfDoN8-ESxXkCXtQq8Pm6qEtkrQ0n9oFMSHvcHqCvrW07PVxeMaOVU7VkOwYBprb6tJbYuoCF9wLBBHu-nTsmO0INCbkEuEdyW_D0wU_7YrQsP4n-5lG5z9F-YVh9d6b67wDRFBrPRMhglxZ9OlfDu04uXDtxmc1la5m9/w400-h300/The%20Terminator005.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After that, a flying HK! It...drops parachuting bombs, rather than shooting lasers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...parachuting bombs? This is the least-fearsome Hunter-Killer ever.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNlMAEj95Z3AacjipL1Z79vs-IWPTn8Ty6XO10oQRcrzgfvuGr-c0dr0ckH3as-5MDYGgfDwscXsPi7VgQjl4S6A60kWpSCOWLyhWqfthPplrq2M_X-qAVODqXcR8e0It7b9Zq1Q_443OuTlkOQflmqOjEakjxqtaaOdXBXfvbnHylmnZpCJ3dK4PrQhy/s1024/The%20Terminator007.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPNlMAEj95Z3AacjipL1Z79vs-IWPTn8Ty6XO10oQRcrzgfvuGr-c0dr0ckH3as-5MDYGgfDwscXsPi7VgQjl4S6A60kWpSCOWLyhWqfthPplrq2M_X-qAVODqXcR8e0It7b9Zq1Q_443OuTlkOQflmqOjEakjxqtaaOdXBXfvbnHylmnZpCJ3dK4PrQhy/w400-h300/The%20Terminator007.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Get past those things and you have to contend with terminators inside the Skynet base. This level is like, in reverse. The bosses are at the beginning and then you run right-to-left fighting regular enemies.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The base is full of these metal walls that you have to use the dynamite bombs to breach, which is why you need six of them. If you don't get enough drops (and I didn't without camping them), you're kinda effed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDXCCQaWVfYBESZ_uJ3vgSDr0b_nu4NQHr5zlOAp1TC0_XPG1HqQKMu6Wr5ia24E8Rpcrf_2-XBTRv2Cfw5kivU_4gLZbO3YGvWPLNqT7L8G6QFRbLQ2VHH3YZ8258tTK7JgDZ04yHwokzFc65_ORLHfAUbqQs8ZQDEp8EtEQwI-dTcOBTdymoAj_dvlo/s640/The%20Terminator013.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDXCCQaWVfYBESZ_uJ3vgSDr0b_nu4NQHr5zlOAp1TC0_XPG1HqQKMu6Wr5ia24E8Rpcrf_2-XBTRv2Cfw5kivU_4gLZbO3YGvWPLNqT7L8G6QFRbLQ2VHH3YZ8258tTK7JgDZ04yHwokzFc65_ORLHfAUbqQs8ZQDEp8EtEQwI-dTcOBTdymoAj_dvlo/w400-h300/The%20Terminator013.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Inside the Skynet base is this weird miniboss. What is that thing? Some kind of Wheelchair HK?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The weirdest thing is that this miniboss serves no purpose and lurks in a dead end. No reason to fight it and most players probably won't even see it. Why not put it at the end of the level?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNGk2hwDb2mj_JJXqa7z9W7gR5YKLQHv_WLxj3CyOjNq-DAE1TuhVfEGlbA4o32OdO1puZ_i6Ip4fF3Gi_zbmDBiuQgI17e1V9i-0h3IhxlrUetagS9j7Mrh2feHule6aGY814NaFzzhwZoJ9LB3eZGt5JXz5dDSfRXGKGCYuEj73O6mn0RA-5Cu8i_8Y/s640/The%20Terminator015.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNGk2hwDb2mj_JJXqa7z9W7gR5YKLQHv_WLxj3CyOjNq-DAE1TuhVfEGlbA4o32OdO1puZ_i6Ip4fF3Gi_zbmDBiuQgI17e1V9i-0h3IhxlrUetagS9j7Mrh2feHule6aGY814NaFzzhwZoJ9LB3eZGt5JXz5dDSfRXGKGCYuEj73O6mn0RA-5Cu8i_8Y/w400-h300/The%20Terminator015.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Speaking of the end of the level... get there and this Skynet turret blasts you to smithereens instantly. Fantastic!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinONsMXSVfAayfxzyMEWjm3uE8QHPZqseF7vymYUeJMbEf-d9e3EMJYR8OsZQViJ0TeaEOO3Lb9mPCaDVmTUp_pxyJMjORQ6xcfTM9DFVhk6TSt7Q0TavMVsj4wgrFVo2uMowisbxRdwYfGigfKb9Jqm0ycaBdVqSPFHz_hr-ofoBX7RHc76lfBwfJZLkK/s1024/The%20Terminator009.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinONsMXSVfAayfxzyMEWjm3uE8QHPZqseF7vymYUeJMbEf-d9e3EMJYR8OsZQViJ0TeaEOO3Lb9mPCaDVmTUp_pxyJMjORQ6xcfTM9DFVhk6TSt7Q0TavMVsj4wgrFVo2uMowisbxRdwYfGigfKb9Jqm0ycaBdVqSPFHz_hr-ofoBX7RHc76lfBwfJZLkK/w400-h300/The%20Terminator009.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This, like almost all the other Terminator games in this era, is one of those "you have one life for the entire game" games.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whatta shitload of fuck. Die once and it's all the way back to the beginning. Which isn't the worst thing since the game is 15 minutes long, but still, super annoying. Who thought it was a good idea to give the player one life for an entire game? Even the original <i>Super Mario Bros</i> didn't make that mistake, and they basically had to figure it out as they went along. These games were years later.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_GtTTAEP4E8Ocxtfzp7nzoXDCdIHc52uX4pJMz_lbbu1he8ei7zBEK9WmzFxAumH4lYNgQJco6k1ExQ0IM_g9mFe-oA3FeCo7u6c_-U19VMWi3DpkDuhwz7I82REy66j-T5adTJ-VnpSQeTRXAEJ5V-TuKki3S9OTL0xjSpCRa103Jk_xJSCEAvyWZh0/s1024/The%20Terminator017.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7_GtTTAEP4E8Ocxtfzp7nzoXDCdIHc52uX4pJMz_lbbu1he8ei7zBEK9WmzFxAumH4lYNgQJco6k1ExQ0IM_g9mFe-oA3FeCo7u6c_-U19VMWi3DpkDuhwz7I82REy66j-T5adTJ-VnpSQeTRXAEJ5V-TuKki3S9OTL0xjSpCRa103Jk_xJSCEAvyWZh0/w400-h300/The%20Terminator017.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What you have to do is get down to this fire pillar thing and destroy it with some dynamite to disable the turret upstairs, then you get a countdown clock to run up there and run past it to the exit before the whole place goes up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The countdown clock is <i>extremely</i> unforgiving and basically gives you about 5 more seconds than you need if you do a perfect beeline straight to where you need to go. So make ANY mistakes, go the wrong way, spend too much time on an enemy, and boom.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq5H-ktvI0j53jvMV7RleixGyzksrC9t_3izaop08r77s3INVIs6uZAcwgiJZrqndySsKxzfq3auV5gg5LozWkDgfKrbNMnhZ4ER4buegyLJfd0k_ecuom1ZjrUBo0ekhvaJeAiWln2xjAJvl8g1HOEqqSIdJI6EcuA4l8DKzs-EGiCCCMMe7Dkao0OHp/s1024/The%20Terminator018.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoq5H-ktvI0j53jvMV7RleixGyzksrC9t_3izaop08r77s3INVIs6uZAcwgiJZrqndySsKxzfq3auV5gg5LozWkDgfKrbNMnhZ4ER4buegyLJfd0k_ecuom1ZjrUBo0ekhvaJeAiWln2xjAJvl8g1HOEqqSIdJI6EcuA4l8DKzs-EGiCCCMMe7Dkao0OHp/w400-h300/The%20Terminator018.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next up, 1984. Of course, this is somehow tougher than the Future War, as is Terminator Game Tradition. Good news, at least this game has the decency to refill your life meter between levels! Some of them don't (while still making you get through the game on one life...unreal)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRSeKufY2pa8kvxiEZZ42RcwVorpwAwgp-GShW0GgZJ4KglJ_FPJ7pSoJ5NDyayGh3Uxl3cT8Pf6iOb9qCsumJ1Lzfr_mYlGJz92mpcp041f8ww5Z0Fdoxmb0oiNs7FhgT-0xQtJwmcUC6BIeNTDvEhWPHzd2mhuqwf_7XNUTZUYSy6KPCpeENXoj-7Z2/s640/The%20Terminator020.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRSeKufY2pa8kvxiEZZ42RcwVorpwAwgp-GShW0GgZJ4KglJ_FPJ7pSoJ5NDyayGh3Uxl3cT8Pf6iOb9qCsumJ1Lzfr_mYlGJz92mpcp041f8ww5Z0Fdoxmb0oiNs7FhgT-0xQtJwmcUC6BIeNTDvEhWPHzd2mhuqwf_7XNUTZUYSy6KPCpeENXoj-7Z2/w400-h300/The%20Terminator020.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The main adversaries in 1984 are cops because they're all immortal. You can kneecap them but they heal up in seconds and resume attacking. So basically they're like Dry Bones. They also attack in these groups, making it really difficult to run past them while they're down.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3yNTvu9_1FHfbAWN4dn7_TVZPGQjWtiqnxaf8_JOnwWFsXCZv7dgeVSAcoH6Xks-P_s66-i8BHorwVr-l_SJ3z_gJF_a-mQQ7Iuuii-rnhv0jDoz1JPhDC9NPCixUUb7C6AGUHmwKf7ZANUxZUB-H5eMlZbqjBsoYQZpqDWeat8All1_YQ2YoZeTK9U3/s640/The%20Terminator023.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3yNTvu9_1FHfbAWN4dn7_TVZPGQjWtiqnxaf8_JOnwWFsXCZv7dgeVSAcoH6Xks-P_s66-i8BHorwVr-l_SJ3z_gJF_a-mQQ7Iuuii-rnhv0jDoz1JPhDC9NPCixUUb7C6AGUHmwKf7ZANUxZUB-H5eMlZbqjBsoYQZpqDWeat8All1_YQ2YoZeTK9U3/w400-h300/The%20Terminator023.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A police chopper swoops in to accost Kyle! These cops are serious about him stealing that guy's pants!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...wait a minute, why is there a billboard of the movie?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrF5kb6XXEn9PIpADubTNjPm7g3j57L7PQRT4sG7LPHbzomocQbwFpyzqtrrfsutkFUGzQT_1BFC5th-sdguZiDEiZHkoM6ksTqrpHmIa-tk2wrlZJ_JcnuuwSiTXxrREBi04kaU3YBiBqyP1jxts9Z2U4_XpZfiZQHsx20lAUKNdC3RM5aLyswlm0svv/s640/The%20Terminator025.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGrF5kb6XXEn9PIpADubTNjPm7g3j57L7PQRT4sG7LPHbzomocQbwFpyzqtrrfsutkFUGzQT_1BFC5th-sdguZiDEiZHkoM6ksTqrpHmIa-tk2wrlZJ_JcnuuwSiTXxrREBi04kaU3YBiBqyP1jxts9Z2U4_XpZfiZQHsx20lAUKNdC3RM5aLyswlm0svv/w400-h300/The%20Terminator025.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After lots and lots of jumping across rooftops (this section is like half the game), I arrive at...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1CIygy_5CL-Q1AI2Xg_yx3FleKtEAnBbr-O2iTJkVUTMbEroG2feBZo7hJPqiCb1hJQZ0W6qTpa_krK_9w6_Wm8tSbd8yICXzqRWbCf-ZcKBrGUGyZT7ZTr2L6qaij4cfFFtub4ousW8KumSoRVq36aznOqRmRCpHlMmcN9uazsAyQZY8vaVudadvCwD/s640/The%20Terminator026.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu1CIygy_5CL-Q1AI2Xg_yx3FleKtEAnBbr-O2iTJkVUTMbEroG2feBZo7hJPqiCb1hJQZ0W6qTpa_krK_9w6_Wm8tSbd8yICXzqRWbCf-ZcKBrGUGyZT7ZTr2L6qaij4cfFFtub4ousW8KumSoRVq36aznOqRmRCpHlMmcN9uazsAyQZY8vaVudadvCwD/w400-h300/The%20Terminator026.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...a dead end! Have I mentioned how much this game likes dead ends? They're all over the place.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Looking around a bit more, I find...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLRG1wLZq25S4pmq6-y1e0TiTebKhNADvilf7b_2C2HT5XrFWKMjsfA7mvf3Gxmiof9qK8md7WmkncPFJFRrYGoaBNC_Ayvc1MkDjW0PIi81Tvtfm7Vt0Im9YLyPRIMKf8Mpf0Hl70Bilbfe2K8OkJjIXbTmBPFKoYPzNIcugwrhVi6s4EdRkgOMavEygK/s640/The%20Terminator028.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLRG1wLZq25S4pmq6-y1e0TiTebKhNADvilf7b_2C2HT5XrFWKMjsfA7mvf3Gxmiof9qK8md7WmkncPFJFRrYGoaBNC_Ayvc1MkDjW0PIi81Tvtfm7Vt0Im9YLyPRIMKf8Mpf0Hl70Bilbfe2K8OkJjIXbTmBPFKoYPzNIcugwrhVi6s4EdRkgOMavEygK/w400-h300/The%20Terminator028.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...the entrance to Tech Noir, which has like, nobody dancing and the music is all wrong. At least they got the name of the place right and it isn't "Tech Nior" or something.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBV8pHlBOGxTLuZTzI_BYELHeg8TsqHWqkMoCXcTx7DedzxLReTaypqoEg_SbjjM6XzPYEBOhIB_QUcwI6n8n9BuPTSYEtvqJrTwTY-OfLEvdTuqjXQs6BCMhmwqC2vH90ckihARkhMpTGgzkfeJi1MT6ac4yw0lBE25XWOT31WaNGDCj9Ec6MFGrs3ezG/s640/The%20Terminator032.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBV8pHlBOGxTLuZTzI_BYELHeg8TsqHWqkMoCXcTx7DedzxLReTaypqoEg_SbjjM6XzPYEBOhIB_QUcwI6n8n9BuPTSYEtvqJrTwTY-OfLEvdTuqjXQs6BCMhmwqC2vH90ckihARkhMpTGgzkfeJi1MT6ac4yw0lBE25XWOT31WaNGDCj9Ec6MFGrs3ezG/w400-h300/The%20Terminator032.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">In here you have to knock the Terminator off his feet and run past him. The problem is you still get hit for a huge amount of damage when you try to run past him when he's down. Hell, even jumping over his prone corpse doesn't work, you get hit and knocked back. After a minute or so I realized you could use that little step there to jump over him. So basically you gotta knock him down right by that step, then jump off of it to clear him. All of this to avoid tripping over a corpse!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqE6_Igx5xgBalmKCaiv2tAwLaBCLOux7WgyHaLpHgYxk8WKYskI-4UnyqKEEEVfRFDI7shT6xmOTGNT5XHfOYBQp03i7bL2wdrbySCaGjhfMf2fBeE4vNXS-JH4_NdMqg728Rbtv3Pjk0cONoaZG5V8Hhf983D7w56N3e6lx5lLZYr5iRsx11wxDFQvp6/s640/The%20Terminator035.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqE6_Igx5xgBalmKCaiv2tAwLaBCLOux7WgyHaLpHgYxk8WKYskI-4UnyqKEEEVfRFDI7shT6xmOTGNT5XHfOYBQp03i7bL2wdrbySCaGjhfMf2fBeE4vNXS-JH4_NdMqg728Rbtv3Pjk0cONoaZG5V8Hhf983D7w56N3e6lx5lLZYr5iRsx11wxDFQvp6/w400-h300/The%20Terminator035.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next, the Terminator and his 12-gauge shotgun takes on 30 cops. At least, in the movie.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In the <i>game</i> they're all working together to stomp Kyle Reese for some reason. They're REALLY serious about him stealing those pants!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5dG7wA16cN4ZzpPO19ChEFKIKbcUIMyZezmtWILp6KC14wRH6Nr6GmTOeCw1MQxqoUMxmDXiJME93LnwIC5qtIblH8e0Cg4jSIrg7iIB_if8Ibwdcrr898_tWIVFNCYmYEqwjI_eZ8zTqIyEXgrf8N5kdGrvCHyE-Y07GaY8gK9Mi1WnMWW-4nZt1Mwx/s640/The%20Terminator036.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ5dG7wA16cN4ZzpPO19ChEFKIKbcUIMyZezmtWILp6KC14wRH6Nr6GmTOeCw1MQxqoUMxmDXiJME93LnwIC5qtIblH8e0Cg4jSIrg7iIB_if8Ibwdcrr898_tWIVFNCYmYEqwjI_eZ8zTqIyEXgrf8N5kdGrvCHyE-Y07GaY8gK9Mi1WnMWW-4nZt1Mwx/w400-h300/The%20Terminator036.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The police station is overrun with molotov-throwing punks, and the funniest part is the cops aren't even trying to stop them either. So we have insane punks, the Terminator, and the cops all on the same side hunting Kyle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wJHL1BmbNqMBRPWcwY9wHhmcInHaYYRSQtzQT-IILQ9xHrWYsNocL1ExOq76EvKBSILg0wrC_btY_LZOnZkInVzf98PgsLZ4RZZfcjo7ZBXZlWEciL4I_WPnPDBYYt3Q0AztzYcDWCrhgc7GeJCigL_s6MtaHr4unfE5hkgd_t1UhVJDGolSclEaARmR/s640/The%20Terminator039.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wJHL1BmbNqMBRPWcwY9wHhmcInHaYYRSQtzQT-IILQ9xHrWYsNocL1ExOq76EvKBSILg0wrC_btY_LZOnZkInVzf98PgsLZ4RZZfcjo7ZBXZlWEciL4I_WPnPDBYYt3Q0AztzYcDWCrhgc7GeJCigL_s6MtaHr4unfE5hkgd_t1UhVJDGolSclEaARmR/w400-h300/The%20Terminator039.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next is another fight with the Terminator, and this time I don't have any steps to launch off of. The hell do I do?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl7ItcsGyzMd3VGW9R84VJbxUs8y0tqWvRYCvy4a796dx1ioIFHpey_NPLjVVQxSFvd0UrY9TdM8vUeUeIQ3Rr4GfvLEjhVp6KYBSfzlE2xh26TAXzyeSFekLBm8AFjseA87gfBsDzadOhOfUMuUW5NCzE9x7hbWOZQruH_JWztaOg40wmzJqBnYL5gFV/s640/The%20Terminator041.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVl7ItcsGyzMd3VGW9R84VJbxUs8y0tqWvRYCvy4a796dx1ioIFHpey_NPLjVVQxSFvd0UrY9TdM8vUeUeIQ3Rr4GfvLEjhVp6KYBSfzlE2xh26TAXzyeSFekLBm8AFjseA87gfBsDzadOhOfUMuUW5NCzE9x7hbWOZQruH_JWztaOg40wmzJqBnYL5gFV/w400-h300/The%20Terminator041.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I tried using this ladder to get around him. Can't jump off of it, but you can slide down at the right time to get knocked back in the correct direction, then sprint away. That one hit knocks off so much life that the regular enemies on the way out will finish you off, though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Turns out the right way to do this is to knock him down a few times, and every few knockdowns he'll lay there and blink, during which time you can run through the corpse without getting hit. You only have a second to do it so it has to be planned. What a bizarre game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid5iQ6rXNj89yiWopA4TslHMbwjsFXBWN3j5ifuh2CLq4GZ_nFbEY-UyInVBTG1maPGiOcUCX_A0mvEIWbr77HE9f4WF1JpjdJyiJ9TtxVtHXm1ucMtDutMNBznk55KGIj-7AuRpn1x8s-xzRxzrhbU71-ubjUYheVZYmUFVy921NWmw7rHSoj0Hu4afTT/s640/The%20Terminator042.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid5iQ6rXNj89yiWopA4TslHMbwjsFXBWN3j5ifuh2CLq4GZ_nFbEY-UyInVBTG1maPGiOcUCX_A0mvEIWbr77HE9f4WF1JpjdJyiJ9TtxVtHXm1ucMtDutMNBznk55KGIj-7AuRpn1x8s-xzRxzrhbU71-ubjUYheVZYmUFVy921NWmw7rHSoj0Hu4afTT/w400-h300/The%20Terminator042.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Time for the final level, mercifully. This one is the computer factory, with the endoskeleton stalking you. Cool idea for a level, but with this game's penchant for dead ends and not being able to jump over anything, my expectations are very low.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJa7DdTdjI0acf6wBnxb9JlYVs_QPUUlp8sCWW5ebND1a-LeDSPNc7l9hgKA4Reus6s-rZvNk0_WfH4_rZtoBmDtfHrh3f8LqknpWwzZIoxuWAJZqTW06ekjTJYnaegchMSkxlJEgX55zkAHzFqn3J2DqZv9xBzm5plkn50GxYMrus6y900PsyjYbEgAeo/s640/The%20Terminator043.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJa7DdTdjI0acf6wBnxb9JlYVs_QPUUlp8sCWW5ebND1a-LeDSPNc7l9hgKA4Reus6s-rZvNk0_WfH4_rZtoBmDtfHrh3f8LqknpWwzZIoxuWAJZqTW06ekjTJYnaegchMSkxlJEgX55zkAHzFqn3J2DqZv9xBzm5plkn50GxYMrus6y900PsyjYbEgAeo/w400-h300/The%20Terminator043.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is actually easier than the other levels because when you blast the endo enough times, he flies off the screen. He reappears quickly, but at least this way you can actually move through the level.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8ZyaWp_mXHcIF5vxlDLSbl1sjwk6MMti_TiW4ym6FnBO566DoTzGdoKeDmxyic_61tjRWklx9Yze8EuueEGcKlSQb4BzPcDF5yu2rTWBUQUTu6FvSwq9P3JbzGLaM8Ev7Pmi1pU_v_sYXqnmu7x8h1zad47lf-9LXLsdGaMp02kP-6zL5ZXjXUSG4LZY/s640/The%20Terminator044.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN8ZyaWp_mXHcIF5vxlDLSbl1sjwk6MMti_TiW4ym6FnBO566DoTzGdoKeDmxyic_61tjRWklx9Yze8EuueEGcKlSQb4BzPcDF5yu2rTWBUQUTu6FvSwq9P3JbzGLaM8Ev7Pmi1pU_v_sYXqnmu7x8h1zad47lf-9LXLsdGaMp02kP-6zL5ZXjXUSG4LZY/w400-h300/The%20Terminator044.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Knock him off the screen five times and he returns as just a torso, clawing along the floor. At this point he's no longer vulnerable to your shots, so you basically HAVE to run. It's possible to leap over him but it's like a 50/50 proposition and that's too much of a risk at this stage.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRt8645CtmLiaqT6OXUrIGeoanIG9HWmfN6z1kJTXXJrM-rK2lDdKMDxcucgCGhZUVxZwa_GsJqFKBfVx3UNNOLdcVm0z2d3bKrLD4SgiCinTlV8hRM2Jua6GRpLhoGCZfd0KaX3lLZ3No4MODNo401xQsCb-VKBdfgToE7trqQVQ9PM7fRZ5Ro2q8SpP/s640/The%20Terminator045.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDRt8645CtmLiaqT6OXUrIGeoanIG9HWmfN6z1kJTXXJrM-rK2lDdKMDxcucgCGhZUVxZwa_GsJqFKBfVx3UNNOLdcVm0z2d3bKrLD4SgiCinTlV8hRM2Jua6GRpLhoGCZfd0KaX3lLZ3No4MODNo401xQsCb-VKBdfgToE7trqQVQ9PM7fRZ5Ro2q8SpP/w400-h300/The%20Terminator045.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Get to the end and the half-endo gets crushed in the hydraulic press (by Kyle... Sarah is nowhere to be found). Now that's comedy!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZwDnX6weSWGjMUuTdX5MT6vEYccDUZzN3SsroMtX6NAspuPicsCX_9KSFuITXxtYsp3E8lzTkEFX5CZSYhMVah3j5Ov9z-xUtsTgsDWj3KXyMT4mlFjZQ9V6WJ6auFwGycFlmB9Or7YfFP1lhXo52svXVGLlvNUZ27jSML_u2ibjSoOhzb1DZ-CmzmTr/s640/The%20Terminator046.bmp"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnZwDnX6weSWGjMUuTdX5MT6vEYccDUZzN3SsroMtX6NAspuPicsCX_9KSFuITXxtYsp3E8lzTkEFX5CZSYhMVah3j5Ov9z-xUtsTgsDWj3KXyMT4mlFjZQ9V6WJ6auFwGycFlmB9Or7YfFP1lhXo52svXVGLlvNUZ27jSML_u2ibjSoOhzb1DZ-CmzmTr/w400-h300/The%20Terminator046.bmp" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kyle is somehow dead anyway, even though he was totally fine at the end there. He was even at full health.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">THE END.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">There's a SNES version of this game from about the same time, and it's terrible too. Except you shoot Stone Cold Steve Austins for half the game, that's hilarious. The big problem with this one was that the stages just went ON AND ON. Few people even got past the first stage, including me.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Anyway, the Genesis version... terrible game. I can't believe folks were saying it was one of the good Terminator games. There's nothing good here. It's better than the T1/T2 games on the NES/SNES at least, but that's about it. At least it's pretty tolerable with save states to avoid having to start over, and it legit took about 20 minutes. Even still, if one wants a retro Terminator game, stick with the Sega CD version.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2016/11/the-terminator-sega-cd-1993.html" target="_blank">The Sega CD version</a></div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-37537221469222731602024-02-18T22:57:00.004-05:002024-02-20T16:38:57.410-05:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#232 - 238)<p> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ExqrdRV613-o8fpSU7BOholsSnWzI6kxl6eDG8x9-aHB3lQasZi4JGRC4Vb0cIdMnbwBuQQU_-9uz5zXCZTbCANNy06P6UKvPDKh9U1Cb0fuPMgPTaHDdQGgRKSGo9XCLlVTY1iBuqyIEC_4kNRngE5US_Ng8RqC3vQijNAQaSMdpNKRhjOhTUWg21mY/s474/chris%20jericho%20list.jpg"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6ExqrdRV613-o8fpSU7BOholsSnWzI6kxl6eDG8x9-aHB3lQasZi4JGRC4Vb0cIdMnbwBuQQU_-9uz5zXCZTbCANNy06P6UKvPDKh9U1Cb0fuPMgPTaHDdQGgRKSGo9XCLlVTY1iBuqyIEC_4kNRngE5US_Ng8RqC3vQijNAQaSMdpNKRhjOhTUWg21mY/w558-h338/chris%20jericho%20list.jpg" width="558" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">The List continues with the entirety of 2005. Game #1004: ARM-BAR.</p><span><a></a></span><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjUW_Xdz8LnJO4WD4o_2wW460cUl9Xg-5dc0x9s113wq19SW6mY6rIPaBxGCyLmW3_VNV-fCRJHjVNepX2SOSebfganQ3eoIZBOd37k-2hDhYyOKEZmpZ-n2ZXdDGX-7S1za6CLTRk46oHQh_D0c_UQTH9ZtSx59Vvb31Tq_2E-0eNAKEk6LQsx7ijACd/s520/drakengard-screenshot-01.jpg"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvjUW_Xdz8LnJO4WD4o_2wW460cUl9Xg-5dc0x9s113wq19SW6mY6rIPaBxGCyLmW3_VNV-fCRJHjVNepX2SOSebfganQ3eoIZBOd37k-2hDhYyOKEZmpZ-n2ZXdDGX-7S1za6CLTRk46oHQh_D0c_UQTH9ZtSx59Vvb31Tq_2E-0eNAKEk6LQsx7ijACd/w400-h299/drakengard-screenshot-01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#232 Drakengard (Playstation 2) – Winter 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">The only console game I beat in Q1 2005 (was pretty busy, and also had some <i>EQ</i> going on in that timeframe with my return / new monk). This was an interesting game where you basically just slash your way through an army of enemy troops. There are also some great stages where you fly around on a dragon and launch fireballs at enemy dragoons. Squaresoft kinda outdid themselves here in a low key way because this isn't like any of their other games at the time.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxZx2EF_JUeJ-CB7o09RCOZzUpZ_TjASuanrgd9vTHibt-r1A2rvRTZr7yb-94h8S0eR3WiuoxO5apHlyrEzitIxleLmVu_NJ0wrm75LhqLJh4eleHHR_-ZmjuycXwl3efNc5lRbJyA2zKWvz3JqfVNm_eBg9_frfUHVpdW0di0xpStPvUhxtP3OmB52I/s640/Drakengard_(PS2)_30.jpg"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidxZx2EF_JUeJ-CB7o09RCOZzUpZ_TjASuanrgd9vTHibt-r1A2rvRTZr7yb-94h8S0eR3WiuoxO5apHlyrEzitIxleLmVu_NJ0wrm75LhqLJh4eleHHR_-ZmjuycXwl3efNc5lRbJyA2zKWvz3JqfVNm_eBg9_frfUHVpdW0di0xpStPvUhxtP3OmB52I/w400-h319/Drakengard_(PS2)_30.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The soundtrack of the game was also a solid one, even if a lot of the tracks are kind of droning in retrospect. I listened to this soundtrack a lot while playing <i>EQ</i>, specifically the Muramite war expansions. And it fit amazingly well, I gotta say. Not gonna link them though, because like I said, they're droning, and I don't think I can capture here how well they actually worked with this game and the other game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Note: In Japan this game was called <i>Drag-On Dragoon</i>. Which is weird because it doesn't have any dragoons dragging on.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Playing <i>EQ</i> with this game's music. Matter of fact at the end of this post I'm gonna link a few of the game's tracks that I remember going with as droning BGM for my other endeavor.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7g-OFNFXgW-57w5S0hJ_A-HHqWGuUdWPFMvO8DIGs0o97ZB0kjQJKrhyphenhyphenEdiZoRsv7gcJT9lZ1CCYeP71V4Uqy8RHC39jA6_8cShMEvZrXMRCwfJiTuDrhAtaHM8oOu03hn0Du27cqzo5HLAd4ovBhdQgEcIwk5znR0FdUUVSOOAeOuMjGtqc1NR-PXI7/s640/the%20new%20tetris.jpg"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl7g-OFNFXgW-57w5S0hJ_A-HHqWGuUdWPFMvO8DIGs0o97ZB0kjQJKrhyphenhyphenEdiZoRsv7gcJT9lZ1CCYeP71V4Uqy8RHC39jA6_8cShMEvZrXMRCwfJiTuDrhAtaHM8oOu03hn0Du27cqzo5HLAd4ovBhdQgEcIwk5znR0FdUUVSOOAeOuMjGtqc1NR-PXI7/w400-h300/the%20new%20tetris.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Honorable Mention: The New Tetris<i> </i>(N64)</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was a fun thing I played some of at this girl's house a few times. Didn't beat the game though. I particularly loved the soundtrack. Mostly remember the game because... I was actually spending time at girlses houses!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yhPXqtFf4AQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="yhPXqtFf4AQ"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhPXqtFf4AQ" target="_blank">Favorite Tune: Morocco.</a> Listened to this soundtrack quite a bit on a CD player while walking around various blizzards and other inclement weather (to girls houses) because I didn't have any other way to get around at the time.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxw3qHhITtKQCdZHepcW-y2Rcs_OizbZEo6CbPgdO-KOotYEB4gf_tIfeVTtK3SGV3na7z2ZARYuX_mswgI9BeRIAEC6l7VGAsziNdjCPq7wjD0ci3s45b6TaHoaNK5cT71NnC0LmBhto1tybfdy_7qh3X4vMO5ylQYde_GkkBqA2k5VrMrl8Z80N0hXa/s160/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%201_19.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxw3qHhITtKQCdZHepcW-y2Rcs_OizbZEo6CbPgdO-KOotYEB4gf_tIfeVTtK3SGV3na7z2ZARYuX_mswgI9BeRIAEC6l7VGAsziNdjCPq7wjD0ci3s45b6TaHoaNK5cT71NnC0LmBhto1tybfdy_7qh3X4vMO5ylQYde_GkkBqA2k5VrMrl8Z80N0hXa/w400-h360/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%201_19.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#233 Mega Man Xtreme (Game Boy Color) – Spring 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">A decent scaled-down game that combines elements of <i>Mega Man X </i>and <i>Mega Man X2</i>. There isn't really anything bad about this, but it isn't great either. The most interesting thing about it is bringing weapons from one game into stages from another. It's a cool game that there really isn't much reason to play except to be a series completionist.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXh_uH_cMLbUSN3KwDYTMbGsWLLzSPjICXJj1YMYU1LZrPJX3EZoJWedvMKtCa5x9FZ2kSVrj5F-F6qZ9uuM9MS_EmmqM9s3zk0yZ51JveA6zW4KZjmLjtX-lfKyZDjtyehwtZ_WMXEiYPTXDVeitFQe4T0Ons3OF_fEHUyhmix9uCBhqX8uGP-9xdc82C/s160/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%201_11.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXh_uH_cMLbUSN3KwDYTMbGsWLLzSPjICXJj1YMYU1LZrPJX3EZoJWedvMKtCa5x9FZ2kSVrj5F-F6qZ9uuM9MS_EmmqM9s3zk0yZ51JveA6zW4KZjmLjtX-lfKyZDjtyehwtZ_WMXEiYPTXDVeitFQe4T0Ons3OF_fEHUyhmix9uCBhqX8uGP-9xdc82C/w400-h360/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%201_11.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Note: This game has four bosses from <i>X</i> and four from <i>X2</i>. The next one has two from each, and four from <i>X3</i>. Which means they left 2, 2, and 4 bosses respectively out of this portable series entirely, which would have been perfect for a <i>Mega Man Xtreme 3</i>. However, none ever existed.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2022/12/mega-man-xtreme-game-boy-color-2000.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5MyrD5Dna9IhYO7J3lOCun0w7YuzJ43KSSA2HWvfUALL6j98nBYo6ZkF2rX1w9RUHf9WNt_TAhrA5Z3KmgPBAufWO7oS97DvrLd9RrJkKd52V253MY0deP-BiFr0m2Xb46HNiQDISS3bHcBT741OUD46e67Xgy1yFQ3HfZPg-VmerJaMfDaAEA4AIOf-/s160/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%202_52.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC5MyrD5Dna9IhYO7J3lOCun0w7YuzJ43KSSA2HWvfUALL6j98nBYo6ZkF2rX1w9RUHf9WNt_TAhrA5Z3KmgPBAufWO7oS97DvrLd9RrJkKd52V253MY0deP-BiFr0m2Xb46HNiQDISS3bHcBT741OUD46e67Xgy1yFQ3HfZPg-VmerJaMfDaAEA4AIOf-/w400-h360/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%202_52.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#234 Mega Man Xtreme 2 (Game Boy Color) – Spring 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">Another decent game that combines elements of <i>MMX2</i> and <i>MMX3</i>. Again there isn't really anything bad about this one. Not much reason to go back to it when the console versions of those games are around, though. The small screen resolution can be difficult to deal with. I imagine in the year 2001 or so when these games were current and the best the X-series got in a portable sense, they had a lot more reason to exist.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNea5wOKUtD5t4ItFp4N8_iXBjHoRiSOYeSREFf6mOOI1YautkgmwVd8ysUjz2TpN1_19C3S3XPyLSOTXHCiEsPrxgRKaaXPCNGPbu77iFCEexM-xB3Bm7oeiagSzpfEvFW148TZ6QyzgS0U8iWdZG4y8EhkSbKy31JvqMjh9e2oKDyJ-E5Bise5R4g94/s160/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%202_21.png"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbNea5wOKUtD5t4ItFp4N8_iXBjHoRiSOYeSREFf6mOOI1YautkgmwVd8ysUjz2TpN1_19C3S3XPyLSOTXHCiEsPrxgRKaaXPCNGPbu77iFCEexM-xB3Bm7oeiagSzpfEvFW148TZ6QyzgS0U8iWdZG4y8EhkSbKy31JvqMjh9e2oKDyJ-E5Bise5R4g94/w400-h360/Mega%20Man%20Xtreme%202_21.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This game is a significant improvement on the first due to playable Zero being added, and a third would have been rad, but still, they're squished portable X games and we can do better. It also has a huge issue: Literally all of the new content they added to this game is terrible. Mostly stage hazards that instakill you. Flame Mammoth's stage is particularly obnoxious, with insta-death fireballs everywhere. Really not sure what they were thinking, because <i>Mega Man X</i> handed them perfect levels and they messed them up. Subtraction by addition.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2022/12/mega-man-xtreme-2-game-boy-color-2001.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQetfzD0MH9tK7-dPY3K8uuHJ_qYnTydcvMIH2p5LUEDbf56p_huFm3DUiG5h_UP6IiNnwyjGQtVEB6uWALItXklbnfdzjR2-1pp02h8XjqlQ5dAHrn5ctz-VqzEkAJGVr_Iygj8vPVjiCEQivdP6S_obPYpJzhf-1pG3FRPjMkIg-fZvuDx9gPEb9g8Y/s474/mmx7.jpg"><img border="0" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQetfzD0MH9tK7-dPY3K8uuHJ_qYnTydcvMIH2p5LUEDbf56p_huFm3DUiG5h_UP6IiNnwyjGQtVEB6uWALItXklbnfdzjR2-1pp02h8XjqlQ5dAHrn5ctz-VqzEkAJGVr_Iygj8vPVjiCEQivdP6S_obPYpJzhf-1pG3FRPjMkIg-fZvuDx9gPEb9g8Y/w400-h269/mmx7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Dishonorable Mention: Mega Man X7</p><p style="text-align: center;">I tried to get into this game a couple times in 2004 and 2005 but it was just so bad. Certainly didn't beat the game. Wanted to get it done for series completion sake but I just couldn't.<i> </i>The ride-chaser type levels were the main thing that warded me off. So did pretty much everything else though. I'll get into this more whenever I get to where I actually finished it.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejxe7kTX1aDtn1fDf6EAK-ypwMCyZO2qOaoPIavWAH-2m7RHXXyCZ7rGJczImlwtr1K-E97KmjbfiacpGNrhLqmB4R-Q_s0RP7cQOFyDq4Y_QL07L8shdmd8NLMBCHZGF4j28lrfN4BB1EN0h4Shu_XFPKxNPtNh9-rAJPqXmUJC8GMuA3l0Oc5RMrt0B/s256/Super%20Star%20Wars%2020.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejxe7kTX1aDtn1fDf6EAK-ypwMCyZO2qOaoPIavWAH-2m7RHXXyCZ7rGJczImlwtr1K-E97KmjbfiacpGNrhLqmB4R-Q_s0RP7cQOFyDq4Y_QL07L8shdmd8NLMBCHZGF4j28lrfN4BB1EN0h4Shu_XFPKxNPtNh9-rAJPqXmUJC8GMuA3l0Oc5RMrt0B/w400-h348/Super%20Star%20Wars%2020.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#235 Super Star Wars (Super NES) – Spring 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">In the runup to<i> Revenge of the Sith</i> I was pretty into Star Wars, and went back and played the SNES trio. Now these are some damn good games...if you can get anywhere with them, because they went waaaaay over the top with the difficulty. They go beyond a fun challenging experience and into the realm of frustrating, and often there just isn't much you can do about it (they like swarming you with enemies, and putting lengthy pits everywhere in the levels). I don't think there's any real way around the difficulty or any tools you can use to mitigate it.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2odLhs4Ko7bmtOskRkAdeSHePgu3qI8SfVrTHZ-7gCHiwWMzgWhsSJaAMmjKmINb3FaeAq4M1wXX6g8g8W8AjYAS1-vOYKFZYlFH9g_fM-hxWJkYFsQn7ytL_0WnFkpRtNIs84GSpT4GePNEhVwit-VJH79GlF90S7033AyB6IWtfrfdxYqRXKbSC8_P/s256/Super%20Star%20Wars%2039.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2odLhs4Ko7bmtOskRkAdeSHePgu3qI8SfVrTHZ-7gCHiwWMzgWhsSJaAMmjKmINb3FaeAq4M1wXX6g8g8W8AjYAS1-vOYKFZYlFH9g_fM-hxWJkYFsQn7ytL_0WnFkpRtNIs84GSpT4GePNEhVwit-VJH79GlF90S7033AyB6IWtfrfdxYqRXKbSC8_P/w400-h348/Super%20Star%20Wars%2039.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">All of that said, this game was a ton of fun to play through, and kinda expands the movie lore with the interesting new areas and bosses that they included. You've got Mode-7 shooter stages and on-foot platforming stages, and they really did a good job recreating the movie here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Its appearance in an early issue of Nintendo Power was actually the thing that got me into Star Wars in the early 1990's, something I hadn't paid much attention to before that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHvcIyEi3bNWHyi4vWjtzfwGbRAYOyQa9qiKCjdcVJLf5ZMlRRsc_TTK7_yqYsikLQrBnkgU0BE6Pr6H23PhmPYszrCDOLJULVW4n_3iZ2sDBRGgW9Zi7nOCRL8EvOcyu3dwRHeNn8IjO9yvjEXpZYAJVt9DVQb1aqURFAJ-kYaTQTxpq9GAtdE56YZO5/s256/Super%20Star%20Wars%2029.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHvcIyEi3bNWHyi4vWjtzfwGbRAYOyQa9qiKCjdcVJLf5ZMlRRsc_TTK7_yqYsikLQrBnkgU0BE6Pr6H23PhmPYszrCDOLJULVW4n_3iZ2sDBRGgW9Zi7nOCRL8EvOcyu3dwRHeNn8IjO9yvjEXpZYAJVt9DVQb1aqURFAJ-kYaTQTxpq9GAtdE56YZO5/w400-h348/Super%20Star%20Wars%2029.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Boss: The one in the Mos Eisley Cantina, the big blue long-necked guy. In the movie, that thing was just a hologram in someone's battle chess game, and this game went ahead and made it a full-on boss.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/12/super-star-wars-super-nes-1992.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSRi4SU9c8I8_HcabGx8VsD7FLS4epw0tiCed35-EAAJIUTHavKB2zYBE6ZHDoyurGU2p2y2jDUxH_dDq1hHlq8dIIe3Yksv1pjDWGDI3Y-j0W7X27okkalai9uJgNzt80z0dlVdFg1myHotnuqUxS7w5XpWZSivVIegh1o5D_6PpanEkPzoywpyNjSS_-/s256/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2009.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSRi4SU9c8I8_HcabGx8VsD7FLS4epw0tiCed35-EAAJIUTHavKB2zYBE6ZHDoyurGU2p2y2jDUxH_dDq1hHlq8dIIe3Yksv1pjDWGDI3Y-j0W7X27okkalai9uJgNzt80z0dlVdFg1myHotnuqUxS7w5XpWZSivVIegh1o5D_6PpanEkPzoywpyNjSS_-/w400-h348/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2009.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#236 Super Empire Strikes Back (Super NES) – Spring 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">My favorite of the 3, due to it being covered in my first subscribed issue of Nintendo Power, Volume 53. Also might objectively be the best game. This one has some fantastic gameplay and level designs, and it seemed to me like it wasn't quite as balls-out difficult as the other two. Also liked that the game was divided into 3 acts that were very different from one another: Hoth, Dagobah, Bespin. The Hoth section was too long and the Dagobah section was too short, but other than that, a good thing to run. Lots of interesting (and really well-drawn spritewise) bosses in this game, and just a great time across the board. Again you've got a bunch of Mode-7 flight stages (including the Hoth snow battle) in addition to all the regular platforming stages. Super game here.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPWVgYL7Z9xoV20Wbaa469afigYtvwoQZMq0xclcI_Yty8fIDjKTpakCAPrd-EsEa9whbekjUdLt8Sy6eRvkTZbTfWOkPAbracSeZmJqC-fX_mnajXrywwZc341OG-443gg0SAs9lyGU4TS-he7L4AxaZ_XwiUPRFnF-4q30o8RvALkAiQPubtbQkw7wZ/s256/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2060.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPWVgYL7Z9xoV20Wbaa469afigYtvwoQZMq0xclcI_Yty8fIDjKTpakCAPrd-EsEa9whbekjUdLt8Sy6eRvkTZbTfWOkPAbracSeZmJqC-fX_mnajXrywwZc341OG-443gg0SAs9lyGU4TS-he7L4AxaZ_XwiUPRFnF-4q30o8RvALkAiQPubtbQkw7wZ/w400-h348/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2060.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Boss: There are too many of 'em. These games managed to mine boss fights out of <i>everything</i> in this movie trilogy.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQXvXTw_PMh1HKhHRrFHi46pnC-PVl1TDYnvZwg1lYBhZaPIZ2eownSneUkPiBOZYOzXIYUs27y2k9PRP-vgAA6QHFciufdMjSrKCtf3_aUO2rbX2rkCyJigyNVWJ40PIBHXjgthE_uiSj48ituDy651yTl4sRxfRIUSNwNoKvUlu8KOcUQnNeqq7kwMq/s256/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2026.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQXvXTw_PMh1HKhHRrFHi46pnC-PVl1TDYnvZwg1lYBhZaPIZ2eownSneUkPiBOZYOzXIYUs27y2k9PRP-vgAA6QHFciufdMjSrKCtf3_aUO2rbX2rkCyJigyNVWJ40PIBHXjgthE_uiSj48ituDy651yTl4sRxfRIUSNwNoKvUlu8KOcUQnNeqq7kwMq/w400-h348/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2026.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I like the fight with the AT-ST on foot in the Hoth hangar, but I gotta say there are a ton of great boss fights here that totally mine everything they can out of the movie.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmRvydZ7pMchBCKeEciNJ3_ujHH5gozW8tEu23NtE2PKgozgJ75QLqCAOUKwURCO5Lk7H3z9kfvEnBz7EbikaQEQbHGYLL3HQVXHTukXCwpCAq1Kjr5eQiJBAwtX6kGrVD5G1usj6xv_R_aEVdFUfgXwOXm-FCvBaJJubvrTfSHy1EYS49ctAj0-tZTww/s256/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2014.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTmRvydZ7pMchBCKeEciNJ3_ujHH5gozW8tEu23NtE2PKgozgJ75QLqCAOUKwURCO5Lk7H3z9kfvEnBz7EbikaQEQbHGYLL3HQVXHTukXCwpCAq1Kjr5eQiJBAwtX6kGrVD5G1usj6xv_R_aEVdFUfgXwOXm-FCvBaJJubvrTfSHy1EYS49ctAj0-tZTww/w400-h348/Super%20Empire%20Strikes%20Back%2014.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This giant probe droid was also a cool idea for a boss. You can gun these things down easily from the air, but on foot? That's a different story.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/12/super-empire-strikes-back-super-nes-1993.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCyC_R69F88fqclxGjvCiQyblMDboD6PaZwzhIGh96Bn_J7vKuABqGrzOqeqxPI7OxV_-BTOnJRntoB5xvSGDnpWA6qyTsHJnw4uPCVJ5uVN0j3nTGKWIc75Dsh4W_8rQPc_lluW4xlfezYgc9kH1rQC6dRiMuMz2NKMUUKenr5r3ciS30Nm6WMRlNA_0H/s479/Super%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%2035.jpg"><img border="0" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCyC_R69F88fqclxGjvCiQyblMDboD6PaZwzhIGh96Bn_J7vKuABqGrzOqeqxPI7OxV_-BTOnJRntoB5xvSGDnpWA6qyTsHJnw4uPCVJ5uVN0j3nTGKWIc75Dsh4W_8rQPc_lluW4xlfezYgc9kH1rQC6dRiMuMz2NKMUUKenr5r3ciS30Nm6WMRlNA_0H/w400-h349/Super%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%2035.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#237 Super Return of the Jedi (Super NES) – Spring 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">This one I got the least out of, for sure. It starts with a Mode-7 jet bike level that I found really frustrating and tedious to get through; not the best start at all. Matter of fact, ten years earlier when the game came out, I tried it in the local game store and actually balked at renting it because the first level kept killing me. Despite being excited about it when I popped it into the system, fast-forward 15 minutes and I was ready to pick something else. Wasn't until a decade later when I played the 3 games that I got through this one.</p><p style="text-align: center;">It's actually a good game and plays just as well as the others. Luke is the most formidable that he is in any of the trilogy (as he should be) and starts with his lightsaber and all his force powers (things you got halfway through the first and second games, respectively). Also the saber is green now which is rad.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj286nDemjPrjCoI1uwY4rcM1nxImstelC57fTevxbNFnI_ZVgBGuzlQTuTHlAWHndSMKMyR5JwDpTNozhL488NZLv6u6M-shOPrjxvuEQN7l4JnPXH5lNv_W6cWVidho6XgH6f4o23rjj1g5XYWs3HvRV49o9N-hRXVLc-d1z1eC02Gu58w4KQ-BICr-Q-/s256/Super%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%2006.jpg"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj286nDemjPrjCoI1uwY4rcM1nxImstelC57fTevxbNFnI_ZVgBGuzlQTuTHlAWHndSMKMyR5JwDpTNozhL488NZLv6u6M-shOPrjxvuEQN7l4JnPXH5lNv_W6cWVidho6XgH6f4o23rjj1g5XYWs3HvRV49o9N-hRXVLc-d1z1eC02Gu58w4KQ-BICr-Q-/w400-h348/Super%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%2006.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: That damn intro level. Whose idea was this? I did have to use states to get through this trilogy, if you're wondering, Didn't abuse them though, just did what I had to do.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNK6aoy7oq7eNMhWMMsAxgwsy0s9SPBgAx7bA7bSQSvWjp1JI2jFGKc6P5w7_RPg3KtqOMJyeVGLSkkq011NqIYrfSb_wHGZ8KWEAT6aTUyetnn-BwAdMbPZUCKM8-5k86ABR0gf63DcqSHLAoLTYT_fLFhvjVDf8F62Xoz3_aHrkrCiWn6LBMjORGX_n/s480/Super%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%2037.jpg"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJNK6aoy7oq7eNMhWMMsAxgwsy0s9SPBgAx7bA7bSQSvWjp1JI2jFGKc6P5w7_RPg3KtqOMJyeVGLSkkq011NqIYrfSb_wHGZ8KWEAT6aTUyetnn-BwAdMbPZUCKM8-5k86ABR0gf63DcqSHLAoLTYT_fLFhvjVDf8F62Xoz3_aHrkrCiWn6LBMjORGX_n/w400-h343/Super%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%2037.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Coolest Part: The final levels where you fly around the Death Star. This game has some really good Mode-7 levels that make up for some of its other deficiencies. I think I like it the least of the trilogy but it's still a very good game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/12/super-return-of-jedi-super-nes-1994.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LLQ0H_qKuy3raETDSY5Rmzag1OmxBzxXIN3qimrckOQ2PcGWsFYSdJzLNL3kVnZDy8n2Oxkg8s3x45Yki5ggI0UtBDOvEWeTjp8NQvAe2peMVMbdKD6swTIPL5w_8ZTomiAO5CJR_4tEZWNfb6kPYX-WaiF-cqzryH934eAr0y_w-8Ve64TRt1nlToBA/s3840/anubis_zone_of_the_enders__mars-3836314.jpg"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LLQ0H_qKuy3raETDSY5Rmzag1OmxBzxXIN3qimrckOQ2PcGWsFYSdJzLNL3kVnZDy8n2Oxkg8s3x45Yki5ggI0UtBDOvEWeTjp8NQvAe2peMVMbdKD6swTIPL5w_8ZTomiAO5CJR_4tEZWNfb6kPYX-WaiF-cqzryH934eAr0y_w-8Ve64TRt1nlToBA/w512-h288/anubis_zone_of_the_enders__mars-3836314.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#238 Zone of the Enders: The Second Runner (Playstation 2) – Fall 2005</p><p style="text-align: center;">Took the first game's foundation of atmospheric Evangelionesque worldbuilding and gameplay, and built on it. This one was awesome and a real experience at the time. The environments and enemies were much more varied than the first game and it had you going to a bunch of different worlds. This game is also completely gorgeous from start to end. There are a lot more mech vs mech battles in this game with you facing a variety of interesting antagonists (as opposed to the first game which was mostly fights with cut and paste fodder enemies).</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgT-rdtNTXRsn04eeE5d_UErLOJsOJyuBPnZr1QRgsC37IQe9Rscq4-XW4DUN4eO1a86la5l0VMeg7YeuikDTplhUsLhT3iUMuWptKShy6OP8aNpFFqxtbVo7bCnIgPvAY_lNArQpFk7HrgLbQwQwebrDxylbxcqtJtPq0iHwgnFs340GtF90kUuR8dmCP/s2048/zone-of-the-enders-remake-5.jpg"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgT-rdtNTXRsn04eeE5d_UErLOJsOJyuBPnZr1QRgsC37IQe9Rscq4-XW4DUN4eO1a86la5l0VMeg7YeuikDTplhUsLhT3iUMuWptKShy6OP8aNpFFqxtbVo7bCnIgPvAY_lNArQpFk7HrgLbQwQwebrDxylbxcqtJtPq0iHwgnFs340GtF90kUuR8dmCP/w472-h265/zone-of-the-enders-remake-5.jpg" width="472" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Like the game before this, it has kind of a crummy first level that might ward people off. Get past that and you're in for a treat. The only real bad thing about this game is that it ends fairly quickly. It probably looks pretty antiquated on an actual PS2 nowadays, but there's an HD collection for PS3 that at least makes it a bit more decent. This is something that could use a full-on PS5 remake, maybe even a <i>ZoE3</i>. Probably not getting that though. I wish I had more to say about this one.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Now, some <i>Drakengard</i> tunes I associate more with <i>EQ</i> than the actual game they're from:</p><div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/ZaIVROCirvw?si=KG1pxuSnA4FvTofE" target="_blank">A light, airy travel theme for flight. </a>Also a good <i>EQ</i> travel theme, which is mainly where I listened to it.</p><div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD0hnkLx_S8" target="_blank">Kind of an <i>Ogre Battle</i> ish theme here and a good indication that we're playing something special.</a> Kind of funny that <i>Drakengard</i> is the game I do a bunch of music links and not any of the incredible soundtracks of previous years like <i>Chrono Cross</i> and <i>Vagrant Story</i>.</p><div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/RZwFAaWlPVk?si=vd3qvaT-1f5XlzeJ" target="_blank">A "castle under attack" theme</a> that made more sense in <i>Everquest</i>'s Wall of Slaughter, where Muramites were overrunning the defenses of Earthrealm.</p><div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/QGT57SYd3Bk?si=Nl6X2AAFvqLce4_9" target="_blank">Same situation here. I mentioned the music was droning, it's less obvious when you're grinding EXP.</a> The music in this game has a certain chaos to it. Fun Fact, this one contains parts of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring"</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/yRkAjlsec90?si=m1UAzw5uh2JeDoK8" target="_blank">My personal favorite tune from the game</a>, and a more victorious track, like winning is within sight. Well, it's droning for a while, but the real prize here is about two thirds of the way through the track. That part is pretty incredible and I wish that were its own entire track. That's what I associate with this game and flying on dragon-back.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-76806379858422831132024-02-17T00:25:00.004-05:002024-02-17T20:23:20.829-05:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#214 - 231)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdvs02mSVjsRYlRPXYTRWt_-dNQ6G7BX4lceCWKlicANT3uWYuQye1FOh48mjLB5u6rUhUC-cDvB7c3f48ri3CdBZOiE1j7CChkYidfiOc_qnEx7K-17jJyekkyk3fbV8zSDlb3zBfI8Ddk-0ptn3KVp9SmuJTRqou0Ov-_0hY_dYl0g-TElVnrUNHeub/s750/final%20fantasy%20x-2%20yuna.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRdvs02mSVjsRYlRPXYTRWt_-dNQ6G7BX4lceCWKlicANT3uWYuQye1FOh48mjLB5u6rUhUC-cDvB7c3f48ri3CdBZOiE1j7CChkYidfiOc_qnEx7K-17jJyekkyk3fbV8zSDlb3zBfI8Ddk-0ptn3KVp9SmuJTRqou0Ov-_0hY_dYl0g-TElVnrUNHeub/w310-h467/final%20fantasy%20x-2%20yuna.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#214 Final Fantasy X-2 (Playstation 2) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Today I'm looking at 2004 which was characterized by the Zelda Crusade I went on. But first! A sequel I was pleasantly surprised by and spent most of the Spring playing, just like I had with <i>FFX</i> two years earlier. This game makes me think of Spring more than any other game. It's such a fun, lively game, with a peppy soundtrack and all kinds of wondrous locales to explore.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtk2dUVBPAmRfiLHkCVXVQXdXNrCG6xc__MrUz4okYUylsRVc8JhC-1kNMiHTmVqnGj0RTqbU9HPeqMPwWh4z6s17c5tVM9l5I6Lj7o0ENt7XbiyA6a19mmZQG8aM9o1Fspm367Vt7nubQHugosI-FyGOY2aswNIc_DHWvC9xvAgby_0StKQAKRJeMDEj/s1600/final%20fantasy%20x-2%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTtk2dUVBPAmRfiLHkCVXVQXdXNrCG6xc__MrUz4okYUylsRVc8JhC-1kNMiHTmVqnGj0RTqbU9HPeqMPwWh4z6s17c5tVM9l5I6Lj7o0ENt7XbiyA6a19mmZQG8aM9o1Fspm367Vt7nubQHugosI-FyGOY2aswNIc_DHWvC9xvAgby_0StKQAKRJeMDEj/w414-h233/final%20fantasy%20x-2%202.jpg" width="414" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;">Plot here is basically Yuna trying to reunite with Tidus so they can be together, and battling various menaces along the way. It isn't the most serious game out there, but it has its moments and is actually capable of drawing out some emotion late in the game with the ballad of Lenne and Shuyin.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I like that it brings back the class system after a 5-game absence in the main series. You can change classes on the fly in this game and there are about a zillion abilities to learn. The only downside is that a lot of the classes aren't very good / not worth the time to master, so you'll find yourself sticking with the same few classes on replays. Dark Knight and Alchemist are both way OP, for example. Alchemist is missable, which is kinda messed up considering it's the best healing class in the game. After the midway point, two leveled-up DKs and one leveled-up Alchemist pretty much runs over most of the remainder of the game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDhlpPUU6F6nI9s6PNhKqi8cPhLcvIkD1NUGOTb30mb_BvpVPq37MfYMgLywgt9Z8Vg7IrF3QAI5BdArfO2GDb-HyX6cekYxp2M8upa9WdS1u0FP_32iZ-ahmtB_ojJfoHp8fqz6hnC6efC2quNKqxbZOM6w6ff2Wwjvq6soslsefHMvz9gBaJPqVuCbf/s473/ffx2%20songstress%20yuna.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="152" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDhlpPUU6F6nI9s6PNhKqi8cPhLcvIkD1NUGOTb30mb_BvpVPq37MfYMgLywgt9Z8Vg7IrF3QAI5BdArfO2GDb-HyX6cekYxp2M8upa9WdS1u0FP_32iZ-ahmtB_ojJfoHp8fqz6hnC6efC2quNKqxbZOM6w6ff2Wwjvq6soslsefHMvz9gBaJPqVuCbf/w150-h467/ffx2%20songstress%20yuna.png" width="150" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Class: Songstress. I mean, the class isn't particularly good (I'm sure someone out there has mastered it and figured out how to make it good) but it sure is hot. The game is basically "play dress-up with hot women" which is a fun evolution of the FF class system.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Perplexing Thing: There were two commercials for this game. One of them had pop music and made it look like a silly romp. Did nothing to make me want to check it out. Then the second commercial was set to "Thousand Words" and showed some of the game's most dramatic moments. I was instantly sold. Who even greenlit the first one? Well, it might have tapped some of the youth demographic (no relation to the Youth League).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXBKhMmxLZDSJhX9tlqlmbslPCvSulNWb3pQQwT_QEO8OjIVcMN9HJIC-O7_h42tZ_WBrmaJ_9osgFih3PrN6PEZxDWVINmnCNT-JldXnvxDluZFLXuK0dYImh5qyRNbNHUY4qmL6RcQypTmGCObMnBhHbeBUPxWdLq29QUuxkRStlxy0o_5Qt6A9ZKR8/s474/ffx-2%20trema.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXBKhMmxLZDSJhX9tlqlmbslPCvSulNWb3pQQwT_QEO8OjIVcMN9HJIC-O7_h42tZ_WBrmaJ_9osgFih3PrN6PEZxDWVINmnCNT-JldXnvxDluZFLXuK0dYImh5qyRNbNHUY4qmL6RcQypTmGCObMnBhHbeBUPxWdLq29QUuxkRStlxy0o_5Qt6A9ZKR8/w347-h260/ffx-2%20trema.jpg" width="347" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: The optional postgame bosses in Via Infinito. Especially the very last one, Trema. I only won that fight by endlessly using that one trick that made the gun spam do excessive damage. They removed that for the HD version so I legit have no idea how I'd be able to win this again in that version. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I think I was level 99 and maxed-out and still got utterly dominated by that fight even with the gun spam glitch, still took a few tries to get the RNG I needed to kill him before he killed the party. Him being a bland ancient dude who isn't particularly fun to fight made it even lamer. How was he able to attack like 5x for every round my heroes got, anyway? He looks like he's going to keel over at any moment. Am I old-shaming? Not really, even though old-shaming seems to be all the rage as of late. No, I just think this fight kinda sucks, and you have to do it for 100%.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iMSzCHTuzZI" width="320" youtube-src-id="iMSzCHTuzZI"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Probably Mi'ihen Highroad. I'm sure the game has much better tunes and probably a bunch of them. This is what comes to mind when I think of the game though, a light airy springtime jaunt of a theme that reminds you of better days. Funny thing is, in this timeframe the "better days" for me were the 90's, but now the "better days" are, well, 2004 and the 2000's. Maybe someday THIS will be the "better days"? Yeah I kinda doubt it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhoy-lBuBihyphenhyphent04WwBN-zF8rdJebLYWMfW2HgMjBSDNBIRey6NFtLihoZVNbJS1qdUIZtdmUiFUaWpt_jy_SQW1WyIURFHoFiVuGVOkz1b8zVfR55b1cuAIUYYLyxS5SNuicCTLycHGCxQ5bEmTGVynQ3bGHiqT-9RkjFE6MqbzJ3C5csP_WOMEde1NFq/s1035/dragon%20quest%207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRhoy-lBuBihyphenhyphent04WwBN-zF8rdJebLYWMfW2HgMjBSDNBIRey6NFtLihoZVNbJS1qdUIZtdmUiFUaWpt_jy_SQW1WyIURFHoFiVuGVOkz1b8zVfR55b1cuAIUYYLyxS5SNuicCTLycHGCxQ5bEmTGVynQ3bGHiqT-9RkjFE6MqbzJ3C5csP_WOMEde1NFq/s320/dragon%20quest%207.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Honorable Mention: Dragon Quest VII - Early 2002, Late 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was actually late 2003 and it slipped through the cracks, so I'm adding it to the 2004 post. My second great stab at the game (first was early 2002, don't think I mentioned it in that post), and once again it just fizzled out after a while. I spent a LOT of time playing it between October 2003 and January 2004 or so, so I did try. Figured it was time and I could get it done, especially with my late night nothing-else-to-do game romps. Nope. Not yet anyway.</p><p style="text-align: center;">In the first go I think I only got about five hours in or so, while in this second go I think I got about halfway through the game so I made significant progress. Another thing I associate this with was watching Neon Genesis Evangelion and getting existentially depressed for the first time in my life circa like October 2003 or so. In other words I had a tough time with this space of time. However the fog lifted by the time Spring 2004 rolled around and I got to <i>FFX-2</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkD07BQpG9dwVyIO92pPkzws7h8cTKu29gKadd291dB750nvlTEJAnluYjcVERdLrZ8T-edKpgAQjVXt4UN1D1oF6ACZHXzm2qzNSwtAy75ZD7H8dtdUdk_XiSpJBgylYDAVx8imYTihA0eIcjz-o4dkXUCS6Xuxj-ZOIlTR2T3mDDunFcJcc6Xf_gcJ6o/s474/rpg%20maker%202%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkD07BQpG9dwVyIO92pPkzws7h8cTKu29gKadd291dB750nvlTEJAnluYjcVERdLrZ8T-edKpgAQjVXt4UN1D1oF6ACZHXzm2qzNSwtAy75ZD7H8dtdUdk_XiSpJBgylYDAVx8imYTihA0eIcjz-o4dkXUCS6Xuxj-ZOIlTR2T3mDDunFcJcc6Xf_gcJ6o/w482-h271/rpg%20maker%202%201.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Honorable Mention: RPG Maker 2 - Winter 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Another thing from late 2003 that I missed in the previous post. I was stoked for this, but significantly less so than I was for the first one a few years earlier. No staying up multiple days this time. Wasn't even completely sure I'd make anything with this one as the drive wasn't there like it was in 2000. Once it arrived, it was very clear that I probably wouldn't get far with it. The world design was much more 3D than the previous game, but very rudimentary and un-detailed 3D. This required a lot of sculpting of environments rather than just placing tiles like the previous game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The actual coding/scripting of the game was much more complicated this time, as well, and I had issues wrapping my head around how everything worked. The first <i>RPG Maker</i> simplified everything very nicely without taking too much power away from the player. This one gave you more power, but at the cost of being user-unfriendly.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Discovering you could have a rainstorm happen in your game. I created all of one area, a ruin in a meadow with a thunderstorm overhead and various bad guys roaming around. Took a while just to create this one area, and that was about it. It was cool and showed that the game had some major potential, but it also had dealbreakers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSJHXV-sb4pn9Yu8SWsJjAp6cGH6tdCAR8frNRsJ0SBp1LP2v735fe29H-Svv2_YF6mgIC16swkiQn3paEv4d51Ntbsol1uX77jlJ7b3GTAZnlnRWv4e0vUe8btiTe0B6qLSO4AvM86r4SWL679sp0YdVjfGtXSIra2Rr5VIc_ACHCeWO3J9l6WJesZ61/s900/rpg-maker-2-07.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="900" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOSJHXV-sb4pn9Yu8SWsJjAp6cGH6tdCAR8frNRsJ0SBp1LP2v735fe29H-Svv2_YF6mgIC16swkiQn3paEv4d51Ntbsol1uX77jlJ7b3GTAZnlnRWv4e0vUe8btiTe0B6qLSO4AvM86r4SWL679sp0YdVjfGtXSIra2Rr5VIc_ACHCeWO3J9l6WJesZ61/w455-h289/rpg-maker-2-07.png" width="455" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Biggest Dealbreaker: Besides the coding/scripting being much more complicated and hard to grasp, the character models were all superdeformed POP figure type designs. I'll never know why they went for that particular look for the characters in a 3D RPG in 2004. It basically meant that no matter what the content of your story was, the game would instantly look like it was for little kids. The monster models for battles weren't much better, with a lot of silliness and goof.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The sole "archangel" model in the game, one of the most important models in an RPG maker for a major character or foe, had breasts. No male archangel. So if you had a male character in your game that could turn into an archangel, as I did, you were boned. Not sure why they'd code one model and not the other. However the game was full of corner-cutting decisions like that where they'd do one thing but not the other more obvious thing. Even the Grim Reaper enemy model looked kind of goofy. Aside from an archangel, a reaper is probably the big bad guy model you should pay the most attention to getting right, and they didn't.</p><p style="text-align: center;">All in all, I REALLY should have gotten into the PC RPG Maker games around this time instead. <i>RPG Maker 2000</i> and <i>2003</i> were both far superior games that I never even tried. In that era, with my level of creativity and energy, I could have probably made something outstanding if I had the right software.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14liK7tU0n4i7TlgarA6btGVobE1vlGukAYcBAmDaeg2EtnwRgXaRLKoMZDJGaGu2N8D6SOSCox198UCcf37lp-UmSkngZH2Kco5V6v2j4iIBram_hjCVWoV3PguFPM7gGLlHimHIDTRZ3y99gLDovtzxgBbxtslYY_2Qhgihp4FCvFqGnUsOv29xZQkQ/s256/Legend%20of%20Zelda_001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14liK7tU0n4i7TlgarA6btGVobE1vlGukAYcBAmDaeg2EtnwRgXaRLKoMZDJGaGu2N8D6SOSCox198UCcf37lp-UmSkngZH2Kco5V6v2j4iIBram_hjCVWoV3PguFPM7gGLlHimHIDTRZ3y99gLDovtzxgBbxtslYY_2Qhgihp4FCvFqGnUsOv29xZQkQ/w320-h299/Legend%20of%20Zelda_001.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#215 The Legend of Zelda (NES) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was the beginning of my "Zelda Crusade". I decided to play the entire Zelda series, all the games I missed, to lead up to <i>Wind Waker</i>. A friend at work just up and gave me his copy of <i>Wind Waker</i> before going off to Iraq, which was pretty cool. So I had an impetus for this Zelda Crusade. Unfortunately, said Crusade never actually caught up to the series. I did eventually get to <i>Wind Waker, </i>but by then there were several more games out. I think I finally played the copy he gave me in like 2012. Even now, in 2024, I'm still about 3 games behind in the Zelda series. Amazing how I managed to just never catch up.</p><p style="text-align: center;">In any case, over Spring 2004 I played through this, <i>Zelda 2, Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons, </i>and <i>Oracle of Ages </i>to catch up to <i>Wind Waker</i>... and then I just fell off entirely. I think I played the first half hour or so of <i>Wind Waker</i>, got turned off by the stealth/sneaking dungeon right at the beginning, and didn't play it again for a long while. I was missing out, for sure.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4ZHVW52kryVeZnkTcUAoDzWvAd8BN1fKhmlB78IEDIuPbw4Y9nYnMi_ahaJyi6QsbDT_Eiqyg4boYlPWbtOfAqlKOWuy6ARhSNHUBUR3ZnOFhHn_Z9y8_mfBLk52ixZhsGzDi2MdJcMk527Q_cfMJkfmOJvjyHyRrs8NISfi1NiuC5qt3IyG8RpWnLeV/s256/Legend%20of%20Zelda_020.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4ZHVW52kryVeZnkTcUAoDzWvAd8BN1fKhmlB78IEDIuPbw4Y9nYnMi_ahaJyi6QsbDT_Eiqyg4boYlPWbtOfAqlKOWuy6ARhSNHUBUR3ZnOFhHn_Z9y8_mfBLk52ixZhsGzDi2MdJcMk527Q_cfMJkfmOJvjyHyRrs8NISfi1NiuC5qt3IyG8RpWnLeV/w320-h300/Legend%20of%20Zelda_020.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">As for this game, it's a perfectly good game. I missed the NES era so I don't have any nostalgia for it, and I'm not real crazy about the overall look and color scheme, but you can see all of the Zelda tropes having their dawn here. The dungeons were challenging, the overworld was mysterious and fun to explore, and it was great to just see where it all started.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I notice this wasn't in my first round of NES emulation back in the late 90's. The Zelda series has always taken a backseat to other games for me even though I really like it and care about it. Not sure why that is. When I did play this, it was on the Gamecube Zelda Collection that included a bunch of Zelda games. Not sure if that was the same collection that had <i>OoT Master Quest</i> or if that was a different Gamcube game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2013/01/the-legend-of-zelda-nes-1987.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDtDwTzOqE7k4I_Irc1MPAnTlL49o9dXqrmXiggY5w9Pax8j02ItCwqN9_I_5iIiPkzYTYpDFFsX8mcghcwqUx6q0rAuxwlaxpne1zeGoitRVmUt16pkNDsW8AO-IIgSCuX0mUDpXgQcZhXWfE6skkQZHoUNbmXHZJ20riG4RPCpa40U8sOpyh7lA35RE/s256/Zelda%20II%20-%20The%20Adventure%20of%20Link%20(USA)_014.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsDtDwTzOqE7k4I_Irc1MPAnTlL49o9dXqrmXiggY5w9Pax8j02ItCwqN9_I_5iIiPkzYTYpDFFsX8mcghcwqUx6q0rAuxwlaxpne1zeGoitRVmUt16pkNDsW8AO-IIgSCuX0mUDpXgQcZhXWfE6skkQZHoUNbmXHZJ20riG4RPCpa40U8sOpyh7lA35RE/w400-h375/Zelda%20II%20-%20The%20Adventure%20of%20Link%20(USA)_014.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#216 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">This one I liked significantly less than the first. I think it would benefit a lot from nostalgia and attachment. Since I don't have any for it, I could look at it with a critical eye. It tried some new things and some worked, some didn't. I do like the swordplay and think it's better than it gets credit for in that department.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUoyVYbBMwq9mRCdHwBcUFbxcbR3ywcHhxIpsmv7LEOxHlfjSHmm6Qdu4Z4Kzu3CzjI3v_o7fPS7HbdLKc4bMCJScFj5-UQAcbyN_NcIav-DsPyDbYvgV2TwplwrmmTdiv14uG_RqK0-J4D4gh3RXtXe9sc-9LndgqkQcF-DBy8pBOPWvb3iFy58Rcurs/s256/Zelda%20II%20-%20The%20Adventure%20of%20Link%20(USA)_026.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDUoyVYbBMwq9mRCdHwBcUFbxcbR3ywcHhxIpsmv7LEOxHlfjSHmm6Qdu4Z4Kzu3CzjI3v_o7fPS7HbdLKc4bMCJScFj5-UQAcbyN_NcIav-DsPyDbYvgV2TwplwrmmTdiv14uG_RqK0-J4D4gh3RXtXe9sc-9LndgqkQcF-DBy8pBOPWvb3iFy58Rcurs/w400-h375/Zelda%20II%20-%20The%20Adventure%20of%20Link%20(USA)_026.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This game is also HARD. I played it on the Gamecube Zelda Collection so I didn't have any emulator advantages, and I had quite a few deaths and extensive runbacks. This is an unforgiving game, but it did manage to be exciting thanks to the soundtrack and the world. I also liked that you could level up, and level grinding allowed me to even the playing field against the tougher parts of the game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6XSEI5rTT7DjK9EL-IxPEm2ZXwozTf4205EN8opkMxHNfAopuphX6zU6sTHXlqus7TJJfRFlLTZ6pyCxIx7ONkgL87v_aK9QiHkMZ2fDRzO-DSxOEwnVk8k3E61hDHxgC3A4krz_XeJgSSzvTnAqjxoUvgeP5_LMWUcJ_0lWSYFuhtKoOmYVRulhi9wV/s256/Zelda%20II%20-%20The%20Adventure%20of%20Link%20(USA)_030.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6XSEI5rTT7DjK9EL-IxPEm2ZXwozTf4205EN8opkMxHNfAopuphX6zU6sTHXlqus7TJJfRFlLTZ6pyCxIx7ONkgL87v_aK9QiHkMZ2fDRzO-DSxOEwnVk8k3E61hDHxgC3A4krz_XeJgSSzvTnAqjxoUvgeP5_LMWUcJ_0lWSYFuhtKoOmYVRulhi9wV/w400-h375/Zelda%20II%20-%20The%20Adventure%20of%20Link%20(USA)_030.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Boss: Horsehead. In my novella in 6th grade or so I had Horsehead as the secondary bad guy (Ganon's main henchman) in the first of the five stories.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Negotiating Death Mountain and all of its caves.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Zelda%202%3A%20Adventure%20of%20Link" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8IzejZzQl3ifQ-EtUbpkUDuGLjYmXzT-Tb2ElyBXXAoOpiESMkhWbGFvcVR-DwPTPUlZ7bUUcFVYiIOfs16rBsfCmGFDrKT9WMp7uMzEOVTypqX6ZCYHciZepl71Sx4vQF-Bo3KLFfrqdTjwfSUfWrjIIvw-iMgP6y_2ELYNwJyr5xErZCnWL7J1RWDe/s240/onimusha%20tactics%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8IzejZzQl3ifQ-EtUbpkUDuGLjYmXzT-Tb2ElyBXXAoOpiESMkhWbGFvcVR-DwPTPUlZ7bUUcFVYiIOfs16rBsfCmGFDrKT9WMp7uMzEOVTypqX6ZCYHciZepl71Sx4vQF-Bo3KLFfrqdTjwfSUfWrjIIvw-iMgP6y_2ELYNwJyr5xErZCnWL7J1RWDe/w400-h267/onimusha%20tactics%202.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#217 Onimusha Tactics (Game Boy Advance) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">A Zelda break (maybe...I was also finishing <i>A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, </i>and <i>Ocarina of Time</i> replays during this span of time). This is a pretty cool Tactics-style game with characters from the Nobunaga era of Japan's history. Like I did with everything else in this timeframe, I had fun with it, lots of fun.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiATj7o1Qekcztv7DKpdympgPV_pexVWljUVWWp5XMccuM6A4Tf_UyHuadzoEKcIBbuV0en5qQP4E_URn0Z9D2VSXz5zOjAZ5zSX5aJaEj_qcI1DMi9FN2xUSNsK8Fxq7is0v2tjImdnphG-aItBqmSm9kCgJ8kaekTbuAvij_vhqq4WiPFiVsHRnnfH57/s720/onimusha%20tactics%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="720" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiATj7o1Qekcztv7DKpdympgPV_pexVWljUVWWp5XMccuM6A4Tf_UyHuadzoEKcIBbuV0en5qQP4E_URn0Z9D2VSXz5zOjAZ5zSX5aJaEj_qcI1DMi9FN2xUSNsK8Fxq7is0v2tjImdnphG-aItBqmSm9kCgJ8kaekTbuAvij_vhqq4WiPFiVsHRnnfH57/w400-h266/onimusha%20tactics%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">As with most games set in this era, the objective is basically to stop Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, etc from engulfing Japan in the fires of war. It's really the perfect setting for a tactics game and it's surprising that this game is so generally un-sung. It flew under the radar for the most part. Would be cool to also get a Three Kingdoms Tactics, but it's possible the era for that kind of game has passed. I'm surprised that THIS game even existed.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Note: Is Nobunaga in blackface? What is he, Justin Trudeau?</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: "Let's Fighting Love" from South Park being the unofficial anthem of the game. The character portraits were the best.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxyZGhooavRupDsmQDCpeVKAoghnv3egEdHGqlL7jwcv03r99Bu5aW3ExsJC-F9C7K1Y8zhBacDhqYCDpk7XytNgEsTQ318szThmrBmXe2YCWPspBM5Hcanc64tQs9hkjV6hEGCLyRvl0jZlbLQXdrlBTopC-TeDC0dcMR8g88CHvzBWWRhkV9dEtlS9l/s639/majora's%20mask.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="639" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqxyZGhooavRupDsmQDCpeVKAoghnv3egEdHGqlL7jwcv03r99Bu5aW3ExsJC-F9C7K1Y8zhBacDhqYCDpk7XytNgEsTQ318szThmrBmXe2YCWPspBM5Hcanc64tQs9hkjV6hEGCLyRvl0jZlbLQXdrlBTopC-TeDC0dcMR8g88CHvzBWWRhkV9dEtlS9l/w400-h300/majora's%20mask.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#218 Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Now the Zelda Crusade had caught up to more games that I hadn't beaten. I DID rent <i>Majora's Mask</i> back in 2000, somewhere toward the end of the year. Got pretty far with it, but ultimately I just couldn't get around the timed system of the game resetting itself. Didn't know you could slow time to a crawl, or how to make your progress count, so I was just kinda flailing in the wind. I think I got to the second of the four main provinces/dungeons. Wasn't my favorite Zelda and I don't think I even planned to revisit it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Come 2004 I went back with the intent of finishing the game from scratch, and did. It isn't really that long of a game, and it was pretty doable now with more patience. I ended up liking this game a lot. It's dark in a way that <i>Twilight Princess</i> only hoped to be. This is a legitimately eerie game that can be outright unsettling at times, and deals with the apocalypse in a thoughtful way that I don't think I've seen any other game pull off.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IQF0lGs-GtNDtAeWYHO0uu1YRr3AQpYmud4DQLjqxGiVBlBocRXOFXgSt9OrUEs-HnCCf9uHBS928dEXFytu5tdrrqnyY9kU8p272mGvvWPGY2tuPn1jdk3mdJc0S2-wJ8BF0Y1UFaSMCgUkRVtHfqCJB0OcehlrEibpGhV8xhmS4L6SThtKZ6NxJUPQ/s1280/majora's%20mask%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3IQF0lGs-GtNDtAeWYHO0uu1YRr3AQpYmud4DQLjqxGiVBlBocRXOFXgSt9OrUEs-HnCCf9uHBS928dEXFytu5tdrrqnyY9kU8p272mGvvWPGY2tuPn1jdk3mdJc0S2-wJ8BF0Y1UFaSMCgUkRVtHfqCJB0OcehlrEibpGhV8xhmS4L6SThtKZ6NxJUPQ/w469-h264/majora's%20mask%202.jpg" width="469" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Know what really got me into the Zelda games? The inventory. Reading about all of <i>A Link to the Past</i>'s items in Nintendo Power was awesome. They had a couple pages about all the items and what they did. Each one felt like it had a real-world application and you knew how you'd use them. I don't think that game had a single dud item. And even as the series rolls on, most of the Zeldas have solid inventories / item lineups.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UBGAAt2v3nFwD4DTmNnkl7_Osg1AukVrC3bvicbUdftLbJ1wAzsCPGzgFW5pe49NAF77zDAUVFn4BP89ighzpGB4RtEWnhOTnOZN3FnlLDHBFqIFm_rF8trs3_msTk3qLto9CoUi_qMB1U6uDalZ2iP_6Q173thlcmjj3-rcfEv5ZBcLboGDM0s9cLnM/s1280/snowhead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9UBGAAt2v3nFwD4DTmNnkl7_Osg1AukVrC3bvicbUdftLbJ1wAzsCPGzgFW5pe49NAF77zDAUVFn4BP89ighzpGB4RtEWnhOTnOZN3FnlLDHBFqIFm_rF8trs3_msTk3qLto9CoUi_qMB1U6uDalZ2iP_6Q173thlcmjj3-rcfEv5ZBcLboGDM0s9cLnM/w469-h264/snowhead.jpg" width="469" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Area: Snowhead. The second of the four main areas of the game. I liked the ice dungeon, but I especially liked the snowy mountains leading up to it. The feeling of isolation as you trudged through the snow was incredibly well-done.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a_Goqi8KZr0" width="320" youtube-src-id="a_Goqi8KZr0"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Probably the Snowhead theme. Fits the mood that I described to a T.</div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Turning into a Goron and rolling all over the place.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98TsmAhUmrR2GvDhaibBUvFe-rwTPduL3-iWziwvueb7e1p127TgEzB0yBoHYbFrYYE9fdkG3hIYMMeBXjip8mc7MzDACi_lrS-UW9_8dYKAATBUvdKQ_ikpraMk8A11qSTmZ7F2LxaggEcTcWtM8sH7NdDCRHcl49Ih9SbvZzVMrPogFv1fYlEQbM4fv/s160/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Seasons%2019.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="160" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi98TsmAhUmrR2GvDhaibBUvFe-rwTPduL3-iWziwvueb7e1p127TgEzB0yBoHYbFrYYE9fdkG3hIYMMeBXjip8mc7MzDACi_lrS-UW9_8dYKAATBUvdKQ_ikpraMk8A11qSTmZ7F2LxaggEcTcWtM8sH7NdDCRHcl49Ih9SbvZzVMrPogFv1fYlEQbM4fv/w320-h288/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Seasons%2019.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#219 Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (Game Boy Color) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Next up, the last two unplayed games before <i>Wind Waker</i>! The Oracle games were a couple of gems, that's for sure. <i>Seasons</i> is the more action-focused one while <i>Ages</i> is the more puzzle-focused one, so they're very different while being similar. I like that they run off of the <i>Link's Awakening</i> engine and that made them pretty nostalgic in their own way. As for which one I prefer, I love <i>Oracle of Seasons</i> the most by a good margin. With the focus on action and just generally being a great <i>Link's Awakening</i> sequel, not to mention the seasons mechanic being awesome (you can make it snow)... well, I'd put it up nearly at the level of <i>Link's Awakening</i>, while <i>Ages </i>falls a few steps down in the rankings.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3fIzFgd4nrAQjoHuyJsglYi9CQPg29yZ5czwbVLlGrrmM6PpSZB4H_JnHanyUZePrl_QZfDGPGFfVL5gprqRr2ADmQGdmHJIIbN1nJ-5ZcPgdChdhw0Lr2NlIfcQeGfs-D6wAb1Px5jmSNrXr41kWmmXLmRYkw30ahBa0OZlNrb3N_G0qbRlIC2-4RwB/s400/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Seasons%2001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3fIzFgd4nrAQjoHuyJsglYi9CQPg29yZ5czwbVLlGrrmM6PpSZB4H_JnHanyUZePrl_QZfDGPGFfVL5gprqRr2ADmQGdmHJIIbN1nJ-5ZcPgdChdhw0Lr2NlIfcQeGfs-D6wAb1Px5jmSNrXr41kWmmXLmRYkw30ahBa0OZlNrb3N_G0qbRlIC2-4RwB/s320/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Seasons%2001.jpg" width="280" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Casting Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean to play Link in the posts and having him cut battle raps on the bosses. You're damn right it was weird. And I'd do it again too!</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Oracle%20of%20Seasons" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvkKpLgoZ7IMIXPFjpQCB0s1YZVwx7nidr3nTuCp9X5JBeqcGtngFa1zELxk9h4VWV1cFnDeEn0vBFWqmPBG3yeH38ClrXaq18OjCIS3e_Ku6fR67CGuwL8ruZmxqmW19Pzrwi0eTCqc32MH9zolpdmkrQCNL8c0sNaAVh_HEmXPpqEkz44Z-MNtc4PEh/s160/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Ages%2051.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="160" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvkKpLgoZ7IMIXPFjpQCB0s1YZVwx7nidr3nTuCp9X5JBeqcGtngFa1zELxk9h4VWV1cFnDeEn0vBFWqmPBG3yeH38ClrXaq18OjCIS3e_Ku6fR67CGuwL8ruZmxqmW19Pzrwi0eTCqc32MH9zolpdmkrQCNL8c0sNaAVh_HEmXPpqEkz44Z-MNtc4PEh/w320-h288/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Ages%2051.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#220 Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (Game Boy Color) – Spring 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">So why did I have issues with <i>Ages</i>? There were just too many puzzles and not enough action. Some of the puzzles also bordered a bit on obscure in terms of their solutions. The time travel concept was also more confusing and less appealing than the "change the seasons" concept of the previous game. There were two "worlds" rather than four (like in <i>Seasons</i>) and they were way too similar to each other so it became confusing. Games with two ultra-similar worlds can be a problem for me. See <i>Dragon Quest VI</i>. More on that later in this post.</p><p style="text-align: center;">My progress through <i>Ages</i> was much...jerkier? than the previous one, as I had to stop frequently to look things up. I couldn't make it snow anymore. I mean there were a bunch of things. I still got to the end of the game, and if you've beaten both this and the previous game, you get a new endgame with the return of Ganon. Not sure how I made that work on emulator but I'm pretty sure I did.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8n6T4NqSIP8OM4LCnx0D5Kt_cC7fpeP1EgER_qnAA21RndnrT7ysHHPqJlGU_Veh-C-1khydPCEyAOICKaaqKvEAhCp0bHRrmv6Iw7b6upt6uipbenkPJums_ke7cebZfjR8x5OeP1weyPjz9GVZ06Bmq4j0tYdzbcbX1PUoxcFKlWKbBSCA6vi5Hv8Rp/s475/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Ages%2039%20teaching%20mr%20tingle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="327" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8n6T4NqSIP8OM4LCnx0D5Kt_cC7fpeP1EgER_qnAA21RndnrT7ysHHPqJlGU_Veh-C-1khydPCEyAOICKaaqKvEAhCp0bHRrmv6Iw7b6upt6uipbenkPJums_ke7cebZfjR8x5OeP1weyPjz9GVZ06Bmq4j0tYdzbcbX1PUoxcFKlWKbBSCA6vi5Hv8Rp/w332-h484/Zelda%20Oracle%20of%20Ages%2039%20teaching%20mr%20tingle.jpg" width="332" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: "Teaching Mr. Tingle" starring Natalie Portman, Tingle, and Tingle's tiny green penis.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Oracle%20of%20Ages" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdC2TwRQJyMsLAV4vRjc1YQakzTJkbmOeQog6LBFPSO370jIvFbEexKHuDZObRJOrfBPBBm0phPaLQdMgyHyKrBA9kpMk7jbJ5GezMRcQB-GrTRNADgNCbe_LrAqHZIoqeAhSHFJmRw2B-jJ7zOrbxCc6u_6E0qyFrgjtPRW1WzOGZSlB3_v3PfTJOwer/s240/Metroid%20-%20Fusion_36.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGdC2TwRQJyMsLAV4vRjc1YQakzTJkbmOeQog6LBFPSO370jIvFbEexKHuDZObRJOrfBPBBm0phPaLQdMgyHyKrBA9kpMk7jbJ5GezMRcQB-GrTRNADgNCbe_LrAqHZIoqeAhSHFJmRw2B-jJ7zOrbxCc6u_6E0qyFrgjtPRW1WzOGZSlB3_v3PfTJOwer/w400-h267/Metroid%20-%20Fusion_36.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#221 Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance) – Summer 2004</div><p style="text-align: center;">Actually kind of shocked that this game took me so long to get to. It came out nearly two years before I played it, and about a year after I first started emulating GBA. Still didn't have the system, but emulating worked better anyway because <i>you could actually see the screen</i>. Regardless, you would think that this would be the FIRST thing I rushed to emulate once I could, but nope.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY4s0ggAfzcWjSSGUonaKcswRJNnTOsDO8HtxYq6JFM7FLeOd-DwOYC3py04KLbt6WnMhV6ygy52WzsUYAZNWxj5s2K7_iyNL4zC_pCsQADA97JkxZaUC8ljP_U33-De36gpn2Tz1SZ4MmBe53YpJyU4lZl-Dapw63pfY0luaN7Z33_R5gFk4vBTo4wIm/s240/Metroid%20-%20Fusion_120.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY4s0ggAfzcWjSSGUonaKcswRJNnTOsDO8HtxYq6JFM7FLeOd-DwOYC3py04KLbt6WnMhV6ygy52WzsUYAZNWxj5s2K7_iyNL4zC_pCsQADA97JkxZaUC8ljP_U33-De36gpn2Tz1SZ4MmBe53YpJyU4lZl-Dapw63pfY0luaN7Z33_R5gFk4vBTo4wIm/w400-h267/Metroid%20-%20Fusion_120.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Maybe I was saving it for a rainy week, not sure. All I know is that when I did play it, I had an absolute blast. This is an outstanding GBA game, and from an objective point of view it's probably a top 5 original game on the system (meaning factoring out ports like <i>FFVI</i> <i>Advance</i>). I can't say enough good things about this one. It's a lot more linear than the previous games, but some might like that because you can't really ever get lost and the progression stays steady even on a first run through the game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_bE5ZpN6sTjGeHqibSdUTiVgoNsuNwNgpfAaEx22nMhVqrpFm0DIXxs0qEeuIQYCoadUEfvKn0XQw_M37cI2m62IunIke8Wnnhyphenhyphenbv1bqpo2hkNLjpGeZJV2sPJKDBvcLi6kIuj-qjRmXdk3GjxrBX4hqQ0PxLDblqIPuLMt9bKfi4qdwut3aPUYaqivl/s240/Metroid%20-%20Fusion_107.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_bE5ZpN6sTjGeHqibSdUTiVgoNsuNwNgpfAaEx22nMhVqrpFm0DIXxs0qEeuIQYCoadUEfvKn0XQw_M37cI2m62IunIke8Wnnhyphenhyphenbv1bqpo2hkNLjpGeZJV2sPJKDBvcLi6kIuj-qjRmXdk3GjxrBX4hqQ0PxLDblqIPuLMt9bKfi4qdwut3aPUYaqivl/w400-h267/Metroid%20-%20Fusion_107.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">There's also an interesting premise here with an X parasite cloning Samus and all of her powers, also causing her to lose said powers and have to start from scratch with a new suit. I particularly like how Samus gets visibly more powerful over the course of the game, going from being unable to match up with the X clone of her old self (AKA her at full power), to being able to trounce said clone by the end due to all of the new powers she'd gotten to compensate. They got really creative with the new powers too, like how Samus is now weak to ice due to having DNA from Metroids, so she can't fire an ice beam anymore and needs to use Ice Missiles instead.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Only thing I don't like is how shrill and shrieky some of the bosses are. It can get ear-splitting. However all in all this is a damn good game that was very well refined. Wouldn't mind seeing a remake of it, provided they don't change it too much besides the visual update. Unfortunately we're probably getting a Mercury Steam version that radically changes the game rather than just doing a visual update.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I'd put this at 2nd place among the main five games in the Metroid series, even to this day, behind <i>Super Metroid</i>. Anyone who hasn't ever checked it out, put it on your list. It's 4-5 hours (on a first go) well spent.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Metroid%20Fusion" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2cf8I2ImPUxn8cpqdXyidnK2KcNT8ZxMpcnoZUWUO-mPiscPTv5E9epXgFUFSz6FsNsGNbBToS_JpBy53sABWz0C7Id4_3XWCMYsBefTbPCGvLZtKDdX0f8kpvFroFpPEHlDtxE8V-PoB3o25-KTZ0TUTJWyHDGgFSyUZtzgJECisU65ay9mXSy6Xfwl/s1600/wind%20waker.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2cf8I2ImPUxn8cpqdXyidnK2KcNT8ZxMpcnoZUWUO-mPiscPTv5E9epXgFUFSz6FsNsGNbBToS_JpBy53sABWz0C7Id4_3XWCMYsBefTbPCGvLZtKDdX0f8kpvFroFpPEHlDtxE8V-PoB3o25-KTZ0TUTJWyHDGgFSyUZtzgJECisU65ay9mXSy6Xfwl/w400-h225/wind%20waker.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Honorable Mention: Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker - Summer 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately <i>Ages</i> would be the last Zelda I beat for a while. I got all the way to <i>Wind Waker</i>, so the Zelda Crusade was very nearly a success! And then after playing <i>WW</i> for about an hour, I just totally fell off with it. After all that buildup. I think the problem was the fort near the beginning where you have to make heavy use of stealth mechanics to get through. That section kinda sucked a lot of the momentum out of the game. It's basically a training tutorial to get you used to being patient while playing the game, but yeah. It just went on way too long and burned me out.</p><p style="text-align: center;">After that I just amused myself running around the first island aimlessly, and I think I threw anything I could find (including various farm animals) into the local volcano for a little while. Yeah that was kind of awful of me, and I'm sorry. The game IS visually stunning, I'll give it that.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately I wouldn't get back to the game until many years later, once a bunch of other Zeldas were out, and I have never actually finished the Zelda Crusade. I've perpetually been at least 3 games behind since 2007 or so. Right now, in 2024, I'm 3 games behind.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Iqq6Et5_RaxZ4lO81Eip6NNwm6CWQF_NftCpGVyATQzf0-cH6lNCWa-6VUb2iC0Cf6H6J_JrW46XZm0FKtjcSdkBJPgBjrU49PYNF5iLLPVBof0tizomN0i_4xGtLHI0A_SIj-Fd4ct5tQ_0_xbM2Ue4b4IgNPqY6U6rOBvn-clQE3QNQgoH-ZvuZgA6/s935/24%20ps2%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="935" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Iqq6Et5_RaxZ4lO81Eip6NNwm6CWQF_NftCpGVyATQzf0-cH6lNCWa-6VUb2iC0Cf6H6J_JrW46XZm0FKtjcSdkBJPgBjrU49PYNF5iLLPVBof0tizomN0i_4xGtLHI0A_SIj-Fd4ct5tQ_0_xbM2Ue4b4IgNPqY6U6rOBvn-clQE3QNQgoH-ZvuZgA6/w274-h400/24%20ps2%201.jpg" width="274" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#222 24: The Game (Playstation 2) – Summer 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">I was a huuuuge fan of the show 24. I'd say it's one of three media IPs I have any particular fanboyism over, the others being Highlander and Terminator. At least unlike those two, 24 never particularly let me down. This game came out right around Season 3, in what I consider the golden era of the show's writing. It takes place between S2 and S3 and ties up a very big loose end from S2. It fits perfectly with the show canon and is considered to BE canon by the show writers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZRvdWyKTgBEU7Tsoua80PBHcTqYXVgjx_J-zXszWehVK-UXnn4D1P-q_an3BE7IgYd_eoWHrZ3hPUWtpvOFn-TNFNXkJ4mNhKSsgFjW-Amdw4XFlGOZ_e84jVy21YcyGA1yrc-8-_46RSD_iyzJDD1XQBDfykQxFJwnln8E1YLKVh19W39ca3PDaLHCf/s627/24%20ps2%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="627" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxZRvdWyKTgBEU7Tsoua80PBHcTqYXVgjx_J-zXszWehVK-UXnn4D1P-q_an3BE7IgYd_eoWHrZ3hPUWtpvOFn-TNFNXkJ4mNhKSsgFjW-Amdw4XFlGOZ_e84jVy21YcyGA1yrc-8-_46RSD_iyzJDD1XQBDfykQxFJwnln8E1YLKVh19W39ca3PDaLHCf/w400-h225/24%20ps2%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This could have easily been a terrible licensed game, but it's quite good and has a lot of attention to detail. They particularly did a stunning job with the character models, especially for early 2000's. They look just like the people they're based on. This follows a similar format to the show with similar crazy developments happening every time you turn around. Another cool thing is you don't just play as Jack Bauer, you also play as Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler at times.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YqXriHjYHJX7gCss8Af4rGRZYllyp3C31HyAZbteXPvf92SIjoS4JVfbunWAjFyPWXj__STmLXVnWaDTBUYY2v9WIxT1KadM_jchXbU7Vez_7fE8ajHJv_gco1yXOqpTGDQeMIyh9q2bxVvixyqxl47O2IVTrnAbAq26XWQKqA2daFrN_Z5au5vTRBuU/s474/24%20ps2%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="474" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YqXriHjYHJX7gCss8Af4rGRZYllyp3C31HyAZbteXPvf92SIjoS4JVfbunWAjFyPWXj__STmLXVnWaDTBUYY2v9WIxT1KadM_jchXbU7Vez_7fE8ajHJv_gco1yXOqpTGDQeMIyh9q2bxVvixyqxl47O2IVTrnAbAq26XWQKqA2daFrN_Z5au5vTRBuU/w400-h296/24%20ps2%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I love all those characters, and President Palmer, and I get deep pangs of nostalgia watching those seasons of the show today and realizing it was <i>twenty years ago</i>. Everyone on the show is way older now, not what I remember, and friends I had at the time (and watched the show with) that I haven't seen in a while are also way older than how I remember them.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Hey, there's that existential dread again. Know what takes away existential dread? That first flight theme from <i>Secret of Mana</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h22R0z2XTZY" width="320" youtube-src-id="h22R0z2XTZY"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Oh yeah, that's the stuff. One of the best "everything is great" tunes in gaming.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSo3_LBzMRMGBVz4lzK4CiPgkQOBGVqZsnz6g24BDeHlkVZmSzDkPCIeocp_gp4UCCgxmDTGLU8HTxQLAl3kw80BziHr7SkfsSodxEPmEbkaz53kjdD5wzOoI8XtVzyoFh0e2zcz1JS1PPAfUIdQao7MxjAgEueGc7H3lFaJI2L4NrkZIOPYnOnYL652C/s640/devil%20may%20cry%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="640" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhSo3_LBzMRMGBVz4lzK4CiPgkQOBGVqZsnz6g24BDeHlkVZmSzDkPCIeocp_gp4UCCgxmDTGLU8HTxQLAl3kw80BziHr7SkfsSodxEPmEbkaz53kjdD5wzOoI8XtVzyoFh0e2zcz1JS1PPAfUIdQao7MxjAgEueGc7H3lFaJI2L4NrkZIOPYnOnYL652C/w400-h280/devil%20may%20cry%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#223 Devil May Cry 2 (Playstation 2) – Summer 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">A sequel I was very excited for, think I rented it the first chance I got. Then what I got was a generic action game with repetitive battles, a zoomed-way-out camera, and bosses that could be slain by simple spam of the gun button. This game was below-average even by normal PS2 action game standards, much less the standards set by its predecessor. Big letdown here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8maq8RXbUMLKrk8wWaCkeJ8vpr-ch5P68H71a4hP_LcBnbE2vhLyt27-ohjVPlKIghFGaaS_qPazMZo0iuxw6qHi4ChYJeaNj9k8NhcyVOWBBhT162bzPor8jy8_C18vsyvPlNyTY0OFpk6b_8S0skYJziZfPYZC-j41y9m57EzpvnRtSmW23PTn6bIv/s1280/devil%20may%20cry%202%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-8maq8RXbUMLKrk8wWaCkeJ8vpr-ch5P68H71a4hP_LcBnbE2vhLyt27-ohjVPlKIghFGaaS_qPazMZo0iuxw6qHi4ChYJeaNj9k8NhcyVOWBBhT162bzPor8jy8_C18vsyvPlNyTY0OFpk6b_8S0skYJziZfPYZC-j41y9m57EzpvnRtSmW23PTn6bIv/w400-h225/devil%20may%20cry%202%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Also, the enemy designs were pretty uninspired. Tanks and helicopters and zombies instead of the highly-creative fare of other games in the series. The camera was zoomed way out, as I mentioned, and that made the game feel very impersonal compared to the first game's in-your-face style of battles. Basically in two games the series went from super fun and stylish to "dull regular game". I assume a B-Team made this one, because it felt like what you'd get if the first game had been designed by a much less talented group of people.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Most of all though, I just hate how range attack spam could win virtually any fight in the game with no effort. No need to dodge and slash or use any of your fun abilities. Just back away and fire gun spam, activate super mode when you have enough power built up for it for even spammier and more damaging gun spam, win. For the whole game. It's kinda like what <i>Legend of Mana</i> did with being able to stunlock every enemy in the game, thereby killing the gameplay.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffDuPeW7HOzaDQkAeyWL6N5ccrf-84U3hxDmZOvqJL_9b9DwMu7DCI8sRj-8uu2LjXxy5uh630kQKqsgB7Du289gCpHfjMmmk_ui05PjjzKgtfHAjlYnyeTWNqTEsD-9s1DCEvjVVuYUy1eql_w0Y7MS4ldapc0ycYq2IRLicVSWc0MebBIQx8yaUiHzC/s474/smackdown%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="459" data-original-width="474" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffDuPeW7HOzaDQkAeyWL6N5ccrf-84U3hxDmZOvqJL_9b9DwMu7DCI8sRj-8uu2LjXxy5uh630kQKqsgB7Du289gCpHfjMmmk_ui05PjjzKgtfHAjlYnyeTWNqTEsD-9s1DCEvjVVuYUy1eql_w0Y7MS4ldapc0ycYq2IRLicVSWc0MebBIQx8yaUiHzC/s320/smackdown%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#224 WWF Smackdown (Playstation) - Summer 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Let's Play was going out of business around this point (there's the existential dread again). A small ramshackle store that brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. So I had one last burst of renting things from there. Went for the earlier Smackdown games (but never played the 5th one, which was the newest one around this time, bizarrely enough). Now unlike <i>WWF War Zone</i>, these aged pretty well. All five games in the Smackdown series are fun and playable right up to this very day.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJ6m84ExmM87MG20gl0LrL5Q6IQ3V_ee0OGs4eMXjxpsG4G_6NeINTGrHwWtbN7GLcuXGC0os1EdwEG0s5K7PfbGMIVKT8Fg_ZtEvyWOlHRGus8KkXQx6dIFILsGesIQ16yuuw1Dq_iyD3mudemQpCyB6R14G9vVaDA_vhVpBSO-7SE9LBvZ2vnefszE3/s1280/smackdown%201%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJ6m84ExmM87MG20gl0LrL5Q6IQ3V_ee0OGs4eMXjxpsG4G_6NeINTGrHwWtbN7GLcuXGC0os1EdwEG0s5K7PfbGMIVKT8Fg_ZtEvyWOlHRGus8KkXQx6dIFILsGesIQ16yuuw1Dq_iyD3mudemQpCyB6R14G9vVaDA_vhVpBSO-7SE9LBvZ2vnefszE3/w400-h225/smackdown%201%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Don't remember too much about this first one except that it had a super long story mode, especially compared to <i>Just Bring It </i>and its 20 minute story mode. It takes place circa early 1999 in terms of who is on the roster. One big thing the Smackdown games have that most other wrestling games didn't have at the time was audience camera flashes, which was pretty cool. Every time you hit a big move you'd see a bunch of sparks go off in the background. Sadly wrestling games (and wrestling itself) don't really have that anymore because almost nobody takes pictures now, they record everything.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Roster timeframes of the Smackdown Games, Since They Were Always A Bit Behind The Times At Their Release:</p><p style="text-align: center;">Smackdown 1: Released early 2000, has roster from mid 1999</p><p style="text-align: center;">Smackdown 2 - Know Your Role: Released late 2000, has roster from early 2000</p><p style="text-align: center;">Smackdown 3 - Just Bring It: Released end of 2001, has roster from late 2000 (This one was especially behind the times)</p><p style="text-align: center;">Smackdown 4 - Shut Your Mouth: Released late 2002, has roster from mid 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">Smackdown 5 - Here Comes The Pain: Released late 2003, has roster from mid 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Getting through the season mode that just went on and on and on. IIRC I played as The Rock for the entire game.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mLhcEGSohGO8qnOW-OlbVGGgTl6IPxqAcqGlQgivPrzHOiwwEqDfGeesVeaHUoxuKByIye0Yv6YMasyxYXjYCsxdHU789COMecACLfRUjE6rQMwl4s34wwqPUoZUPa1kZi2awMW4RMeZvvB6fIOZUos1RjEES5n0zeeyiyZWabEFumJNAgsRLepME5mH/s620/smackdown%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="620" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-mLhcEGSohGO8qnOW-OlbVGGgTl6IPxqAcqGlQgivPrzHOiwwEqDfGeesVeaHUoxuKByIye0Yv6YMasyxYXjYCsxdHU789COMecACLfRUjE6rQMwl4s34wwqPUoZUPa1kZi2awMW4RMeZvvB6fIOZUos1RjEES5n0zeeyiyZWabEFumJNAgsRLepME5mH/s320/smackdown%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#225 WWF Smackdown 2: Know Your Role (Playstation) – Summer 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Don't remember much about this one by comparison. It's improved over the previous game, flashier, has more wrestlers, and does everything about as well as it gets on the original Playstation for wrestling games. Also notable that it had Rock and HHH on the cover (no sign of Austin) which signified the changing of the guard that year.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkT994YiUunNHVXWMRkPNK0xulxxDbra74yKDxwfCT13B8HEXi22ZfILuWizl7nvsaj-8BPujHWkf7rW87AY7IP7BtfMw2OZTCthyprl7_DEtGgWpXKbOWTlaaeMW7ybkm8h-_reGGGQ2QdP3SpYghM6ZMJgiAxxyI1-YjZaorOOhkV-GIL3Kt42K91P3S/s1280/smackdown%202%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkT994YiUunNHVXWMRkPNK0xulxxDbra74yKDxwfCT13B8HEXi22ZfILuWizl7nvsaj-8BPujHWkf7rW87AY7IP7BtfMw2OZTCthyprl7_DEtGgWpXKbOWTlaaeMW7ybkm8h-_reGGGQ2QdP3SpYghM6ZMJgiAxxyI1-YjZaorOOhkV-GIL3Kt42K91P3S/w400-h225/smackdown%202%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's kind of hard to tell this game apart from the first, but it does have a bunch of improvements. I think I played this one through as Triple H, who had his rad "My Time" theme.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Nz2SoGJSjMRHLV9uxPSgmKOv6Wou_BmRNhmYWkNAFiGTwtlcoAuUAfaOT4jy8J-W3mhkItVthRsvVzGFEuSZwQP-4iJagyHHiqfla7V8lgyLcFdd-KQd-liN07K2xhdCD8VlJ703E4KkWEB-pKYWlEUHoSSX7MSd9ZU6joxU_FPLdXOvzggIPtVb7Dmz/s474/smackdown%202%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Nz2SoGJSjMRHLV9uxPSgmKOv6Wou_BmRNhmYWkNAFiGTwtlcoAuUAfaOT4jy8J-W3mhkItVthRsvVzGFEuSZwQP-4iJagyHHiqfla7V8lgyLcFdd-KQd-liN07K2xhdCD8VlJ703E4KkWEB-pKYWlEUHoSSX7MSd9ZU6joxU_FPLdXOvzggIPtVb7Dmz/w400-h300/smackdown%202%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Stuff I Liked: Besides the camera flashes and HHH having the right theme and all that cosmetic stuff (these games looked very good, especially for the Playstation), I liked that you'd get these close-up shots every time you hit a big move.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCoremvDExQIxrWAygR6KoM3LVB4xxM4CXVV-5WKrnpxG-blH3j1fVqPnksm8Ho6NrnhEaglpbyv9T2Nq9lvxXtk23p8BahT_DQvwD0H9mfzh6_9i95HwadOPFCdTjtFxp9b9QOU0D6NZkSXURMxoPb38KS4V3HM_wau5r9iLNANlyAKs4_RW9FCJmRt0x/s1280/medal%20of%20honor%20frontline.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCoremvDExQIxrWAygR6KoM3LVB4xxM4CXVV-5WKrnpxG-blH3j1fVqPnksm8Ho6NrnhEaglpbyv9T2Nq9lvxXtk23p8BahT_DQvwD0H9mfzh6_9i95HwadOPFCdTjtFxp9b9QOU0D6NZkSXURMxoPb38KS4V3HM_wau5r9iLNANlyAKs4_RW9FCJmRt0x/w400-h225/medal%20of%20honor%20frontline.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">#226 Medal of Honor: Frontline (Playstation 2) – Summer 2004</div><p style="text-align: center;">Decent rental. It's a WW2 game, one that strives for historical accuracy with locations and strategy and so forth. No craziness like <i>Wolfenstein</i> but also not as polished as <i>Call of Duty</i>. It was a good one though. They released two of these games at about the same time, and <i>Frontline</i> was the European theater. <i>Rising Sun</i> is the Pacific theater (and the better of the two games by a bit). I was studying up on WW2 at the time and this was just part of that. I like the attention to detail here and the intention to have it be as accurate as possible.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzY5Fn022Z-NrK-p0RsGUnKkd5S068qFi4XJQb79w8Pvdsiw0wuwyy_2Zh4OudG8fZKisN9-_NG7VZ3Y5P80Pt-eIa828uFlA6Qvy7VtW-wvjvsTvKRGpxrMDnl74okPsWnhOrRjj_OsfZU_P99LJ-pG1Oh3wmuZBrjuq8icqMBqrAiET5QuQwh3neAdkA/s989/medal%20of%20honor%20rising%20sun.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="989" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzY5Fn022Z-NrK-p0RsGUnKkd5S068qFi4XJQb79w8Pvdsiw0wuwyy_2Zh4OudG8fZKisN9-_NG7VZ3Y5P80Pt-eIa828uFlA6Qvy7VtW-wvjvsTvKRGpxrMDnl74okPsWnhOrRjj_OsfZU_P99LJ-pG1Oh3wmuZBrjuq8icqMBqrAiET5QuQwh3neAdkA/w400-h300/medal%20of%20honor%20rising%20sun.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#227 Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (Playstation 2) – Fall 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Very good game here. This covers the relatively un-sung (in video games) Pacific theater and all of the lesser-known but still critical battles therein. I found it to be a much better game than <i>Frontline</i>, even though they both dropped at about the same time (which was an achievement, because these are both very complete games).</p><p style="text-align: center;">Most Memorable Level: The first stage re-creates Pearl Harbor and has you trying to get off of a boat during the attack. The level of detail and thought that went into this stage was impressive and they captured what a disaster it all was.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZWU-aOS5E67sQUVO6O-R_4Td3zx_7KFrGE2XVez58BgAZRX9mswHIlylb9y6QWpuedYR_64OD_2_p6wNjtg9jdA5dBVbVEtXHWo7fzGx0fbPv-iRdPX757-AvDKqcFTGx4HOG8WjJr3Upn60rfjInX9UQqrnA9ChjiRhmlBEEm7kDfMz3HPR6LvidG53/s512/f-zero%20gx.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="385" data-original-width="512" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRZWU-aOS5E67sQUVO6O-R_4Td3zx_7KFrGE2XVez58BgAZRX9mswHIlylb9y6QWpuedYR_64OD_2_p6wNjtg9jdA5dBVbVEtXHWo7fzGx0fbPv-iRdPX757-AvDKqcFTGx4HOG8WjJr3Upn60rfjInX9UQqrnA9ChjiRhmlBEEm7kDfMz3HPR6LvidG53/w400-h301/f-zero%20gx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#228 F-Zero GX (Gamecube) – Fall 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Think this was the last thing I ever rented from Let's Play before it shut its doors. Have very little to say about this because I can barely remember it. Never got into the F-Zero games the way I did with the Mario Karts. This was a fun game though and I remember getting a lot out of it. I liked the characters and they were all intriguing even if I didn't know anything about them. What was Black Shadow's deal? I have no idea, but he seemed like a bad-ass villain and had a great theme.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0a0HhuBfnEc" width="320" youtube-src-id="0a0HhuBfnEc"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Black Shadow's theme...because it's the only track I can remember. I'm sure the game had much better tunes. This guy is like the Emperor Edgelord.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemmrcPwOPgJGhXOgmEYOzSNXfvmMmgHpYuGdmLvhmvSujPjlFzXG1DxWujY6upYUSIeafQ6m97OsmSSM3KEo6wkxjQyU7hLvdki_XyOf5FV4vZJ2mS06Aew1QVq2EcBQcFJcNbsYJPza_lyEaHUrJHYdmm_tYlxgfmeUQ1RoPeBxZ80qmQy1NWxQQfdYT/s240/Kirby's%20Nightmare%20in%20Dreamland%20(15).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemmrcPwOPgJGhXOgmEYOzSNXfvmMmgHpYuGdmLvhmvSujPjlFzXG1DxWujY6upYUSIeafQ6m97OsmSSM3KEo6wkxjQyU7hLvdki_XyOf5FV4vZJ2mS06Aew1QVq2EcBQcFJcNbsYJPza_lyEaHUrJHYdmm_tYlxgfmeUQ1RoPeBxZ80qmQy1NWxQQfdYT/w400-h267/Kirby's%20Nightmare%20in%20Dreamland%20(15).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#229 Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland (Game Boy Advance) – Fall 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">Don't remember this one too well. It's some sort of remake of <i>Kirby's Adventure</i> for the NES and it looks super pretty. At least when emulated in a fullscreen type of format, not sure how good it looks on the original hardware. They did some awesome backgrounds in this game, to say the least. Emulated this, like <i>Metroid Fusion</i> and <i>Onimusha Tactics</i>, and I gotta say the GBA really had some nice stuff that deserved to be played on a TV or monitor.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOVUuxuVjtGe4-mjT277JZQAxphPJhlCnDjG9QWK6YqZ5ZxiBJuzGWiNB5vSIW2Pa6fUMrb-ImCdcuqnXcddgrJHANoJmmXlzlCVPzrkLKHGNaK9O57GfUfeKsfckKHAl8HmXWv2xyQqrGjf6Yk9jFT3XGtz4rLDINJ_tB15wsVCyYY74ZjneoVgVkyfC/s240/Kirby's%20Nightmare%20in%20Dreamland%20A%20(21).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="160" data-original-width="240" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOVUuxuVjtGe4-mjT277JZQAxphPJhlCnDjG9QWK6YqZ5ZxiBJuzGWiNB5vSIW2Pa6fUMrb-ImCdcuqnXcddgrJHANoJmmXlzlCVPzrkLKHGNaK9O57GfUfeKsfckKHAl8HmXWv2xyQqrGjf6Yk9jFT3XGtz4rLDINJ_tB15wsVCyYY74ZjneoVgVkyfC/w400-h267/Kirby's%20Nightmare%20in%20Dreamland%20A%20(21).jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">A bit of a gem here and the kind of game I got into the Kirby series to play (it has had a few duds). Wish I remembered this game better.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: The final level(s?) go back to greyscale since they're an homage to the original <i>Kirby's Dream Land</i>, which is cool.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2015/05/kirby-nightmare-in-dreamland-game-boy.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2IqIQ53upuin5OOg-FPQjjlhyphenhyphenwZVlUKP9nyfBHyLougijOX-7MojLIbdW_ZUkRGBCCJv2M_kewRQWs3AcoY0EbCFdlDOSH3g3oTrShUgh2gSCcXG6I5mribycz8Y_HSm_CiaAjBdkjo6pi_aWNT410fo1MoNk1lpxbHyEwpvgK7OUBFYvA9m4LXRfOYN/s821/final%20fantasy%20legend%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="821" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV2IqIQ53upuin5OOg-FPQjjlhyphenhyphenwZVlUKP9nyfBHyLougijOX-7MojLIbdW_ZUkRGBCCJv2M_kewRQWs3AcoY0EbCFdlDOSH3g3oTrShUgh2gSCcXG6I5mribycz8Y_HSm_CiaAjBdkjo6pi_aWNT410fo1MoNk1lpxbHyEwpvgK7OUBFYvA9m4LXRfOYN/w320-h286/final%20fantasy%20legend%203.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#230 Final Fantasy Legend III (Game Boy) – Fall 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is the last physical Game Boy game I ever bought. Got it after I played <i>FFL2</i> on emulator back in 2000, played some of it, couldn't get into it (probably due to the small screen), sat on it for four years. I definitely preferred the clarity of the emulator image over trying to play something like this on my by-then very fuzzy Game Boy screen.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Regardless, I sat down and played through it, mostly while on break at work, over a few weeks. I like this the least of the three FFL games because it gets rid of the classes and a lot of what set them apart, going for a more traditional RPG instead. I'll replay it at some point and maybe I'll like it more with a clearer screen, either on emulator or on <i>Collection of SaGa</i> (which unfortunately emulates the Game Boy screen a little too well, rather than the B&W clarity of an emulator).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6MxSsyLgtL6wnBEEKL8zsvoJXGYoEvEK5sNk3ZHkww5mKjsjmaV-gkDGRY4RLmNtSbdn8F7067KHbBy1BvVtVxus0zIw8UTpP_tRxOIVb3Axx1OcFdcy4tbsxwoVDR720CdcptyGGzfxjfaDSNZW01C9o-zdKFJpOoapmiAAIZAIZeiIoftYlTM257dB/s800/final-fantasy-legend-3-05.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="800" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr6MxSsyLgtL6wnBEEKL8zsvoJXGYoEvEK5sNk3ZHkww5mKjsjmaV-gkDGRY4RLmNtSbdn8F7067KHbBy1BvVtVxus0zIw8UTpP_tRxOIVb3Axx1OcFdcy4tbsxwoVDR720CdcptyGGzfxjfaDSNZW01C9o-zdKFJpOoapmiAAIZAIZeiIoftYlTM257dB/w320-h288/final-fantasy-legend-3-05.png" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Most Vivid Memory: This battle. This battle right here. I fought this one enemy group so many times and I remember it being emblematic of how bland and weird and repetitive I found the game to be. Just couldn't get into this one. I'll give it another shot at some point, if I live long enough.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: I remember Sol and Xagor being pretty nasty fights. All of the FFLs have really rough final bosses.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgi9PRZ0VWxmW7J50Z3TbIqr4yg6a-2gX855oCUHw8enIMh2pQIdLCmWBmxMj4bSew93UUztpkiVeR5QfsE5tRKdBM947ZYyn6c_xCobbnZpsARMfPXkg-A1c4JZg2e-NkA72q21e8R2HxXJu4mzMCVTedkRzWsCSxmwAt6Vp-Cuq0IzXYtXGniCHbTSF5/s637/metroid%20prime%202%20ing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="637" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgi9PRZ0VWxmW7J50Z3TbIqr4yg6a-2gX855oCUHw8enIMh2pQIdLCmWBmxMj4bSew93UUztpkiVeR5QfsE5tRKdBM947ZYyn6c_xCobbnZpsARMfPXkg-A1c4JZg2e-NkA72q21e8R2HxXJu4mzMCVTedkRzWsCSxmwAt6Vp-Cuq0IzXYtXGniCHbTSF5/w425-h298/metroid%20prime%202%20ing.jpg" width="425" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#231 Metroid Prime 2 (Gamecube) – Fall 2004</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is a tremendous game. I thought it was pretty far below the first <i>Prime</i> back then, but still much better than your average game. As time has gone on, I've gained a new appreciation for this one, and in the past decade or so I actually kinda <i>prefer</i> this game to the first. Like if all things were equal and I needed to reach for one to replay, I'd reach for this one. That said, now that the first has an HD version, it wins 9 times out of 10. However, if this gets an HD version, they're back to being equal, so...</p><p style="text-align: center;">All of that is taking a lot of words to say that this is a game that might actually be better than its predecessor, but that's gonna be a controversial take for most fans of the series given how amazing the first is (especially for its time). They ported over the controls and everything else that worked spot-on, and created a more interesting world for this one.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-MkytyzvpwoDTbDg1yOCa6a5S9ptAriNVK2gS-cdmrhd8yH6Nw65ib9_m95QIHHUA43DPWpZXn6gk4vpUofdZ_rZKvKZD0E86TzDjeZZF9fuImQtrJE_9GIKVD5KucnJ7uxP6VyvSWMHmYuh_vsJlkXbq2APryg83vMgsqeyzzP_2r2FpgLv_BVqkU6k/s956/metroid%20prime%202%20multiplayer.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="956" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx-MkytyzvpwoDTbDg1yOCa6a5S9ptAriNVK2gS-cdmrhd8yH6Nw65ib9_m95QIHHUA43DPWpZXn6gk4vpUofdZ_rZKvKZD0E86TzDjeZZF9fuImQtrJE_9GIKVD5KucnJ7uxP6VyvSWMHmYuh_vsJlkXbq2APryg83vMgsqeyzzP_2r2FpgLv_BVqkU6k/w434-h305/metroid%20prime%202%20multiplayer.png" width="434" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">There's also a four-player splitscreen death-match mode that is fantastic to play around with. Hopefully the inevitable HD version has it too, because it'd harken back to when games regularly had things like this. It was one of the better multiplayer deathmatch games out there in 2004, especially for the Gamecube. Unfortunately I don't think I ever really did much with the multiplayer in this and was very much focused on the single-player, like most of the time.</p><p style="text-align: center;">While the first <i>Prime</i> gives you a pretty standard Metroid world with every biome accounted for, not unlike <i>Fusion</i> or <i>Super</i>, this one goes off in a new direction by basing the world around light and dark elements. It might well do two parallel worlds better than any other game I've seen with this mechanic (<i>Dragon Quest VI, Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Chrono Cross, Zelda: </i>Oracle of Ages, to name a few). The dark world in this game is very distinct, incredibly atmospheric, and legitimately a bit scary.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjn_mDCkfUaaP8z_r3fHeOZaPNe6kV-jFQp12mRloyzba8T2eL1b9fwTMvVYZybHFg35NcKD22aEbhUNEJ22mn2s80ArAvCB-Gl0kLOnBJ6gxGLPkJB-rt0zCyiRKo2164lWKpdLq5QesE_XC6OhZYZmncqbu4cQguV1-zfbpyIEoqr8EnET_aP_clOASJ/s1920/metroid%20prime%202%20ruins.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjn_mDCkfUaaP8z_r3fHeOZaPNe6kV-jFQp12mRloyzba8T2eL1b9fwTMvVYZybHFg35NcKD22aEbhUNEJ22mn2s80ArAvCB-Gl0kLOnBJ6gxGLPkJB-rt0zCyiRKo2164lWKpdLq5QesE_XC6OhZYZmncqbu4cQguV1-zfbpyIEoqr8EnET_aP_clOASJ/w474-h267/metroid%20prime%202%20ruins.jpg" width="474" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">There are 3 main areas in this game, plus a particularly memorable hub temple area. From there, Agon Wastes is a, well, wasteland, a desert biome with stone ruins. Torvus Bog is a gloomy, atmospheric, stormy location with somber, thought-provoking music. Sanctuary Fortress is a hyper-advanced, futuristic sky fortress that might well be the single most interesting zone in the series.</p><p style="text-align: center;">If this game has any weakness in its world design, it's that Agon Wastes is actually kind of a dull area compared to the others. We already did the "desert with stone ruins" theme in the first game with Chozo Ruins. And considering that Agon Wastes takes up a full third of the game (a third being 3-5 hours on a first go of the game), it's quite a bit of playing before you get to the more interesting areas. I kinda wish the game had led off with Torvus Bog, or a more interesting version of Agon Wastes. The first big area being weak drags things down a bit and probably warded off some players. The first game starts things with a bang and Tallon Overworld is insanely memorable in a way nothing in early <i>Prime 2</i> is. Overall though I think this game has a stronger world, and every area having a dark world counterpart is also quite interesting.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBSL3e8CJWFBpmmhzGC7Samm-98gZW44h_-nOiBY_E2Xk90-smPV-SiuTuJDGrp_opsH_EWVwcK9X-V5xNbS97PQsKOAzhEgvjo8rURipmG2M8oGgr79_qShbaIZ_LdiUqqXvnuGksKyPiU10lDyM4YVKa2Cmgs3erwNBQged7c3MCFBbPrsX6j7qLuZJ/s474/metroid%20prime%202%20boost%20guardian.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBSL3e8CJWFBpmmhzGC7Samm-98gZW44h_-nOiBY_E2Xk90-smPV-SiuTuJDGrp_opsH_EWVwcK9X-V5xNbS97PQsKOAzhEgvjo8rURipmG2M8oGgr79_qShbaIZ_LdiUqqXvnuGksKyPiU10lDyM4YVKa2Cmgs3erwNBQged7c3MCFBbPrsX6j7qLuZJ/w514-h289/metroid%20prime%202%20boost%20guardian.jpg" width="514" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Boost Guardian. Dunno why that fight is so nasty. It's overtuned and seems like it was intended for later in the game than it actually is. Never had a ton of trouble with it (nothing in this game is terribly difficult) but it's certainly a much bigger challenge than anything before that and maybe after.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOcXzkdc9fHBIvIYlgN5w2NQs04yU1TCYGlUdJnIjemFUF3u-OcNo5iaQQ_7fm-abVBsdh0dHwxKWnahhlwq1nU7rGg3WH5CB49OvpYGD_dG7x54bz4SpXS3upV4zJnK7EDmWraqfjUKPxiHet3eUeXQ8C2VauH17z8pCtNRJE8lIVYR8320ErmFMYanV/s1920/metroid%20prime%202%20quadraxis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOcXzkdc9fHBIvIYlgN5w2NQs04yU1TCYGlUdJnIjemFUF3u-OcNo5iaQQ_7fm-abVBsdh0dHwxKWnahhlwq1nU7rGg3WH5CB49OvpYGD_dG7x54bz4SpXS3upV4zJnK7EDmWraqfjUKPxiHet3eUeXQ8C2VauH17z8pCtNRJE8lIVYR8320ErmFMYanV/w491-h276/metroid%20prime%202%20quadraxis.jpg" width="491" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Boss: Quadraxis. A giant quadripedal mech is a great idea for a boss fight, and I like that it makes use of Samus' sonic visor and sound-based weapons to damage some parts of it that are shielded. So much creativity went into this game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Iffy Memory 1: This game came out immediately after a contentious election that a lot of us young people at the time weren't happy with the outcome of and weren't sure if we were going to be drafted by the end of the next year. Which in retrospect might have happened with either of the turd sandwich establishment candidates we had. A tale as old as time. In the moment though, we didn't know what was going to happen and it sucked. This game launching pretty much RIGHT after that caught me at, shall we say, not the best time. With a lot of bad stuff going on, at least we didn't get drafted, I guess.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Iffy Memory 2: A girl I liked, who I very nearly won over, decided to stay the course with another guy who had asked her out first (and beat me to it by like one week). We'd gotten pretty close, but it was what it was. This also all kinda went down while I was chipping at this game. So I associate Torvus Bog's theme with moping about it. Walking through a bog in pouring rain was pretty appropriate for feeling like a sad sack at the time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fB3pgoPHa-w" width="320" youtube-src-id="fB3pgoPHa-w"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Torvus Bog! What a great theme. Maybe the best theme I've heard for having to slog through a thunderstorm, like you do in that part of the game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: I don't really have any.</p><p style="text-align: center;">In Short: This game was dragged down by things that had nothing to do with it. It's also pretty dark and oppressive in general. However, that means it had plenty of room to have a second life with me in the 2010's when I replayed it a couple times and found it way better than I thought. I'd say that it might even be my favorite of the trilogy.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BQo7co61Lwuz5_kYKoViGLxcL8Ne7zM-anK6RF_tdsylEJbf7P7EU0Lfh9hkOPp22WRvODE4vjcfIHx_nhGIdnllU830BdD9aaOosp8g1GdzZxc_18hSxSw5yJgGQss2JWKvCZgnB9_slaEj5twskvdg6_WhsLLkPeXakuhNYYdDYYvU6aLMM0onWiGA/s4776/metroid%20prime%202%20sanctuary%20fortress.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2688" data-original-width="4776" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BQo7co61Lwuz5_kYKoViGLxcL8Ne7zM-anK6RF_tdsylEJbf7P7EU0Lfh9hkOPp22WRvODE4vjcfIHx_nhGIdnllU830BdD9aaOosp8g1GdzZxc_18hSxSw5yJgGQss2JWKvCZgnB9_slaEj5twskvdg6_WhsLLkPeXakuhNYYdDYYvU6aLMM0onWiGA/w506-h284/metroid%20prime%202%20sanctuary%20fortress.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory on Replay 6 Years Later: Really dug the Sanctuary Fortress and found some of the vistas there breathtaking. The fact that you only see it in the last third of the game means it keeps you waiting for it for a while, building the hype.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a></p><div><br /></div>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-23515700414743053522024-02-15T00:39:00.003-05:002024-02-15T12:56:56.331-05:00Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part V - Sea Legs<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0zvqj-diOLz7dL8YfNicBvJfd9C0HzMUDfuS0pYmFKBjny3nsi1rp-DuD2O_ORBjF4IreOk4SyUo-T8hDTYdiEoEM9rr2qFLVA_zkeD2oRjpj_siHfLb-BgPHJePzlxwaninSW1ANw9o9iLeqSMgEwquz62W_DrJ7ZRbH68yjKinsNQcFZmxYTPW0JF_/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi050.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0zvqj-diOLz7dL8YfNicBvJfd9C0HzMUDfuS0pYmFKBjny3nsi1rp-DuD2O_ORBjF4IreOk4SyUo-T8hDTYdiEoEM9rr2qFLVA_zkeD2oRjpj_siHfLb-BgPHJePzlxwaninSW1ANw9o9iLeqSMgEwquz62W_DrJ7ZRbH68yjKinsNQcFZmxYTPW0JF_/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi050.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My God! ...wait, who?</div><p></p><p><span></span></p><a><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></a><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5FJfrtIkT65tACzZX3yh9wxY3THAXaQX98Z0FmtlYJH3AMMpipH074FzNSFzhujMT_RL1aPzkP7-vLuyDlv1opC_eYCE4mE2BTDlMyZHhr7z2RiyZt89GGv9mjzqPzDR9XQq2q-V-iPMHSR7zITbPyU1zNPW2L8ADNZ42cPkN2YPQQXgizq7n9wcAb6n/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi039.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis5FJfrtIkT65tACzZX3yh9wxY3THAXaQX98Z0FmtlYJH3AMMpipH074FzNSFzhujMT_RL1aPzkP7-vLuyDlv1opC_eYCE4mE2BTDlMyZHhr7z2RiyZt89GGv9mjzqPzDR9XQq2q-V-iPMHSR7zITbPyU1zNPW2L8ADNZ42cPkN2YPQQXgizq7n9wcAb6n/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi039.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Traveling underwater through the eastern waterways of the world leads me to a very important location.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NBqaBf2vGA4wSjXnnCnssV1Nd2MiIP5o9hk2iSsAzRILQpwYvMdNlbKM0SI4XOQNRRM0ReZyV_q3M0DlHeUSTyCrMZs0899wAZaHQVoRENcG1dcsmjbBOtsSC68NAo1tUSCuoEd4KHC2Ow72F__O9tCV9PDsI5PoI20rO5xOm0ylYaJLD2asG0348vIZ/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi040.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2NBqaBf2vGA4wSjXnnCnssV1Nd2MiIP5o9hk2iSsAzRILQpwYvMdNlbKM0SI4XOQNRRM0ReZyV_q3M0DlHeUSTyCrMZs0899wAZaHQVoRENcG1dcsmjbBOtsSC68NAo1tUSCuoEd4KHC2Ow72F__O9tCV9PDsI5PoI20rO5xOm0ylYaJLD2asG0348vIZ/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi040.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Surfacing reveals an island with a well. This is one of the best shops in the game, and has some huge upgrades at this point.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mG01-Ptx2dVFKRrgSUc7UoIdg7cIKaTkBFST4Sz_oSXRdsEbrhh2KWW8AoI7qSIstu2Nvicl8O4BS4lHOa1JxqlFdUASjJZ1HRnZEPbo5PCMXQInhAQL-NPEl5SHjza2Rr5fQhIr4U7AludXV3LppzcW5bU5JdC8Ed6t-nUn6Uuq9FG8dFET96eoID52/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi041.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4mG01-Ptx2dVFKRrgSUc7UoIdg7cIKaTkBFST4Sz_oSXRdsEbrhh2KWW8AoI7qSIstu2Nvicl8O4BS4lHOa1JxqlFdUASjJZ1HRnZEPbo5PCMXQInhAQL-NPEl5SHjza2Rr5fQhIr4U7AludXV3LppzcW5bU5JdC8Ed6t-nUn6Uuq9FG8dFET96eoID52/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi041.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Another reason I like the Spiegelspire grind is to have money for this shop. Not sure how much traffic and money they get when they're at the bottom of a well on an island though. Maybe they're the shopkeepers who scream?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Vky5ac1X2_z1dmKGtI3j7eqkDzrHpCkh6nwauj33H-aGl-FXBfbJG98H_uxiUN7cJYnQ-xkyWgB20NDqcBZdJROgBSRtOwSSCoqdjX-ClamIBrB2IHN97pT9hgUef_2OkWe1f4RWemr5hg3WYcjLWQvXq5hKDAH-ux4_le2VtxLzO4wrq8xTyP8X6tgl/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi042.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7Vky5ac1X2_z1dmKGtI3j7eqkDzrHpCkh6nwauj33H-aGl-FXBfbJG98H_uxiUN7cJYnQ-xkyWgB20NDqcBZdJROgBSRtOwSSCoqdjX-ClamIBrB2IHN97pT9hgUef_2OkWe1f4RWemr5hg3WYcjLWQvXq5hKDAH-ux4_le2VtxLzO4wrq8xTyP8X6tgl/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi042.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Very good equipment here, both weapons and armor. I went ahead and got the best stuff for everyone, which ran about 350k between the two shops.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWQxV39qXHwQdnNJMjXDGA4AGjUhi3D_dyv9nmQrc7op70BgpcnwnRRTmPciAlTV8w0yy_xxyRD2GfXyARbMih5rjqjaWbGTSnjTJeeyW18UaibUZWtH44bzXZyzg5mL0rzdvyElfdM33Onu6wixJ_Zw0mWPmGVdaLhSW9wLgTwnrfRJ_4sM3wZL8HWwf/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi043.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinWQxV39qXHwQdnNJMjXDGA4AGjUhi3D_dyv9nmQrc7op70BgpcnwnRRTmPciAlTV8w0yy_xxyRD2GfXyARbMih5rjqjaWbGTSnjTJeeyW18UaibUZWtH44bzXZyzg5mL0rzdvyElfdM33Onu6wixJ_Zw0mWPmGVdaLhSW9wLgTwnrfRJ_4sM3wZL8HWwf/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi043.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The other really important thing to do is get the Final Key from a wrecked boat underwater. This is what I've been needing, and opens every door in the game just about. I go back and get the loot I was locked out of earlier. It's nothing to write home about, just armor IIRC.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTDmNQbEiI3GV6Lmn6cr4lRpVti4xPVmN4_ohfZOZZnvktX3BZL1I-cg5SvtKsWgTd4HFQL-0EW5Fckxh1TPNjDagCoDBrs9RFA80FBXyjiq2TRe1W3VivdY6mXv6DvTs1NHMT9wX5U2GVVWFdgYUXFzUgxhSJ3kf1_uepQvHjlPA8r5Hv5DCsRvyvmiA/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi044.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTDmNQbEiI3GV6Lmn6cr4lRpVti4xPVmN4_ohfZOZZnvktX3BZL1I-cg5SvtKsWgTd4HFQL-0EW5Fckxh1TPNjDagCoDBrs9RFA80FBXyjiq2TRe1W3VivdY6mXv6DvTs1NHMT9wX5U2GVVWFdgYUXFzUgxhSJ3kf1_uepQvHjlPA8r5Hv5DCsRvyvmiA/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi044.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now that all of the running around is done, the next dungeon is this temple in the great southern sea.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8BQTkmEha8sj05sUnIh5zCauALcoTJdlFczXc3IAWaDjoIq5wkyViNRwInT0t1ZLLAFis2w9LRXJjY-spENhjHEUm-4GRczePKVyCVPWNFMbtAPP-cF6ESZItr-iGM_H16ydXFnMj_TIWuUqVIsVzlwxofiTbAHm233NAskN_e6LtIo7AXsrDHUp4_eF/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi045.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8BQTkmEha8sj05sUnIh5zCauALcoTJdlFczXc3IAWaDjoIq5wkyViNRwInT0t1ZLLAFis2w9LRXJjY-spENhjHEUm-4GRczePKVyCVPWNFMbtAPP-cF6ESZItr-iGM_H16ydXFnMj_TIWuUqVIsVzlwxofiTbAHm233NAskN_e6LtIo7AXsrDHUp4_eF/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi045.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's the first major dungeon in a bit, and involves using switches to lower water levels. Not to worry, it's nowhere near as complex as <i>Ocarina of Time's</i> Water Temple.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNw2THp5b9Xgz0f97-nZmOZST5rkBbBdgcdOUFqvI1iJ7gjDlYL5bHXm4ELftKAYEDjpjofHBc3ZZOdE8UmkjF52LtBZFbX0pfswmAIOjnNGUwcTV7gS42RQIE2DZW1yFvjCeh7Ysexz2EaFv4jyWgyGOHqFlCrQgJ3eU2-oy2YNaZ-0tIOiwnxqGJuhR/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi048.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaNw2THp5b9Xgz0f97-nZmOZST5rkBbBdgcdOUFqvI1iJ7gjDlYL5bHXm4ELftKAYEDjpjofHBc3ZZOdE8UmkjF52LtBZFbX0pfswmAIOjnNGUwcTV7gS42RQIE2DZW1yFvjCeh7Ysexz2EaFv4jyWgyGOHqFlCrQgJ3eU2-oy2YNaZ-0tIOiwnxqGJuhR/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi048.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a super important key item for the next area, and it can be missed pretty easily. I missed it in the remake and had to redo this area, since it's near the end of the dungeon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnO546qxUAHb7k45FjMEA-W_ajl45y19R7n9JsoCVZTpSjjYh3RdRBoo1LKdqZCIbDLo7YW-6yzLWhRleLOVDJbGXa5FK0CKEpyHgGGhgj8xSEFpBZE3y6cP2R9xfgRt_CnCdRrc2SjjFA-Hjn7qaDQRb6-CJsEVDlULBsZe7ublB9dJD2itQi1PY82SYB/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi049.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnO546qxUAHb7k45FjMEA-W_ajl45y19R7n9JsoCVZTpSjjYh3RdRBoo1LKdqZCIbDLo7YW-6yzLWhRleLOVDJbGXa5FK0CKEpyHgGGhgj8xSEFpBZE3y6cP2R9xfgRt_CnCdRrc2SjjFA-Hjn7qaDQRb6-CJsEVDlULBsZe7ublB9dJD2itQi1PY82SYB/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi049.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next, we meet the third Maou, the latest pretender to the throne of Mudo...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPz5zHafFUbN-N4MG-DIKXgSVIYppqZRtTa2fIU5BfEnHmyXIn2iOENod3B8XInd316XIWI6eaNIqEsmsEsqlZ0wOkOEcqohjHh2zxIJNUciH54ofXMt_m1fIejUMldwUiBkHMpuQRv22CGlxinXEOXAG9W9C9ReRdhVjaeooWji6AAQlaZGri6hUHLgJf/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi050.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPz5zHafFUbN-N4MG-DIKXgSVIYppqZRtTa2fIU5BfEnHmyXIn2iOENod3B8XInd316XIWI6eaNIqEsmsEsqlZ0wOkOEcqohjHh2zxIJNUciH54ofXMt_m1fIejUMldwUiBkHMpuQRv22CGlxinXEOXAG9W9C9ReRdhVjaeooWji6AAQlaZGri6hUHLgJf/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi050.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, this is another minion who got promoted to Maou due to process of elimination. Before Mudo and Jamiras fell, this guy was a toilet cleaner in the bad guy army. The higher power is really scraping the barrel for minions at this point.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RJzZNIWXYjPvYG8q1FZgAL4dcXsjoTp_DByKcFO-bR9NlLXJxVnUTA5iTPiOFeJZo209-w4uwBTGzmlioQoEOglEg2DueFOAZtyKnPjyrKHqLjMzIpIqZhxPcA55VPfqRceNNq1t29p2wGCZgK1NbVt37FsnWxGL83FXTOmlydUhf3btO7pT8jLdeSQj/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi052.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8RJzZNIWXYjPvYG8q1FZgAL4dcXsjoTp_DByKcFO-bR9NlLXJxVnUTA5iTPiOFeJZo209-w4uwBTGzmlioQoEOglEg2DueFOAZtyKnPjyrKHqLjMzIpIqZhxPcA55VPfqRceNNq1t29p2wGCZgK1NbVt37FsnWxGL83FXTOmlydUhf3btO7pT8jLdeSQj/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi052.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a fight I'm way overleveled for, and thanks to that new shop, also way overgeared for. He's got some strong AOEs but nothing to worry about. Thus far Mudo was the toughest fight in the game and he'll likely remain that for the rest, despite only being about a third of the way through.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Would also be nice if any of the other archfiends got the level of build that Mudo got, or even anywhere close to it. Mudo gets an excellent build that would be fitting for the main villain of the game. Jamiras and Glacos just sort of come out of nowhere. Wouldn't be surprised if a lot of players don't even realize that these guys are supposed to be archfiends.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFZOA-IJRVqZ7TXq7I1BbauRRObJ14VW-u6pPW3rveRe79v4HcpsaDKI6kcXj_qtqbxnsW6yJoHoOnDyPxtMaQEEBmE0E1uqA5Ci0TDJ0LZG_e4nn0bc7-SmOn5Pmr42KO0YE_K0SQmb7BLYCra4cykRBusBBGP8_3AkOCVW3kcUPDYMzisTY7ZVueHr7/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi055.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDFZOA-IJRVqZ7TXq7I1BbauRRObJ14VW-u6pPW3rveRe79v4HcpsaDKI6kcXj_qtqbxnsW6yJoHoOnDyPxtMaQEEBmE0E1uqA5Ci0TDJ0LZG_e4nn0bc7-SmOn5Pmr42KO0YE_K0SQmb7BLYCra4cykRBusBBGP8_3AkOCVW3kcUPDYMzisTY7ZVueHr7/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi055.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next area is where the Sand Container is needed to proceed. Only Barbara can use it though, everyone else gets a "doesn't know how to use it" message. This part is real cryptic. It doesn't tell you what to do, the item you have to use is missable, and it won't work unless one specific character uses it, so I could see players trying it and thinking it wasn't what they needed. Bet a lot of people got stuck at this point unsure of what the heck they were supposed to do.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6jcsRg-tVTOHGTaHgVxwKjjYD7bGHTtxW-UMvnm9YtefI2o_8IJFqm2hRGshondZYyYI2TrtriQ58IxcWerzQ7zCSEOVdzw0Rn-XxqRrw1iUUyonzzyDBiWncDA758GNQlv27OBz07mLWOq4G_CO_SYPCntG1YP-wgvnZkQFYxAHIl_6MP6RPvCim8xJ/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6jcsRg-tVTOHGTaHgVxwKjjYD7bGHTtxW-UMvnm9YtefI2o_8IJFqm2hRGshondZYyYI2TrtriQ58IxcWerzQ7zCSEOVdzw0Rn-XxqRrw1iUUyonzzyDBiWncDA758GNQlv27OBz07mLWOq4G_CO_SYPCntG1YP-wgvnZkQFYxAHIl_6MP6RPvCim8xJ/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Talking to the Calberona village elder gets Barbara the ultimate spell (Magic Burst in other versions). I pretty much never end up using this, but it's necessary to continue either way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQC8iRCou33O9FR3X6rwJ64QXnEuohQ64Y4KohJnxgrJKnylVJCs4SiGpeDud9flHGKwVDqPqqFWt3p8UyWNKllp4-hE5TQwxyOuBh8kNYh4W4wl3AMrTeKreek6scdG8CYSrSiO6uI9JMMXtAo-7TlXQO7nqjVZHQJZzkTkWdtxFtfo4ECdx2sMdizvnH/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi003.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQC8iRCou33O9FR3X6rwJ64QXnEuohQ64Y4KohJnxgrJKnylVJCs4SiGpeDud9flHGKwVDqPqqFWt3p8UyWNKllp4-hE5TQwxyOuBh8kNYh4W4wl3AMrTeKreek6scdG8CYSrSiO6uI9JMMXtAo-7TlXQO7nqjVZHQJZzkTkWdtxFtfo4ECdx2sMdizvnH/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next up, we gotta get the Magic Carpet from the Style Contest, which transpires on a distant island. This island is the domain of...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAes_BPZTvP12-OaE38aIYdAOJqZihLmnF3O3bOjOUzZeox6mDhDrclvOEyRN1qWJ_nuiTDPFMU0BTcGkB99oiveVrsswXGvWeSFEsqWrNquMBmrg2ew4oo-66SqQae8yr_dZ3LBJ6_UXFP-ES1HsxIzMcthUfTsfrnN0DsoaiR9PeC_0z_GFyCSl9M5C6/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi004.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAes_BPZTvP12-OaE38aIYdAOJqZihLmnF3O3bOjOUzZeox6mDhDrclvOEyRN1qWJ_nuiTDPFMU0BTcGkB99oiveVrsswXGvWeSFEsqWrNquMBmrg2ew4oo-66SqQae8yr_dZ3LBJ6_UXFP-ES1HsxIzMcthUfTsfrnN0DsoaiR9PeC_0z_GFyCSl9M5C6/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi004.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Calvin, the style connoisseur. Calvin Klein?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AHiITaABAolgY8z_WLOSCPEwFkj9W0EHlBwH0KLE1xzAklosuLH3ZkW4eEQOtxQX5bYsMC_Gka_5kn2QiYEdITgLCzj3uq5B2sQLxHSHYBliswaaZVVxgdtc-lm_cIo6vqBmYlgOwF-zq2sWTXqs26xhVuhF-Rxpy3vWbsRzRMx0y_vMvCp1rs7rhGa3/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi005.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AHiITaABAolgY8z_WLOSCPEwFkj9W0EHlBwH0KLE1xzAklosuLH3ZkW4eEQOtxQX5bYsMC_Gka_5kn2QiYEdITgLCzj3uq5B2sQLxHSHYBliswaaZVVxgdtc-lm_cIo6vqBmYlgOwF-zq2sWTXqs26xhVuhF-Rxpy3vWbsRzRMx0y_vMvCp1rs7rhGa3/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi005.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He's a bit sketch, this Calvin guy, and holds style contests just to gawk at attractive people.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Reminds me of when I was a kid and I first heard about Calvin Klein on the news. Someone was talking about how the brand had controversial commercials that were too sexy or whatever. Me being like 6, I misunderstood everything they were saying and thought Calvin Klein was this guy who was going around being too sexy and like, doin' it with people in clothing stores.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I also thought his name was "Clean Ken" at first. So I was warning other kids to watch out for Clean Ken since he was hanging out in clothing stores trying to get people to have sex.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I remember one girl balking at this and going "No way! I don't care how clean he is!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYfeAvrN1NpvXHkxo1qNv8an16kTKMxoTWhB89SE2yI0mwTa4TyY507v3V5eUfPWnZoXh8DnSqyyC3zoXdqcFApDyewRo_Waw2o1FF9aAnpDFDpvx1DsmW0DItKp7kmqTcKm91ecPJHA4aibP_5a26kaViHpbOBiIJRBGWRYlslYaHFeg_tA1LgHFFwz6/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi006.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQYfeAvrN1NpvXHkxo1qNv8an16kTKMxoTWhB89SE2yI0mwTa4TyY507v3V5eUfPWnZoXh8DnSqyyC3zoXdqcFApDyewRo_Waw2o1FF9aAnpDFDpvx1DsmW0DItKp7kmqTcKm91ecPJHA4aibP_5a26kaViHpbOBiIJRBGWRYlslYaHFeg_tA1LgHFFwz6/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi006.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The judges are three of the hardest-nose, toughest critics out there. They are basically 3 of Simon Cowell. They don't just judge your style...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJnZj1lwWSKggyirRn-42b1kegCUCQ34cRH8_9LqO-SfUIj74FCNw92oG2t5x5aI-P_V7PGINsQb9sBtAmjaYVIhyphenhyphen0-aNyN-Ei82LLkYDtYZf1MBE8kKJLTPSFHVCsNUAfvBoK49bkjx4IH6BA421CC0WjUlGUqK1q6bQVsySg-NpUmHItDxcAHy5TWV3/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi007.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNJnZj1lwWSKggyirRn-42b1kegCUCQ34cRH8_9LqO-SfUIj74FCNw92oG2t5x5aI-P_V7PGINsQb9sBtAmjaYVIhyphenhyphen0-aNyN-Ei82LLkYDtYZf1MBE8kKJLTPSFHVCsNUAfvBoK49bkjx4IH6BA421CC0WjUlGUqK1q6bQVsySg-NpUmHItDxcAHy5TWV3/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi007.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...they also judge your perky breasts. So our hero is at a disadvantage, as his lot in life was to be stuck with an unwelcome dong.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcgTcI7nQaWeBH_kqJOIxtkliZSBPk-KREFJ3QiTq0mdivCsOXls-kSrwWiHRCAs32VXiL-jbCR2pLHJbr842dS9ZB4LJz7HH27q7a5_IKfomjhmCoQvq-gjXsGMp-e9p0ASAyE60G46rkHEDfT3xa40jy4FWNwEA9m7QMXCkuwrsZ_QGh2leaCoNsjjs/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi002.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcgTcI7nQaWeBH_kqJOIxtkliZSBPk-KREFJ3QiTq0mdivCsOXls-kSrwWiHRCAs32VXiL-jbCR2pLHJbr842dS9ZB4LJz7HH27q7a5_IKfomjhmCoQvq-gjXsGMp-e9p0ASAyE60G46rkHEDfT3xa40jy4FWNwEA9m7QMXCkuwrsZ_QGh2leaCoNsjjs/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I've got a secret weapon for this style contest: Barbara, wearing nothing but a towel, a tiara, and some fishnets. And cracking a whip, if they're into that. 263 Style is gonna be real hard to stop.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gHx01BxDxLr58Cqj7mLtShFDTWnOfvcBNynrjQKKhf39PIyfZm2UIbC9vVIemilNvLsrpl0ktjGFki0eGO5uDYA92us6IABZqXONCO4KzuW78b9l8B7gvuMF1zR4A1M8Uibv6_lkSe5k__VBzkFZWlPb8mnaXmSnKtL2orv_5Rt5cG2D4Di5Yqs6IUc_/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi008.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gHx01BxDxLr58Cqj7mLtShFDTWnOfvcBNynrjQKKhf39PIyfZm2UIbC9vVIemilNvLsrpl0ktjGFki0eGO5uDYA92us6IABZqXONCO4KzuW78b9l8B7gvuMF1zR4A1M8Uibv6_lkSe5k__VBzkFZWlPb8mnaXmSnKtL2orv_5Rt5cG2D4Di5Yqs6IUc_/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi008.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Her competition is...lacking. Well, except that one guy who looks like a zombie version of the hero.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbZvzfnaidn3NGU2g5UYGOGn5PrUFQPGKUva8mrVGlymA9z3UZSq9obcXysUsbstfKPrQjXQfi4fucKDrHGMVkcYkjpy84e_g_FH07YtwSRggCfyUquwfCaUcrr8RD1788M_cDJUB1II9FHF2CsP8DMGdb5QkC59qLKJKFYM8akKlM_QaU8Y3asUkEksC/s258/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi009.png"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbZvzfnaidn3NGU2g5UYGOGn5PrUFQPGKUva8mrVGlymA9z3UZSq9obcXysUsbstfKPrQjXQfi4fucKDrHGMVkcYkjpy84e_g_FH07YtwSRggCfyUquwfCaUcrr8RD1788M_cDJUB1II9FHF2CsP8DMGdb5QkC59qLKJKFYM8akKlM_QaU8Y3asUkEksC/s1600/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi009.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"FUNGAAAH!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLQ-o_HJqNVok8v1mIq5fF_ZQQxcIJwJ3geJdAh4rxVdfJ1JJCnw0j_obKelqVd_0CRvrUFXmv0Xp3w8lfVRpY3lPIJ-0yCQvVcFJ6ZOVF8PUeHnzy-IrjpRZQ9rllVTpe6zNBg3-0lLDftHmL6UGrXVULRzS0kbonISxwKY1GAGMmp1gNXARwgCsMC-I/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi011.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwLQ-o_HJqNVok8v1mIq5fF_ZQQxcIJwJ3geJdAh4rxVdfJ1JJCnw0j_obKelqVd_0CRvrUFXmv0Xp3w8lfVRpY3lPIJ-0yCQvVcFJ6ZOVF8PUeHnzy-IrjpRZQ9rllVTpe6zNBg3-0lLDftHmL6UGrXVULRzS0kbonISxwKY1GAGMmp1gNXARwgCsMC-I/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi011.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred plays as he stumbles around on the stage.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UAyDLhHBnKCA5DZ9dCaFbI2JTWY8JqgV85SO4H7FJTUu-xauwcWfYA9O8LRIcEpe1UCIToIcgwbteSPnh7Ek6XxgstkahWv5W5fkbZjBOpWr10yIMQUpTfM3NSIPI1I62hHTLva9E0xFfEk-zND45n3amhxkWpX-xYso92r_1jktb-SIbi1qKGkAnAGU/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi013.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-UAyDLhHBnKCA5DZ9dCaFbI2JTWY8JqgV85SO4H7FJTUu-xauwcWfYA9O8LRIcEpe1UCIToIcgwbteSPnh7Ek6XxgstkahWv5W5fkbZjBOpWr10yIMQUpTfM3NSIPI1I62hHTLva9E0xFfEk-zND45n3amhxkWpX-xYso92r_1jktb-SIbi1qKGkAnAGU/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi013.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Barbara easily wins round 1. That's just one of three, though. Well, no problem. After making sure to pump up her style points all game, Barbara can handle anything they've got.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10tS1esI3iz5kK7xJsuRHe3UQavtdRFUyF3wEb8UzGfyFqTBtZWCnBSicQMKFDnSaSuJlWR7O5oNLk92JmqzdxE1R4GapFU1n6W5MyjtDCGXEtFpQ7nQ0B9CN144MDzw6aQOA-66TeozN4p0rAtNl_19CbOltPhZxfs5YN4klxVWwsg6WVd_ANHqobzYo/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi014.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg10tS1esI3iz5kK7xJsuRHe3UQavtdRFUyF3wEb8UzGfyFqTBtZWCnBSicQMKFDnSaSuJlWR7O5oNLk92JmqzdxE1R4GapFU1n6W5MyjtDCGXEtFpQ7nQ0B9CN144MDzw6aQOA-66TeozN4p0rAtNl_19CbOltPhZxfs5YN4klxVWwsg6WVd_ANHqobzYo/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi014.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...wait what</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well that nullifies my whole strategy. WE NEED A BACKUP BOY, STAT.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3NxcL2P6e3Ds-sf1BMFf3DxW66nKEMKyEpbvVZD6x6QLUn41yiAlYTACdnhFz4JBUXKfn5JwK3mOsuvAmX_dSIrxuGBB4z_Yy8vtXUCUvHT_6EY3yJuLkKC0iIMmj-k7CwEkAL0eymDWJVD6YQriIeCt02i75XJ6-olWAz8F401pWRu9Hh1Ve0GS8gQR/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi015.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt3NxcL2P6e3Ds-sf1BMFf3DxW66nKEMKyEpbvVZD6x6QLUn41yiAlYTACdnhFz4JBUXKfn5JwK3mOsuvAmX_dSIrxuGBB4z_Yy8vtXUCUvHT_6EY3yJuLkKC0iIMmj-k7CwEkAL0eymDWJVD6YQriIeCt02i75XJ6-olWAz8F401pWRu9Hh1Ve0GS8gQR/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi015.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hiko himself is the only guy with decent style points, so he steps forward. He's got much tougher competition than Barbara did in round 1, as well.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSmuImZ5zhYJoSj27vcBqQnaTsZu8bmxnj9RAxnbRokG7lAhhWd2z4XZCpK9HcMBggnT-xy83lavec1nTpC2ad0lz6UoehlTHLzOxAy6RC0hPSAzVovDiNNmZbTKwy9G-PKrNnWtoyiExIo8fkYBBF0VYo4FBa1q0hFQoduknylSzJFun-9ZCVpwyUPwm/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi016.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSmuImZ5zhYJoSj27vcBqQnaTsZu8bmxnj9RAxnbRokG7lAhhWd2z4XZCpK9HcMBggnT-xy83lavec1nTpC2ad0lz6UoehlTHLzOxAy6RC0hPSAzVovDiNNmZbTKwy9G-PKrNnWtoyiExIo8fkYBBF0VYo4FBa1q0hFQoduknylSzJFun-9ZCVpwyUPwm/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi016.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">First up is noted dwarf King Giott, who is one sweet piece of ass.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DxpAFGo-4Cq1TDO8SrqiwHype3UuBfhAuZzJ2BB7Zn8YCb36YHXSVaPnJlnsfx7bfxKtECRSN_jBpolVK5izviHKi8xHgbnKIDrmJ6Rs9gBxh6ILrW_TtVy8KjViLuhDt416vvdJWJxR_87DFfe-NrvU1_AOezOPzHKyIKJQUzGY1SRRzJWnrcblTzel/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5DxpAFGo-4Cq1TDO8SrqiwHype3UuBfhAuZzJ2BB7Zn8YCb36YHXSVaPnJlnsfx7bfxKtECRSN_jBpolVK5izviHKi8xHgbnKIDrmJ6Rs9gBxh6ILrW_TtVy8KjViLuhDt416vvdJWJxR_87DFfe-NrvU1_AOezOPzHKyIKJQUzGY1SRRzJWnrcblTzel/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next is Kandar, of Kandar's Hentai Emporium fame. He slathered himself in baby oil, so his style and sex appeal are through the roof.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuGeHsxg-PYTE_DK9r7FPHBBIXdyVrxrOO_JAkG1KvbkT4zto4VhTwEz1drN7ye2Y6aVylCoP6PpLkT445aBGOU5V0dRoDkAWIyhV4aHzK5adD8eZ1gB_hsg7Chu3deGBUVGv6E1PlHHWpI7vFGlUEflbh-s3IHhyphenhyphenMW5UKsNdpUfgWvPDhPR5_xyeL0vg/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi019.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMuGeHsxg-PYTE_DK9r7FPHBBIXdyVrxrOO_JAkG1KvbkT4zto4VhTwEz1drN7ye2Y6aVylCoP6PpLkT445aBGOU5V0dRoDkAWIyhV4aHzK5adD8eZ1gB_hsg7Chu3deGBUVGv6E1PlHHWpI7vFGlUEflbh-s3IHhyphenhyphenMW5UKsNdpUfgWvPDhPR5_xyeL0vg/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi019.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hiko struts down the runway, and the eyes of all the men turn into hearts and pop out for some reason.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wJfTMnnpvVwFVmBQS0l0rRZxneL2e2FDew0KByHe8jijTEc2MuR_N-lMlXDZgQXHNiqQW4nfEXxxY6MDG-LZJnX9TNa3s81Yj-2KK7nUden-DJpyrA5ftjAwOLhgF1naA9u_QoIzja7XBkKGlWCbb6wtiAZxUuEk88BPmLEBl5dVSlhSol4TPesE0rrc/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi020.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wJfTMnnpvVwFVmBQS0l0rRZxneL2e2FDew0KByHe8jijTEc2MuR_N-lMlXDZgQXHNiqQW4nfEXxxY6MDG-LZJnX9TNa3s81Yj-2KK7nUden-DJpyrA5ftjAwOLhgF1naA9u_QoIzja7XBkKGlWCbb6wtiAZxUuEk88BPmLEBl5dVSlhSol4TPesE0rrc/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi020.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Finally there's round 3, where I accidentally pick Hiko instead of Barbara. He somehow ekes out a win anyway, so that was lucky. Carpet is acquired!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Insert questionable question about whether Barbara's carpet matches the drapes. The answer is yes, she does indeed have a Firebush.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RpWWBm0U7PIriJJbygbLMKOXHloMpNUFrqDCl0WSxNGUo9sifk8AT-Yj5xlYR9ZoU-BIhuSVWQ2akWKItDKztPh0Jhc47Z_q8TaSjbJtNZAbdQWJQjYJ65KKlgFk8Xi85eSz4bQsCOYfb3FfhFmgNsbNTCrZudGqVap_JNDl48MkCSYtzmRukoqD2e6s/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi021.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RpWWBm0U7PIriJJbygbLMKOXHloMpNUFrqDCl0WSxNGUo9sifk8AT-Yj5xlYR9ZoU-BIhuSVWQ2akWKItDKztPh0Jhc47Z_q8TaSjbJtNZAbdQWJQjYJ65KKlgFk8Xi85eSz4bQsCOYfb3FfhFmgNsbNTCrZudGqVap_JNDl48MkCSYtzmRukoqD2e6s/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi021.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Magic Carpet does nothing at first, and you have to bring it back to the sleeping elderly couple to get it re-magicked. Sometimes I think I can't go ten minutes in this game without having to check a guide after a certain point. Once the world (both of them) expands to the point that you can go anywhere, good luck not being constantly lost as to what's next unless you're paying extremely close attention. And even then.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEU_XYp8FJXe7yw8p9hvQwgR81ZYfLi-aD2LG9k523W74BTCXaiaPq5Z2is6JXsiV5pMdA2t48DH6J_UqJLrleGKL2-Myv8OHZKu7ds_8JHEr3uT-KnrvjY50iIleZPtm1QRt-uGHBhRnsCgpNso-cA8B28xqrHaG-P_9qnJoOwz2HfJXLzTIMBxLB3zm/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi022.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEU_XYp8FJXe7yw8p9hvQwgR81ZYfLi-aD2LG9k523W74BTCXaiaPq5Z2is6JXsiV5pMdA2t48DH6J_UqJLrleGKL2-Myv8OHZKu7ds_8JHEr3uT-KnrvjY50iIleZPtm1QRt-uGHBhRnsCgpNso-cA8B28xqrHaG-P_9qnJoOwz2HfJXLzTIMBxLB3zm/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi022.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now I can fly in BOTH worlds, not just the dream world with the flying bed. Problem is, I still can't go over hills or forests, so this is pretty limited. It's basically just a more-convenient boat, except you still need the boat for all the areas you have to submerge to reach.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4V8SZ_60OClWoEYSE69Tem4lK9uLDdZ94shA-yKk_xfarmkTGWI9RHN3qvBs6ldBrCzt2_2OfWZbZUaX2nKPry9VRRwe1-FPpjymWuMxBPdBlyQQItsDmPvg_EWysl5-NfvGpKvnncNPm_uYJXatZEO_IuwRXNMsYvnlyg9v7MH-s8mDC8sIgY8p_at54/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi000.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4V8SZ_60OClWoEYSE69Tem4lK9uLDdZ94shA-yKk_xfarmkTGWI9RHN3qvBs6ldBrCzt2_2OfWZbZUaX2nKPry9VRRwe1-FPpjymWuMxBPdBlyQQItsDmPvg_EWysl5-NfvGpKvnncNPm_uYJXatZEO_IuwRXNMsYvnlyg9v7MH-s8mDC8sIgY8p_at54/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi000.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The carpet is needed to get to this next area, which is over a river that's inland so no boating. Not sure how they trade with the outside world. Also, this is pretty obscure, and again without guides and maps I wouldn't have known what the heck to do next.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUzbqdhmqF9wiZrWG0pp7b9UoGKFhH5-IefPFIBRSuR8ck9AFqf0mCjiUXDQHlpZ63C6uCqPJKspGCmxDNZJo1VADa1VK21jFFCU3OM_CIgtBVvJ67zMB8_4O3jU_KLRP8LbjvYYRhZ-gkohkNvKWHHxMudkz8nqfnYxeHT2yqNiVF64ly-aKx6uVq84o/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiUzbqdhmqF9wiZrWG0pp7b9UoGKFhH5-IefPFIBRSuR8ck9AFqf0mCjiUXDQHlpZ63C6uCqPJKspGCmxDNZJo1VADa1VK21jFFCU3OM_CIgtBVvJ67zMB8_4O3jU_KLRP8LbjvYYRhZ-gkohkNvKWHHxMudkz8nqfnYxeHT2yqNiVF64ly-aKx6uVq84o/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The King here is trying to summon a monster to defeat the Demonlord for us. That's okay, I have things pretty much under control alrea-</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsh7TvgYT9D4XmYNWIT_xiNVDzzMe0Rm8SglGg0yZme9QyMAxouL3KEgfWsiHKWHChCirhwWajI9JfyCMLQ0ufdziFnoY4OYsRhHuo6O6z7s-4-oGeeWT9jRpn6bDBzFanu67yvAe9ELmfvzbS-Fjde1cHoPvu8zj6YiijmSU42bKsq27odsKo5eRwTTS5/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi002.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsh7TvgYT9D4XmYNWIT_xiNVDzzMe0Rm8SglGg0yZme9QyMAxouL3KEgfWsiHKWHChCirhwWajI9JfyCMLQ0ufdziFnoY4OYsRhHuo6O6z7s-4-oGeeWT9jRpn6bDBzFanu67yvAe9ELmfvzbS-Fjde1cHoPvu8zj6YiijmSU42bKsq27odsKo5eRwTTS5/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">No, sir, really, you don't have to. Needless to say, people in the kingdom are apprehensive...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSOktjgXPS3jXfj76hAS7fRCPmZhNcRIuXHg48WfCONe7O-V256ageObC0KZn1945A3C-nrWKyr8bL2JrmJ6EJ1Lwm6ICOUrvlbPEhGPmxuHC9y_Mybuseor43RGeoCDu4V7J0q_vitzaBcMPxgPRNoXhYz8Ql6Ei_tyJi2rRExEakMOh59RE5U2h2ykNJ/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi003.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSOktjgXPS3jXfj76hAS7fRCPmZhNcRIuXHg48WfCONe7O-V256ageObC0KZn1945A3C-nrWKyr8bL2JrmJ6EJ1Lwm6ICOUrvlbPEhGPmxuHC9y_Mybuseor43RGeoCDu4V7J0q_vitzaBcMPxgPRNoXhYz8Ql6Ei_tyJi2rRExEakMOh59RE5U2h2ykNJ/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's like trying to cure a fruit fly problem by bringing in spiders.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdcM8chQ_okJ0tDkv-YnSc80az5HLsIiGNDM-5ZcaP_m3w66Tf63LmfPRzgwo04YmXAeHDJGLxRGAqlFL_fpNjD3r7aqs99NPUcgLkEFo7Pt-JZ8Qm8H1Nx7yyUyzSMRlzDBlRRnv0K07LB-ORLusqzXoq5hZcwaUfS8oRQieI_WqbF2ef-xsLRz2uMAL/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi004.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdcM8chQ_okJ0tDkv-YnSc80az5HLsIiGNDM-5ZcaP_m3w66Tf63LmfPRzgwo04YmXAeHDJGLxRGAqlFL_fpNjD3r7aqs99NPUcgLkEFo7Pt-JZ8Qm8H1Nx7yyUyzSMRlzDBlRRnv0K07LB-ORLusqzXoq5hZcwaUfS8oRQieI_WqbF2ef-xsLRz2uMAL/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi004.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Enough for what? WHAT'LL COME OUT NO MORE?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsV5Xv3Y-YoMxDBwW7kDysKC-ezJzs59QcE63XBDph2Nqc3ITgOnQ5TThyohTPHaW-jA0Z8sJAU8buE3-6Zooo4lyC1fASZl8StPzPatYMlonvSm-gO6qCgikI-kJIdb0XSRRpOaF4iBUW1KoNtaotftZVq3sspzip32XKNccnnba-TVLd4RFAxbRVFWf/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi005.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggsV5Xv3Y-YoMxDBwW7kDysKC-ezJzs59QcE63XBDph2Nqc3ITgOnQ5TThyohTPHaW-jA0Z8sJAU8buE3-6Zooo4lyC1fASZl8StPzPatYMlonvSm-gO6qCgikI-kJIdb0XSRRpOaF4iBUW1KoNtaotftZVq3sspzip32XKNccnnba-TVLd4RFAxbRVFWf/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi005.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The King is already starting the rites. We gotta get down there and stop him!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2fo9QcZyvvw9P6jJL-avDlyhKeEwOtgN4hoVIAspKKudG0RJCUt10bdmtv01UHeyhjjqsHVh7e69UrCRnFeKitRCTCdhFpOfQdPOT2Rj6jwHecSy9sqVRVOmKR_7gpUtm2ANT-3yHaOgyalcwMhw8a9YtReWeRrT56aPGASthtiCbX1lYrD4CbVdj5UR/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi006.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW2fo9QcZyvvw9P6jJL-avDlyhKeEwOtgN4hoVIAspKKudG0RJCUt10bdmtv01UHeyhjjqsHVh7e69UrCRnFeKitRCTCdhFpOfQdPOT2Rj6jwHecSy9sqVRVOmKR_7gpUtm2ANT-3yHaOgyalcwMhw8a9YtReWeRrT56aPGASthtiCbX1lYrD4CbVdj5UR/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi006.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">My God. We're too late. The Summoning has Begun.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8Pwcn8zRAwdxab0UKai1B55ddhNuHVfZT0NQ8B9F6rKY-joa6j3HYHMeqBqVXU0JXUkPHZes_pBfDmW0ejZ5vx5Qq1S5hruJ1WMFa1JqfoqdCcb9YoEze2QT3hQpEhY9A_v7vFrMnbmm1PAA4gabY7hoqQDtGNI6v_NrxwE4QvPeI2nWORCy3E0yYPDr/s592/black%20screen.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="592" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv8Pwcn8zRAwdxab0UKai1B55ddhNuHVfZT0NQ8B9F6rKY-joa6j3HYHMeqBqVXU0JXUkPHZes_pBfDmW0ejZ5vx5Qq1S5hruJ1WMFa1JqfoqdCcb9YoEze2QT3hQpEhY9A_v7vFrMnbmm1PAA4gabY7hoqQDtGNI6v_NrxwE4QvPeI2nWORCy3E0yYPDr/w400-h345/black%20screen.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">................</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Fiiiithos.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeBJED6lz6Ktai-xu3yERqpTielx19YUgf066nz9FYc726vJQKX7CaodCU3CP5X9kT0xm4MVgflzB9IDN-0-LSBvDsVlHGBIKwLozc1keqF-c8tznOjO0KPXsYN5dQzQqiS5nLWivBupTcgM56Xe8LJyKRohtlEPLRaBLBcTGkT1xLxsl0u9-LiKyTyyU/s703/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi007.png"><img border="0" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMeBJED6lz6Ktai-xu3yERqpTielx19YUgf066nz9FYc726vJQKX7CaodCU3CP5X9kT0xm4MVgflzB9IDN-0-LSBvDsVlHGBIKwLozc1keqF-c8tznOjO0KPXsYN5dQzQqiS5nLWivBupTcgM56Xe8LJyKRohtlEPLRaBLBcTGkT1xLxsl0u9-LiKyTyyU/w400-h346/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi007.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">FIIIIIITHOS!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzLIgsAjEi-ZoYeucCaIYV7Q9qS3EGzTKfdzu7dOqg3y6Qdn3tfyTHtiuEMl4Zvb9kI5ZbkaNyiXxuPeEJ-z7L_OGYdxRCyBVLuM9WrDjj_047ANo7we9xEENmy985OgpUFwJeLDjgI6zQ-hcdlkzo3AP-puybLFX3eJvsfmWSYh7mZWaFkCgNW6z49YDo/s609/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi010.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzLIgsAjEi-ZoYeucCaIYV7Q9qS3EGzTKfdzu7dOqg3y6Qdn3tfyTHtiuEMl4Zvb9kI5ZbkaNyiXxuPeEJ-z7L_OGYdxRCyBVLuM9WrDjj_047ANo7we9xEENmy985OgpUFwJeLDjgI6zQ-hcdlkzo3AP-puybLFX3eJvsfmWSYh7mZWaFkCgNW6z49YDo/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi010.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">LUSSSSEC!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimUZycC9js5imNWlJThoV6TJRuSsH_G6Cn_bt-UUEvvPNx91cJi4KEgjd34jBGinH0KGuSutH3ulXBx_kve1i-6Agusf0GX1Y_TV0Cfes_Q969kC9SlckmcGdBoYboKCYKVYHvjQX7qOE1mqb1_D6F3ycSyb55CfP2vJD0umoQhTkS-QiOxsCIJzyo-n5/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi011.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjimUZycC9js5imNWlJThoV6TJRuSsH_G6Cn_bt-UUEvvPNx91cJi4KEgjd34jBGinH0KGuSutH3ulXBx_kve1i-6Agusf0GX1Y_TV0Cfes_Q969kC9SlckmcGdBoYboKCYKVYHvjQX7qOE1mqb1_D6F3ycSyb55CfP2vJD0umoQhTkS-QiOxsCIJzyo-n5/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi011.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Dark Lord proceeds to set the entire castle ablaze, along with everyone in it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZx2Elkg-mMyMwkVEgR_J7pdT7JKZWxN9Iu0kZzrrt0vSu3XGf01-uF7chbU2kb0Q5TBev82FlGPhUj0wgc0QbZuONiktx31rRtQuKPwVhIyxxxKea_lVH_5Ebp08sjxQEYoRtGz6HsEibQAs-wKijHzbLzi2Nvn4GiR88nfKxGe63VQ_ySQnOpOWSY4U5/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi012.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZx2Elkg-mMyMwkVEgR_J7pdT7JKZWxN9Iu0kZzrrt0vSu3XGf01-uF7chbU2kb0Q5TBev82FlGPhUj0wgc0QbZuONiktx31rRtQuKPwVhIyxxxKea_lVH_5Ebp08sjxQEYoRtGz6HsEibQAs-wKijHzbLzi2Nvn4GiR88nfKxGe63VQ_ySQnOpOWSY4U5/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi012.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">VIIINOSEC!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufXTVdCyVIu2umKen96s_a-P1GS1EiEcgdC6aFRiETs2kZI4NJ4J6g2xKcJIg8fi6QdCqagJSEZXP3jhv-6KrUu43c7dv0zTbiHRvRAFaP1zGUWcwcL46DQBG4o0iooZa3oBKOtn4V9H1sIf_TIMRFgm4cL28uVIng4VRNFQzqHsM0XbUiFVOV3rtXtX0/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi013.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgufXTVdCyVIu2umKen96s_a-P1GS1EiEcgdC6aFRiETs2kZI4NJ4J6g2xKcJIg8fi6QdCqagJSEZXP3jhv-6KrUu43c7dv0zTbiHRvRAFaP1zGUWcwcL46DQBG4o0iooZa3oBKOtn4V9H1sIf_TIMRFgm4cL28uVIng4VRNFQzqHsM0XbUiFVOV3rtXtX0/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi013.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">EVERYONE OUT NOW!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6j0shs9TLDdPVFEI8cSiHnkQrtbDuhhtWSACzPX5ppMAouAWv925byJgg2qB1gwg5sn_8SbEfRV_pIbrVanORCvYcDUIfRfpIx4gCNaruqsRtmQRuhVnYWsXQwvG5KHXLGWFyUqS4SGgu0lQVpz0fAPAexKnHw7oWc0EuUlhuxoHt8lz6S6s2DfKgNvV/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi014.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP6j0shs9TLDdPVFEI8cSiHnkQrtbDuhhtWSACzPX5ppMAouAWv925byJgg2qB1gwg5sn_8SbEfRV_pIbrVanORCvYcDUIfRfpIx4gCNaruqsRtmQRuhVnYWsXQwvG5KHXLGWFyUqS4SGgu0lQVpz0fAPAexKnHw7oWc0EuUlhuxoHt8lz6S6s2DfKgNvV/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi014.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Returning to the castle, there's no sign of the summoned monster, and everything is now in ruins. I guess he went back to his home plane and I don't think the game ever brings this up again.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZ8OrEC_A8HDBCU_eQF4WO4eBF8kZRQbgQlsGZ5_x6HECWM9S6nkGBV2cXPq3Wv4YIGy4VRpjsVj7cGu-0Tn2UXCP5HrVAxkQXP6HC9dhKgQ5sKCorJIWHUCXznIcsM3eGLrcOouORhXbwbWOfaZkceD68R0_gSyy88qGBwON8t65RxZepHZ1lkW3xbBy/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi015.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCZ8OrEC_A8HDBCU_eQF4WO4eBF8kZRQbgQlsGZ5_x6HECWM9S6nkGBV2cXPq3Wv4YIGy4VRpjsVj7cGu-0Tn2UXCP5HrVAxkQXP6HC9dhKgQ5sKCorJIWHUCXznIcsM3eGLrcOouORhXbwbWOfaZkceD68R0_gSyy88qGBwON8t65RxZepHZ1lkW3xbBy/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi015.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Regardless, now that the castle is in ruins and unguarded, we can find out way down to the storage room and get the legendary armor for this game. The Erdrick or Zenithian equivalent. Now to find the other legendary equipments.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdoAQeeoyoxlt5zByNDsAAsS7xZ2Un5peG-VHAAfxJimU0ZjlA_EOzR8_uI4FsDmipaSiNfKs4yd8eeOSkn6JwOx3QNBlpezezIrHqbQBUl9Q9vHMqSPZ0jO-HHHO4ng9ALfgLylpbNqMDG54relypMSK2iiWfBzJFSqU_AQjS0gjFiChd6VpbTaP7TQ9/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi016.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGdoAQeeoyoxlt5zByNDsAAsS7xZ2Un5peG-VHAAfxJimU0ZjlA_EOzR8_uI4FsDmipaSiNfKs4yd8eeOSkn6JwOx3QNBlpezezIrHqbQBUl9Q9vHMqSPZ0jO-HHHO4ng9ALfgLylpbNqMDG54relypMSK2iiWfBzJFSqU_AQjS0gjFiChd6VpbTaP7TQ9/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi016.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A somewhat confusing dungeon (with yet another obscure hidden stairway) gets me to...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgYu7vUu-kPCRYYBMFTzD8tMUCB4al8owLwI1UKNvLmTFWVx28R1KQXCxKUT_CGdKWQKP6m76YnD9vfNFUrwQe0-Wqxk7hd5AfqEr4esYXGXDbBAkIkOmvd0j04SZhm3AwdqQLsp6295_9LFIa9ryw1fD-En6T6vwRMdbYhOjYgJtPitQ040iTLu2SZEU/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgYu7vUu-kPCRYYBMFTzD8tMUCB4al8owLwI1UKNvLmTFWVx28R1KQXCxKUT_CGdKWQKP6m76YnD9vfNFUrwQe0-Wqxk7hd5AfqEr4esYXGXDbBAkIkOmvd0j04SZhm3AwdqQLsp6295_9LFIa9ryw1fD-En6T6vwRMdbYhOjYgJtPitQ040iTLu2SZEU/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...the legendary shield. That was quick. Still need the legendary sword and helmet.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSPqXEXv2Roh3C1hIqTa3Khs4j9Rbw5OIfXCCXpagh2YaVz7rPwKKNbbVBKt2XeK0xQlpSHEgearHvcAXWvaxQqr9dOnGTyn7qtRqA8j4Lbt-BgkM1vI5J9iftlgygidEdngF_a7apeekHZBgj_OBrdDOQWsWg9U_yqQxyh8UuALUdcW9DAxqRiomO-QX/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi020.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSPqXEXv2Roh3C1hIqTa3Khs4j9Rbw5OIfXCCXpagh2YaVz7rPwKKNbbVBKt2XeK0xQlpSHEgearHvcAXWvaxQqr9dOnGTyn7qtRqA8j4Lbt-BgkM1vI5J9iftlgygidEdngF_a7apeekHZBgj_OBrdDOQWsWg9U_yqQxyh8UuALUdcW9DAxqRiomO-QX/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi020.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The sword is somewhere on Mt. Snow, with this town at the base. Finally, another snow area!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQqi4k3StZdn3Gssj9sAwhKs_Iw3tDzKjItxg8IPNPgg_z2LVFuHc0zoNkxD1E3vrKNB_LF-b-9IEPzbVxwfNzeaG_e0b3Lw6K0BNXpf5vgTdc9SjfQaj6gSKq5YZ1nwu-rRoTIC-sxpbntXwb-afGLda-rQGLXP2E6R7L1fcjGFw3rTeZJcuGvLliD3l/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi019.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiQqi4k3StZdn3Gssj9sAwhKs_Iw3tDzKjItxg8IPNPgg_z2LVFuHc0zoNkxD1E3vrKNB_LF-b-9IEPzbVxwfNzeaG_e0b3Lw6K0BNXpf5vgTdc9SjfQaj6gSKq5YZ1nwu-rRoTIC-sxpbntXwb-afGLda-rQGLXP2E6R7L1fcjGFw3rTeZJcuGvLliD3l/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi019.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">There's a problem though. The people here have been frozen solid by some sort of curse. This is a very DQ-like idea for a zone.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxDZn-XWHLaf8tkZU4LsY8h09ovIxvQjXcQ1IuC5cuxlAb8_istSg8jK6VEf82rc39RzUzJLL5IyKMJyTVCLoXeqMVH5iBKcLOkHWdkpacyDAXPPKnp1cnyPmjt4_q4W5QiQVHtTWPYpSTHyY5aDWSH75F7sQeMOeIsJsLdB1PtfFGTWFC3f6q2raSqLL/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi021.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxDZn-XWHLaf8tkZU4LsY8h09ovIxvQjXcQ1IuC5cuxlAb8_istSg8jK6VEf82rc39RzUzJLL5IyKMJyTVCLoXeqMVH5iBKcLOkHWdkpacyDAXPPKnp1cnyPmjt4_q4W5QiQVHtTWPYpSTHyY5aDWSH75F7sQeMOeIsJsLdB1PtfFGTWFC3f6q2raSqLL/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi021.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Instead of just going through an ice dungeon and fighting a boss to lift the curse, I have to run back and forth talking to the couple of non-frozen NPCs in the area until stuff happens. Terry is here and he's also looking for the sword.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxsY9HnUTrkk0d3asBOK9UIzukfYt-kkvUCP-PTS6wFKxvCT_9GTk_TwjZ4ofUVj1iWVCWQHca3VQ-zFwC5sAuOiq013ULtkJJlzsg7TqpK32tvTx6plgT176wa0PCaSt2VKkSXGwE6dPIbXq7fTiL1tqVL9NoS81MfiXmI0lbXbNKKS6S6sDwLZMwiw7/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi023.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxsY9HnUTrkk0d3asBOK9UIzukfYt-kkvUCP-PTS6wFKxvCT_9GTk_TwjZ4ofUVj1iWVCWQHca3VQ-zFwC5sAuOiq013ULtkJJlzsg7TqpK32tvTx6plgT176wa0PCaSt2VKkSXGwE6dPIbXq7fTiL1tqVL9NoS81MfiXmI0lbXbNKKS6S6sDwLZMwiw7/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi023.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Turns out the aptly-named Yurina here cursed the town for whatever reason. Not sure what that reason is, but it's probably that this local boy wasn't visiting her enough. Now he's an old man and everyone else in town has spent 50 years frozen. In any case, she lifts the curse with no fuss.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EuSn9QHj2q0gEFdDCi2ZU8N4OTtrk6hlHaC-abA3q4f6fSxQ3XIrP0P17EK2WiGYft80i8daPs5JpXNg6VNqutmCYcZsJrdjBBSyPaq3x0tULLUg6JHJuNpTd1WCiaC2whKobxl_MdQYP1ElkVo0I9jRsY0RzdNM4_Ctn0EKyhOZLfoHtz1cDTtD8T8a/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi024.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7EuSn9QHj2q0gEFdDCi2ZU8N4OTtrk6hlHaC-abA3q4f6fSxQ3XIrP0P17EK2WiGYft80i8daPs5JpXNg6VNqutmCYcZsJrdjBBSyPaq3x0tULLUg6JHJuNpTd1WCiaC2whKobxl_MdQYP1ElkVo0I9jRsY0RzdNM4_Ctn0EKyhOZLfoHtz1cDTtD8T8a/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi024.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Everyone's unfrozen and the problem is solved. This town needs the <i>Secret of Mana</i> "happy town" theme now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyI_WQhNrgP86AmbO5AGfPW5K3PaqcjlSWnasVpDzJRZRjFV3AAGoIF9SEOZ_oDOxc-ntq1AaCwphU7Wz6GuuInW0wc4LH_gs66ATw_QZ_Ie_JP-40T9naDeLvaJklou9o224lOX70RV11ACuMXaoBI9KmWxuwR_3XfrznYo6YfCWUyeNkYfDehYd-qfqn/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi025.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyI_WQhNrgP86AmbO5AGfPW5K3PaqcjlSWnasVpDzJRZRjFV3AAGoIF9SEOZ_oDOxc-ntq1AaCwphU7Wz6GuuInW0wc4LH_gs66ATw_QZ_Ie_JP-40T9naDeLvaJklou9o224lOX70RV11ACuMXaoBI9KmWxuwR_3XfrznYo6YfCWUyeNkYfDehYd-qfqn/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi025.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now that Zam is unfrozen, he's the key to getting the next few objectives, so I'm back and forth talking to him. Loooot of NPC-talking in this game to move things along.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAG8zCRsxu8jNUAfuVidw5xP7BTtcMRFqJ2kVllwCYGn2L7C-qK26U9hPQIHUNX7XOXQcDCALd4hgMsZmVHxgSvGD8OJhHTuUMSHZf6usAhnU1I7WMAc137U5u1371mCvhyphenhypheniHkEqm7e8YOChQsO0f-M_wJSUuqriB-8TnHazHuB0pEejDM1hpyZZ0015p/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi026.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAG8zCRsxu8jNUAfuVidw5xP7BTtcMRFqJ2kVllwCYGn2L7C-qK26U9hPQIHUNX7XOXQcDCALd4hgMsZmVHxgSvGD8OJhHTuUMSHZf6usAhnU1I7WMAc137U5u1371mCvhyphenhypheniHkEqm7e8YOChQsO0f-M_wJSUuqriB-8TnHazHuB0pEejDM1hpyZZ0015p/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi026.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The next part has you reciting a set of phrases to open a locked door. None of this makes any sense. You're supposed to infer meanings from what Zam tells you and tell the door things that mean the same thing as what he said, but these things really don't line up. Yet another thing I need to refer to guides for.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxFvdGRx1A7wBXNyZRdvdu4ywTOLKvj3cC9-rvuvrqDpAJk9UjoVhlivzRKSDtJSzyWvkPhYtF5-RY_wTvJMir4-zOP3TufHBGtKrA-JIbYkizeVB4q-TuNEUXaJJ-iwYwsR13gkd_4TEaEmy1LgRh_C5AGHblKhXUFsn6Y_2hmM5LVQ2BnL3elbeUmwD/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi028.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxFvdGRx1A7wBXNyZRdvdu4ywTOLKvj3cC9-rvuvrqDpAJk9UjoVhlivzRKSDtJSzyWvkPhYtF5-RY_wTvJMir4-zOP3TufHBGtKrA-JIbYkizeVB4q-TuNEUXaJJ-iwYwsR13gkd_4TEaEmy1LgRh_C5AGHblKhXUFsn6Y_2hmM5LVQ2BnL3elbeUmwD/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi028.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After a quick ice dungeon with no enemies, we arrive at the legendary sword...only to have Terry get there after and just waddle up to take it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik15FN4TwBu8BoaXv49MxhOvmjdcyZxBmBeNTQHzwyyYNaIgnLG9n2EwiK88Vs5hDOfiur_Jm7lROCxp4flnctwLQcyaGPpqpiZyGHAz0-28Ouj-gavS3L6nosJlAv4ciIL-BAXOiw_nEiR-XZA1-NbogO6h8zyQkj7p_MHdkfM_dnkDaMlWyhTY0qOfDS/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi029.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik15FN4TwBu8BoaXv49MxhOvmjdcyZxBmBeNTQHzwyyYNaIgnLG9n2EwiK88Vs5hDOfiur_Jm7lROCxp4flnctwLQcyaGPpqpiZyGHAz0-28Ouj-gavS3L6nosJlAv4ciIL-BAXOiw_nEiR-XZA1-NbogO6h8zyQkj7p_MHdkfM_dnkDaMlWyhTY0qOfDS/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi029.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yeah, everyone just gets right out of his way like a bunch of wimps and he claims the sword. Da Fuq.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4UTArIFVVycP88zefw-wTAUM7qCeGAgpoacgQ-qw4ILlt7WJfa8q7o9thymh_vGKt2hLliLBUnirjhf_UCtj_vtjjGtFZsPatPY8-LY-6JHtN0zDJMP19TVK2ibXXFlkDLKt-xo5Dl-EiYk6ldJVNmdwNqLjzhCVs2ska1e-kj78n4k0NM2EsPcPw2Bt/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi030.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4UTArIFVVycP88zefw-wTAUM7qCeGAgpoacgQ-qw4ILlt7WJfa8q7o9thymh_vGKt2hLliLBUnirjhf_UCtj_vtjjGtFZsPatPY8-LY-6JHtN0zDJMP19TVK2ibXXFlkDLKt-xo5Dl-EiYk6ldJVNmdwNqLjzhCVs2ska1e-kj78n4k0NM2EsPcPw2Bt/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi030.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And he doesn't even want it. He's all about the Sword of Thunder. <i>Dragon Quest II</i> represent</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUxsXGEOmucy0VrGbukDLVUJeKxS9xi1huyx_2EbKrb6MAVd4TcPzPsRr7wnjTpREgxYUQ_4-Hf3ThyjI26jKmWb52RT_IA89B0M93mR2WZMNBMItyiXtPKa7JYsOZVtGaS-R_SjbLyidryMf9jHxas6tvW4EkunXnpaCjamGmhyphenhyphenktvzpRTuGE3fB2QWn/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi031.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUxsXGEOmucy0VrGbukDLVUJeKxS9xi1huyx_2EbKrb6MAVd4TcPzPsRr7wnjTpREgxYUQ_4-Hf3ThyjI26jKmWb52RT_IA89B0M93mR2WZMNBMItyiXtPKa7JYsOZVtGaS-R_SjbLyidryMf9jHxas6tvW4EkunXnpaCjamGmhyphenhyphenktvzpRTuGE3fB2QWn/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi031.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">::<i>Secret of Mana</i> field theme plays::</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately the legendary sword has seen better days, and is too weak to use as things are now. So the next thing to do is get it fixed. Also have to get the helm, the flying citadel, fight Dhuran, get Terry, get the flying Ramia, and go to the Dark World. So there's a bit left, but not a ton.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">After all this DQ I should probably check out <i>Taloon's Mystery Dungeon</i>. That get translated yet?</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-LqhecQLS7Dg9qGrJzpBjj9iAxZ1FsQLrTMfYyphH_KyDlX2G64YjPJLxJzWBdg9xXC9afMspe9-_aXCeRLP4xUbBdqkAPwjk0SZTg0E8EmhEFSQfLxuy8D6-dte1dKGlpZTEd0GbJnHAc9uRQiWXA6bxxw6o8WWGlCmZJhjDamagGUYhvLZBm6TdLDa/s1363/Torneko's%20Mystery%20Dungeon.png"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-LqhecQLS7Dg9qGrJzpBjj9iAxZ1FsQLrTMfYyphH_KyDlX2G64YjPJLxJzWBdg9xXC9afMspe9-_aXCeRLP4xUbBdqkAPwjk0SZTg0E8EmhEFSQfLxuy8D6-dte1dKGlpZTEd0GbJnHAc9uRQiWXA6bxxw6o8WWGlCmZJhjDamagGUYhvLZBm6TdLDa/w545-h362/Torneko's%20Mystery%20Dungeon.png" width="545" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">.......</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;">::backs away slowly::</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest" target="_blank">Other Dragon Quest Posts</a></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2020/03/dragon-quest-master-post.html" target="_blank">The Dragon Quest Master Post</a></p></div>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-40713849081286874172024-02-13T02:14:00.003-05:002024-02-13T02:14:32.810-05:00Mortal Kombat IX - Second Half<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ED9FW-6Kba5iaK57eJfJPFLeuaaaE-SsX0G5NSjERZDps6KqYCtR8r_9YpiGFHuQLhqJdZc74dfrHrGMOx0f1BvB7tzIuT2ZjtNutM9T6PzVeleMhdHItP1iymK-QeAdadA1lXxy4QDFgDMR15aAqs96U_v22B2k-oom5GcqJDQuqn-aI6ZoIKBd1G7g/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(44).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ED9FW-6Kba5iaK57eJfJPFLeuaaaE-SsX0G5NSjERZDps6KqYCtR8r_9YpiGFHuQLhqJdZc74dfrHrGMOx0f1BvB7tzIuT2ZjtNutM9T6PzVeleMhdHItP1iymK-QeAdadA1lXxy4QDFgDMR15aAqs96U_v22B2k-oom5GcqJDQuqn-aI6ZoIKBd1G7g/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(44).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The next chapter has Jade on the way to rescue Kitana from the clutches of Shao Kahn. So she's more loyal to Kitana than to Outworld's emperor. Face turn alert!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pCPkRcAyZhRASJHOm2WUTK_EOxLtb0qS0YPqZRHQAVb06kKSY4T751UITu77dA6z9YWcv36-lQa5dQr1ftvzvTaJCJ0HPqZ5ZbMlKA8EaTGey4CFeLKxfW-WSpPjXR6vPLkF2Yke10bm_1BPZogCnVWv3Xs4YnZcsD4HJU729zWZoiEyINe8j_zcTlCi/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(45).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7pCPkRcAyZhRASJHOm2WUTK_EOxLtb0qS0YPqZRHQAVb06kKSY4T751UITu77dA6z9YWcv36-lQa5dQr1ftvzvTaJCJ0HPqZ5ZbMlKA8EaTGey4CFeLKxfW-WSpPjXR6vPLkF2Yke10bm_1BPZogCnVWv3Xs4YnZcsD4HJU729zWZoiEyINe8j_zcTlCi/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(45).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This involves defeating Baraka and giving him quite the view. Then she has to defeat Mileena, who now has the full Mileena getup instead of just some bandages.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJx3GCb2Lyh7DLccb5Eqnjm3HErWMehyphenhyphenN1jvEfq5jq8FBM5ixbybrOXTVqHtxJYXYC-2J8y4wtAmjLAobuQk_oIbFSzc5wUG_TXZrUJJ1oEapJaFJI8QBj_CTRwsNiywrdCjwAyf_lkNNsbF0akbxikHx1KjhtjN0fRg41a1gwNyn04zb3ArtIOIf-Ybsu/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(50).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJx3GCb2Lyh7DLccb5Eqnjm3HErWMehyphenhyphenN1jvEfq5jq8FBM5ixbybrOXTVqHtxJYXYC-2J8y4wtAmjLAobuQk_oIbFSzc5wUG_TXZrUJJ1oEapJaFJI8QBj_CTRwsNiywrdCjwAyf_lkNNsbF0akbxikHx1KjhtjN0fRg41a1gwNyn04zb3ArtIOIf-Ybsu/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(50).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Speaking of nice views...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jesus, MK.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjoYStk-AIHMDNkv2rFcLoYcvQmUqNrFjoTxXHs41dHscFGtkS3C3b96ALBx4vkPo3BvCX1VhtUfqZ4qGBdDrqdLGy_bFuGTldXV3CJWAFyHWfwZ9eqXRQiNu_Fq2bndXOMa5wTaE2LUf9AsO1S0bUr1jjVJmQKFfNjkWpiRPFRrqBSl_d8zr9kAu5cCX/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(49).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCjoYStk-AIHMDNkv2rFcLoYcvQmUqNrFjoTxXHs41dHscFGtkS3C3b96ALBx4vkPo3BvCX1VhtUfqZ4qGBdDrqdLGy_bFuGTldXV3CJWAFyHWfwZ9eqXRQiNu_Fq2bndXOMa5wTaE2LUf9AsO1S0bUr1jjVJmQKFfNjkWpiRPFRrqBSl_d8zr9kAu5cCX/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(49).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jade rescues Kitana from her magical bondage. I mean, or they could just leave those on...hypothetically.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHY2RgT2q60Umx5yfA0aOnJA3d_XCB2E6hP_JtrIIgSJxw2Mh9c9XmpdjChcd1oKWtn-yrTnFfw8Qbd8Gy0cB_37Kp7IxKI9vlb7sdZX8WSjBt_kEYNXKmSLeVtZUze5gplytqPgUxCiQkL_3I-V_BaGjGRvA3SgOgFvXn98yK6_tR9X5MM5xpTwtOGMT/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(52).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguHY2RgT2q60Umx5yfA0aOnJA3d_XCB2E6hP_JtrIIgSJxw2Mh9c9XmpdjChcd1oKWtn-yrTnFfw8Qbd8Gy0cB_37Kp7IxKI9vlb7sdZX8WSjBt_kEYNXKmSLeVtZUze5gplytqPgUxCiQkL_3I-V_BaGjGRvA3SgOgFvXn98yK6_tR9X5MM5xpTwtOGMT/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(52).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The last chapter of <i>MK2</i> has you playing Kung Lao, surprisingly. Well, Liu Kang got the final chapter of <i>MK1</i> and they don't do repeat character chapters in modern MKs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLudeb09rurHIl11hi2wWnK7W3fk43aKfNAvT5VmvvKFIEiYLlN_8aHkftd3HLCBerxjVQ7vN8ABGeUL_KdwrpE3eOlnFXUp6xihPXP_5PyFGcqV0R1l6n_zRlGwuzrqj4faTdVpFXd68Q-vPKrT4E-vlUtyl9M1wFism3L3odXekzv56XViStCIHYBnY/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(51).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiLudeb09rurHIl11hi2wWnK7W3fk43aKfNAvT5VmvvKFIEiYLlN_8aHkftd3HLCBerxjVQ7vN8ABGeUL_KdwrpE3eOlnFXUp6xihPXP_5PyFGcqV0R1l6n_zRlGwuzrqj4faTdVpFXd68Q-vPKrT4E-vlUtyl9M1wFism3L3odXekzv56XViStCIHYBnY/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(51).png" width="640" /></a></div><div>This trio have formed kind of the Earthrealm representative hero squad. This involves Liu Kang and Kung Lao teasing Cage a lot about his sandpaper-like personality.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuJoOnq3-JLghzx1jcucbIa8yVzj5nIg_tyP9u_Fwy-xITd_lvzdnTAfn0W3g28OW9UwHE3LkvLznKb986tK7RlZCAEFYzzs6B2r6ZFd0CQIZ6CLxzYu0LIkXvsBepn1k13XlWZB3wS2R2wiKmHbuZNPVyF145Izijvr1qP299vQYhkdruqR2FldgBovG/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(54).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuJoOnq3-JLghzx1jcucbIa8yVzj5nIg_tyP9u_Fwy-xITd_lvzdnTAfn0W3g28OW9UwHE3LkvLznKb986tK7RlZCAEFYzzs6B2r6ZFd0CQIZ6CLxzYu0LIkXvsBepn1k13XlWZB3wS2R2wiKmHbuZNPVyF145Izijvr1qP299vQYhkdruqR2FldgBovG/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(54).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The final battle parade is what we're all expecting...with a few changes. First up, a Goro rematch. <i>Shaolin Monks</i> did the same thing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIq079CCtW4T3nKy1UseWByRZ8di1Prgi9WCJbzZYOEVzMGtSBuOQMq-2usxu9M5k_XgRvu5l494a_WcTSx6ZWC4Zi7IglijV2BnYHFribbWqWk1DSRR_ELOUXxEf5ryHzQQiqo21-iDf-Cf1bzdVEPtK5IUBnzyLS_UwuqcbThyphenhyphenvrCdDTzP3yKAm6KCab/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(57).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIq079CCtW4T3nKy1UseWByRZ8di1Prgi9WCJbzZYOEVzMGtSBuOQMq-2usxu9M5k_XgRvu5l494a_WcTSx6ZWC4Zi7IglijV2BnYHFribbWqWk1DSRR_ELOUXxEf5ryHzQQiqo21-iDf-Cf1bzdVEPtK5IUBnzyLS_UwuqcbThyphenhyphenvrCdDTzP3yKAm6KCab/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(57).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next up is Shang Tsung....</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCaxu75cDVM183lJASsFzJnkN05cJjHM3dVAQaHIm1VZvO5gFtiDXUBud9xmwnEN0wD79fqKaf_Fk4t4jnMYZGIqsITMPgaGGDOrkHCo-FgIN1F3a9ds9oTnwE7KNp6gI8mPKtUiHyTBTqatDr0XcRSiVhbpPCVdq4DCWhKm12Ur6MRHe7yJneseqPsjz/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(58).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXCaxu75cDVM183lJASsFzJnkN05cJjHM3dVAQaHIm1VZvO5gFtiDXUBud9xmwnEN0wD79fqKaf_Fk4t4jnMYZGIqsITMPgaGGDOrkHCo-FgIN1F3a9ds9oTnwE7KNp6gI8mPKtUiHyTBTqatDr0XcRSiVhbpPCVdq4DCWhKm12Ur6MRHe7yJneseqPsjz/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(58).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...AND Quan Chi in an endurance match! Like all the endurance matches in this game, this one is very difficult and a general pain in the ass. They're making sure to include all the bad guys in this version of the <i>MK2</i> finale, at least.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZ7WgcWmCG_5ZqptiY9GMsn1_51HIMe2XOb7bccfsTNgiR5pK-j2fYor0z11kmfT9LWDPZ6Uzd-OclxhhLQZh5oGeMAl57WkQdmt5dZERdmlUEirubWgB-8AQ7LfjHrHX67cC6AadtOwBlihT9mE_x-bStS0nYPVqyrj6IizQsHpLKgknVaaEy7YQKh5S/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(59).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZZ7WgcWmCG_5ZqptiY9GMsn1_51HIMe2XOb7bccfsTNgiR5pK-j2fYor0z11kmfT9LWDPZ6Uzd-OclxhhLQZh5oGeMAl57WkQdmt5dZERdmlUEirubWgB-8AQ7LfjHrHX67cC6AadtOwBlihT9mE_x-bStS0nYPVqyrj6IizQsHpLKgknVaaEy7YQKh5S/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(59).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh COME ON.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Survive this debacle and you're rewarded with getting obliterated by...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFKO9_4yG27p4_kLAyFaGKQMB5vhbuHmcy2cM5-5GNm7DlOHHpv6YlPRpYHYQr_TefYLqP5Cf66dQoUQqGtMer2FCRlor193XoXxha-syFllez97rAoJXAJ2dC1owdM4GOGjdXJbdcAZck_tgct4Yggq4ueqDxVGqiP8SqwC6VAYajdsFm-S3ribIqf19/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(61).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFKO9_4yG27p4_kLAyFaGKQMB5vhbuHmcy2cM5-5GNm7DlOHHpv6YlPRpYHYQr_TefYLqP5Cf66dQoUQqGtMer2FCRlor193XoXxha-syFllez97rAoJXAJ2dC1owdM4GOGjdXJbdcAZck_tgct4Yggq4ueqDxVGqiP8SqwC6VAYajdsFm-S3ribIqf19/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(61).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Kintaro. Now in HD!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi99C6cLAQeWAvwaQUvMuIQ6fCbpCMqxK08EoFY6hF3I1UqHbrQdiLSmxZZ4Iji9I5i_zd-KPPKmDA8z1_MUiCBy6_1WW9FnPNteSyPCVwEDwqNf_JsmbAKLZEUBcfuA8b_7Ee0wAm9UyG3Ez8SZ9FwbKou5HUunVx72qwWAMvI4iKDu6w2zFgW1voOEaAU/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(62).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi99C6cLAQeWAvwaQUvMuIQ6fCbpCMqxK08EoFY6hF3I1UqHbrQdiLSmxZZ4Iji9I5i_zd-KPPKmDA8z1_MUiCBy6_1WW9FnPNteSyPCVwEDwqNf_JsmbAKLZEUBcfuA8b_7Ee0wAm9UyG3Ez8SZ9FwbKou5HUunVx72qwWAMvI4iKDu6w2zFgW1voOEaAU/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(62).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They really do Kintaro justice in this game and capture his beastlyness extremely well. He's got all his <i>MK2</i> moves and all of the impactfulness of the early series games. Glad that the floaty 3D era is over.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgZf1vLS8OKqMQ5vJuFSfex177E2JBJ_LGqQVwd4C1cyvU0cqagMPcSLDUX8jjfDlGKqnBJ5FwqVXc6uzo-rnd6jNYfSk4rWNLopfJmi_fxjJohZp0TxVaRkOr1nJC7Bpif0JFIDCpo7vqIGoK_ccuDa510oqEQJzAJgzYX6RD14366GlGW_bnkjuJhN6/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(65).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgZf1vLS8OKqMQ5vJuFSfex177E2JBJ_LGqQVwd4C1cyvU0cqagMPcSLDUX8jjfDlGKqnBJ5FwqVXc6uzo-rnd6jNYfSk4rWNLopfJmi_fxjJohZp0TxVaRkOr1nJC7Bpif0JFIDCpo7vqIGoK_ccuDa510oqEQJzAJgzYX6RD14366GlGW_bnkjuJhN6/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(65).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He has some new moves, like this Sparta Kick directly to the neussen. That'll give you a high-pitched voice for a while</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXwuHo1NIevBumXsxFbei52ohh_rygysOE3iHoaVTM5aGvDaNQkHQT-bh8t1rt2icaDuC2AeSbNEXG-1JFi9sb3Xyr55t10AgEjP6h1_Xfi5MnVQxh2Ct4a11bYuDi5RcUDP4IdTi06Kp6nJuala7F3pW5D5vWlit4Bl6BPVmPlWvfd-aWq3uYY9giTmI0/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(67).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXwuHo1NIevBumXsxFbei52ohh_rygysOE3iHoaVTM5aGvDaNQkHQT-bh8t1rt2icaDuC2AeSbNEXG-1JFi9sb3Xyr55t10AgEjP6h1_Xfi5MnVQxh2Ct4a11bYuDi5RcUDP4IdTi06Kp6nJuala7F3pW5D5vWlit4Bl6BPVmPlWvfd-aWq3uYY9giTmI0/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(67).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A shocking moment follows. After Kintaro's defeat, while Kung Lao is celebrating the win, Shao Kahn ambushes him and KILLS HIM OFF with a neck snap.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lest you think they rebooted the saga because they regretted killing certain characters, it looks like now they're gonna be killing even more shocking characters.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Regardless, RIP Kung Lao. Geez. He'll actually be missing from the next game. There's an evil shade version of him but that's another Quan Chi deal like Zombie Liu Kang. At least they bring Kung Lao back for <i>MK1</i> with timey-wimey shenanigans.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeeJEDeqZOoGgDoSb5q8sWSkQHQFHl_Wqb6jDGPfeLTp4bQXMGAING56oSlssmgAi1I28qlljmEhvUaPJvNl2Z44EEltOyVXkHPgvZa8xrkmAiforBeIMRkL9Xxs0sYwnZ3m5kfd_QsMT_QPbZ3bge2RHkCgFlkbnj5kFGZRTzYw55vtmgMSSgEN2Pk6B/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(55).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeeJEDeqZOoGgDoSb5q8sWSkQHQFHl_Wqb6jDGPfeLTp4bQXMGAING56oSlssmgAi1I28qlljmEhvUaPJvNl2Z44EEltOyVXkHPgvZa8xrkmAiforBeIMRkL9Xxs0sYwnZ3m5kfd_QsMT_QPbZ3bge2RHkCgFlkbnj5kFGZRTzYw55vtmgMSSgEN2Pk6B/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(55).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden tells Liu Kang that he'll have to replace Kung Lao for the final fight, even though it isn't his chapter.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The weird animosity between these two all game is something I don't really get. They seem to not like each other at all and constantly throw barbs around. Weird considering they're supposed to be Earthrealm's two main protectors, and considering Liu Kang gets along with everyone else.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqH4QTu4IYG3EUI4lpiXVc7giX6hnDlK8BTehvqfoMMwvZ_JDqwIcfBe4zxv73yqaPe7Y_z1Uvy_68n9UrMOvfoqfLgKduiZSVvebToZqxwX3CgD5EbUBWEesmfh57xvTCd6UZfhuXxEQfnLOQdPO-tTFFuXn40oyhT9G-codcD5PZNOLjf602HMqrrr28/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(68).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqH4QTu4IYG3EUI4lpiXVc7giX6hnDlK8BTehvqfoMMwvZ_JDqwIcfBe4zxv73yqaPe7Y_z1Uvy_68n9UrMOvfoqfLgKduiZSVvebToZqxwX3CgD5EbUBWEesmfh57xvTCd6UZfhuXxEQfnLOQdPO-tTFFuXn40oyhT9G-codcD5PZNOLjf602HMqrrr28/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(68).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shao Kahn himself is a total asshole in this game. Just incredibly cheap to fight. He takes very little damage from attacks while dishing out massive damage. He's waaaay stronger than Kintaro, unlike <i>MK2</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27-9E1hOajg_625-IwA5_Pstf5Hwr-ZpEjpZZ6Y_0zGSn3qLOm1ALRx8Vqn5q5-N1y-df4SvcJ25uWDEhWHhmhZ8YZa-dD0Vy3rqh-36FSyk0JVkFTky8WsVpbIIxiSgkYbUMGvi7wUeHAIod7rSfDeBK1KoGEZ7Y9HyXLjTAT8NHI2xT-angZIRydo3f/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(73).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi27-9E1hOajg_625-IwA5_Pstf5Hwr-ZpEjpZZ6Y_0zGSn3qLOm1ALRx8Vqn5q5-N1y-df4SvcJ25uWDEhWHhmhZ8YZa-dD0Vy3rqh-36FSyk0JVkFTky8WsVpbIIxiSgkYbUMGvi7wUeHAIod7rSfDeBK1KoGEZ7Y9HyXLjTAT8NHI2xT-angZIRydo3f/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(73).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The key to victory? Just stay really far back, out of range of his short-range moves, and duck his projectiles. Wait for him to taunt, then unleash a Fireball or Flying Kick (depending on the situation/placement of both guys) while he's taunting. Then go back to staying back and waiting.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yep, I had to go full cheap-mode to win this fight. Only attack when he's taunting, because he blocks literally everything else.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRJGYwHrrEQKXmNuylQzwbXx31EmCvrP2tCDM-maEbuEo4Jlo7IMytOL1w1nOf-crQ7Me4IDMCPmyotsU0nYTHHsbqwcUJg2zRhwjrIdtJTKA_yR0QFKNqguVk0DTOLB-dZ3X7ec5aLV3rZjHK6WheReFOqFSuyN08XOUAa5trVH2l5t7Hsntcl_l3wNv/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(74).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIRJGYwHrrEQKXmNuylQzwbXx31EmCvrP2tCDM-maEbuEo4Jlo7IMytOL1w1nOf-crQ7Me4IDMCPmyotsU0nYTHHsbqwcUJg2zRhwjrIdtJTKA_yR0QFKNqguVk0DTOLB-dZ3X7ec5aLV3rZjHK6WheReFOqFSuyN08XOUAa5trVH2l5t7Hsntcl_l3wNv/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(74).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Once you get the hang of attacking when he's taunting, it isn't that hard to get through a whole round without taking a hit. Feels like a cheap win, but whatever, I'll take it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After the fight, Liu Kang uppercuts a hole through Shao Kahn's chest, like Gokou's Dragon Punch in DBZ Movie 13.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Fvzuo94bZdpY4R8VB6wDsj0igCAVxiFFH0lImdqCQqbSA3aKGB0BU0lkAuZW_3YsySfevLh_dREwWRY8mlvvPvsvb0s_l8JcJcjxwQeNcBJr2zpuAGCnxAFEBKYk4wfw-app2txpElCzUxzBHbMK0mchXRCMU5vp5d9O_qUBWRZ-sSYK7bYxavRvEd9S/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(75).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Fvzuo94bZdpY4R8VB6wDsj0igCAVxiFFH0lImdqCQqbSA3aKGB0BU0lkAuZW_3YsySfevLh_dREwWRY8mlvvPvsvb0s_l8JcJcjxwQeNcBJr2zpuAGCnxAFEBKYk4wfw-app2txpElCzUxzBHbMK0mchXRCMU5vp5d9O_qUBWRZ-sSYK7bYxavRvEd9S/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(75).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shao Kahn is defeated forever!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">But at what cost... At what cost.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Roll credits.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gfAU0lB6pCMfZcWpKwYk1SAJh0nV0ipqifhBq7sQtKh9AQyOmPiZeAgUQ6oX5Jpc2SixcbGvksMlt9Yh6NEI1Rlsb8fuG_GLdJ5fvHjed5oHpJhJ1WD3lOAtQT-EAIjN3KzVJl2LgEIOCFZDYyrSPnaiHiXb_KuLgOVaKJl-xgcBha9QG2A3rBzYUEIp/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(76).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_gfAU0lB6pCMfZcWpKwYk1SAJh0nV0ipqifhBq7sQtKh9AQyOmPiZeAgUQ6oX5Jpc2SixcbGvksMlt9Yh6NEI1Rlsb8fuG_GLdJ5fvHjed5oHpJhJ1WD3lOAtQT-EAIjN3KzVJl2LgEIOCFZDYyrSPnaiHiXb_KuLgOVaKJl-xgcBha9QG2A3rBzYUEIp/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(76).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">BUT WAIT. Don't roll credits! Shao Kahn's massive chest wound is healed by Quan Chi's magic, and he's back already.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">His minions were all ready to fight it out and determine who was in charge now that he was gone. Shang Tsung? Quan Chi? Kintaro? Goro? Sheeva? Mileena? The 1989 Denver Broncos?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Apparently Mileena)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYr2qS6Hq4EJZ37trcjqQbmYw_IDsHu1G9o6YMwMtHl8rvmLLg0CMrueZvGkO3md2xL3MjQph8GpC-wv5jnmcDXooW5hHj3BHng0kl7I7-bQ_AJSveYvojz0e3WTCne2HvfK1xRcBj65fIk1bnwCexri8wxEMfytL2R1BUt2usEQnc5-UJ567R-vKgJajW/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(77).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYr2qS6Hq4EJZ37trcjqQbmYw_IDsHu1G9o6YMwMtHl8rvmLLg0CMrueZvGkO3md2xL3MjQph8GpC-wv5jnmcDXooW5hHj3BHng0kl7I7-bQ_AJSveYvojz0e3WTCne2HvfK1xRcBj65fIk1bnwCexri8wxEMfytL2R1BUt2usEQnc5-UJ567R-vKgJajW/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(77).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">With Earthrealm none the wiser, Shao Kahn has one last trick up his sleeve. He sends Quan Chi and Noob Saibot (OG Sub-Zero) to dig up the remains of his dead wife and reanimate her corpse.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanlQk-OO60QbB6soHs4miM-bgQdyXBr3itcHHn1WOlHZOhWqsg5lhUz31BKo_3CZQnU9pnFPyimG2NIPLxUC8miIGKt4_yRTi6IIoEuqGuzwIsWTtACNq68PBImvLNGJLu5HJAxk1bx6hHPFTcA6NB9bVFXSOCMBmx4qmzD7w1vhM2fXAWHlI7fBxgkss/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(78).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjanlQk-OO60QbB6soHs4miM-bgQdyXBr3itcHHn1WOlHZOhWqsg5lhUz31BKo_3CZQnU9pnFPyimG2NIPLxUC8miIGKt4_yRTi6IIoEuqGuzwIsWTtACNq68PBImvLNGJLu5HJAxk1bx6hHPFTcA6NB9bVFXSOCMBmx4qmzD7w1vhM2fXAWHlI7fBxgkss/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(78).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She died in Earthrealm (wonder what the story is there) long ago, and I guess Kahn was just sort of keeping this idea in his back pocket in case the tournaments didn't work out. Now he's just gonna completely go against the Elder Gods and flub all their rules. You see, under Section 32 Line 88 of the Elder God Rulebook, it says that a realm can invade another realm <i>without</i> a tournament <i>if</i> a denizen of that realm is born in the other realm. Which I guess this counts as. So basically Outworld are going to cross Earthrealm's southern border, and Sindel is their Anchor Baby.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSKQqLybRZl-z4S_pfNt4Za3QkXTHNtSfQWs0m3HQagI0V4bhdGsmOkCMTYmLvW1ypjLi_ahLlSkYAVCTA03u92uqsVUm2NgCOiwymEQM-q3S3Zw5wGTcaf2W49TXvtd2CK8iXmdeRHyryp_roaPO6odNucabMhdXskOdBgtmZmy90KiKCTfbBksDLp2J/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(79).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSKQqLybRZl-z4S_pfNt4Za3QkXTHNtSfQWs0m3HQagI0V4bhdGsmOkCMTYmLvW1ypjLi_ahLlSkYAVCTA03u92uqsVUm2NgCOiwymEQM-q3S3Zw5wGTcaf2W49TXvtd2CK8iXmdeRHyryp_roaPO6odNucabMhdXskOdBgtmZmy90KiKCTfbBksDLp2J/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(79).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We fast-forward a bit and Shao Kahn is launching a full-scale invasion of Earth. Stryker is a riot-control cop deployed to deal with the invasion and he's the first guy we play as for the <i>MK3</i> portion. This is the third-act of the game and it actually caught me totally by surprise the first time I played this, as I thought the game ended with Shao Kahn's loss in Outworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQy8E9dYQ3WTSKyWYyhm4UOO6PzFh_13FnkTAfu_IFemuGeKMfp5Ax5ivE9eh48FfshRF1DV90QaCvRbDUJC9FgWeuN7JcRXmIMg7pgeTAh_Vs1_z6FxQoPwgrMo0bVl9EkpJ2VXdMjh6kLS6XbRJXdLgRvYWzmGhuncTWlJQF3VkewBJCoyrqpXfHRxB/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(84).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFQy8E9dYQ3WTSKyWYyhm4UOO6PzFh_13FnkTAfu_IFemuGeKMfp5Ax5ivE9eh48FfshRF1DV90QaCvRbDUJC9FgWeuN7JcRXmIMg7pgeTAh_Vs1_z6FxQoPwgrMo0bVl9EkpJ2VXdMjh6kLS6XbRJXdLgRvYWzmGhuncTWlJQF3VkewBJCoyrqpXfHRxB/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(84).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Stryker (on the right) is scoping out chicks when the invasion begins. He's joined by his friend and fellow cop, uh...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">....well, he doesn't have a name, so I'm gonna call him Dead Meat. He should be wearing a red shirt.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLgM-6wgUobUVVj7LBJhE4gd2ScRFNFRTJLtVSzL5YQ2IM_0dzMffHV39v3SBKMd-FrHD3hQd8Ax_NF7ySv899zzRDh_kAUCZl4Jgio4vb3Tc5P5AKwiMr7hs-fEHCDSxRX9FAiwUnu5bK_F8Ek9VhPsY2oPaR-g1UilpC3nFekrqF5fRHUlhPGaeJMID/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(80).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPLgM-6wgUobUVVj7LBJhE4gd2ScRFNFRTJLtVSzL5YQ2IM_0dzMffHV39v3SBKMd-FrHD3hQd8Ax_NF7ySv899zzRDh_kAUCZl4Jgio4vb3Tc5P5AKwiMr7hs-fEHCDSxRX9FAiwUnu5bK_F8Ek9VhPsY2oPaR-g1UilpC3nFekrqF5fRHUlhPGaeJMID/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(80).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Stryker and Dead Meat encounter Reptile, and aren't sure if he's friendly or not. Look, I think it's safe to say that any mythological monsters appearing out of nowhere are probably part of the invasion.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0kjIw9lxqW5UZ004Z9RGkn3dtIBwORBHDkMAPNFZVzODPxiexd3uWQTAk3Ty1ZgJUaOPtQewTZvysFvDr138j7w_4SsaW0J4PbSV7wYM1xji77M_sTg3nyKCfw1wKzg4HkphQSGkqAHNlmvwQJr69UVU9iijArQ9C54fcCghUh-sSU1mkwSlp7UbWKO91/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(81).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0kjIw9lxqW5UZ004Z9RGkn3dtIBwORBHDkMAPNFZVzODPxiexd3uWQTAk3Ty1ZgJUaOPtQewTZvysFvDr138j7w_4SsaW0J4PbSV7wYM1xji77M_sTg3nyKCfw1wKzg4HkphQSGkqAHNlmvwQJr69UVU9iijArQ9C54fcCghUh-sSU1mkwSlp7UbWKO91/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(81).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"He's comin' right for us!" ::BLAM BLAM BLAM::</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Little did they know, Reptile was giving off his musk, which is just how he flirts.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3uIaLioeUC0zLfHPSSi0qHyoVCZ0e6UXDSSoDN0GQv4Zvk8zjoCstbBTGuzDmGawQe9pU76BlRJ9yLQWUYXz3YcHeTWJKUT0pVqUmnXHAIti5DkxGZJ9lzmFrrjlpZa0xwdTjU3DUjUqC4MAp3CkZ5L1ssh1agYQJvC98cPjcfDqWw8vlWr9nqwN2l3w/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(82).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3uIaLioeUC0zLfHPSSi0qHyoVCZ0e6UXDSSoDN0GQv4Zvk8zjoCstbBTGuzDmGawQe9pU76BlRJ9yLQWUYXz3YcHeTWJKUT0pVqUmnXHAIti5DkxGZJ9lzmFrrjlpZa0xwdTjU3DUjUqC4MAp3CkZ5L1ssh1agYQJvC98cPjcfDqWw8vlWr9nqwN2l3w/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(82).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This gives them a chance to remix some of the <i>MK3</i> themes, and the Subway tune in particular gets a lot of use. Which is great because it was underused in <i>MK3</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd0UGl9CnsNZVHGYbFnWOJ5OW4S24O15nT1LlUvhygMUEJmMVYlT94H_ENHR7RK2j44Rh1y4USV23FJf8HFXGUaCZNIm-V5KXaWHTQKtfWNVbqwuWuA_-PV6ENWCgAouc_Ek_FGWmcJfSPKDgvDByCl5-ChZ-_utj2faW0bE-DtHjuaqY3g5lgEInAmq3/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(85).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdd0UGl9CnsNZVHGYbFnWOJ5OW4S24O15nT1LlUvhygMUEJmMVYlT94H_ENHR7RK2j44Rh1y4USV23FJf8HFXGUaCZNIm-V5KXaWHTQKtfWNVbqwuWuA_-PV6ENWCgAouc_Ek_FGWmcJfSPKDgvDByCl5-ChZ-_utj2faW0bE-DtHjuaqY3g5lgEInAmq3/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(85).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whoa, THIS is unexpected! Kintaro...in <i>MK3</i>? That's right, and he's leading the invasion of this city. Stryker manages to beat him, which is pretty embarrassing. I mean, losing at the hands of Liu Kang or Kung Lao, understandable. But Stryker?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMwCKZmWkURNmvi7_jk1SyFf1tbd0_GvA5qyq5_LDbswLYrsaj-hOK5e0U6sudTTNN9riqO7mTsGtLCQQa47XjGt3stkS1rD-uROGeyNX8sDtidopFoOSLRWDk644P9T5chzU1fXyVt_0Pi1BujRy2a734EYUKzZWjwpoQSiEmsqcoHKdZ3N8e9J6W8t1/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(86).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMwCKZmWkURNmvi7_jk1SyFf1tbd0_GvA5qyq5_LDbswLYrsaj-hOK5e0U6sudTTNN9riqO7mTsGtLCQQa47XjGt3stkS1rD-uROGeyNX8sDtidopFoOSLRWDk644P9T5chzU1fXyVt_0Pi1BujRy2a734EYUKzZWjwpoQSiEmsqcoHKdZ3N8e9J6W8t1/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(86).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After slaying Kintaro, they face a new nightmare: Ermac. This is the same guy who dismembered Jax earlier, and he proceeds to give Dead Meat horrible full-body burns.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not a fan of modern Ermac. I liked the red ninja Ermac back in the day. He was pretty cool. In the modern games he's just this weird mummy-sorcerer that horribly maims people.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhzNiX3t6JETiHp7iBqcdLJ38ZmujvQf45AgNke7WHOBluEF1gmIOlZnEWOWBoKoH1nskN-j2k3Ab6u8LGqlQoFxqNOxLLv1g-RfNd3lGNPFKo9LLjFsl4nJbtRmN48wA6Ia2FOqen9zK3afZ7IJF6-pXg_GwKA9UbJAgB5WJdJOHugeFwmwxzyea8J8e/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(89).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQhzNiX3t6JETiHp7iBqcdLJ38ZmujvQf45AgNke7WHOBluEF1gmIOlZnEWOWBoKoH1nskN-j2k3Ab6u8LGqlQoFxqNOxLLv1g-RfNd3lGNPFKo9LLjFsl4nJbtRmN48wA6Ia2FOqen9zK3afZ7IJF6-pXg_GwKA9UbJAgB5WJdJOHugeFwmwxzyea8J8e/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(89).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Stryker battles Ermac in the actual subway stage! After the fight, Stryker turns around and finds that Dead Meat's corpse is gone. Mysterious.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1l4IhibYU5UDg3-3s1M9SWSRSrHsxnKrbuvYTyBURQosNCLe9pI5AeiA-N1VF1w281TE2B7UhFfBVznTrQin0I_eVLqkzWiQJlojxZVwf6dC4pZhZt7ljxV_Vbxg-MQ_TjsNuQgDjrNBON8fRJp5urF_bayQrBLdMMsOjTi2yYYq7aSz-uBufTn2oN6LF/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(92).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1l4IhibYU5UDg3-3s1M9SWSRSrHsxnKrbuvYTyBURQosNCLe9pI5AeiA-N1VF1w281TE2B7UhFfBVznTrQin0I_eVLqkzWiQJlojxZVwf6dC4pZhZt7ljxV_Vbxg-MQ_TjsNuQgDjrNBON8fRJp5urF_bayQrBLdMMsOjTi2yYYq7aSz-uBufTn2oN6LF/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(92).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Turns out, he was hauled off by Kano and the Black Dragon Syndicate, who see an opportunity to create a new super-warrior. They've saved Dead Meat's life and reconstructed him as...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDsd7EUCTXqzzbR3shSKWwbeqvRkGchBEHanbBUjGKoaUXcx8eLXdHOyrGzwDKN6L2ozIBJbiUDmgM_S7W6nBTUJKbRCcdcquOJ5oH0F9KLpB08kXG_a9nE8-tVmPsyQ-kOsJ_v72sv2HBqebbI0Ctna94YRecS_CCGtMBDAKPgjtthVW5r939fq3YhkH/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(93).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfDsd7EUCTXqzzbR3shSKWwbeqvRkGchBEHanbBUjGKoaUXcx8eLXdHOyrGzwDKN6L2ozIBJbiUDmgM_S7W6nBTUJKbRCcdcquOJ5oH0F9KLpB08kXG_a9nE8-tVmPsyQ-kOsJ_v72sv2HBqebbI0Ctna94YRecS_CCGtMBDAKPgjtthVW5r939fq3YhkH/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(93).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Kabal! So that's where this guy came from. Kind of a lame character in <i>MK3</i> but I played as him a lot since his tornado spin attack was so cheap against the CPU.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7ft-IWd_Z7sq3c-o7tsIzsKrybYqNvZ4EPF8jRw5kWTVdsMMGRnh9ojRgrc4V8N6-m6PLIo5tyvOj9LseMC7U8bl8Fsz7HvRiyzlSDWGX93BVF0hCYz4Ml2ZQjDXH3R4S6Ze_akg-CPQmm4Oy9VCOGXenPC_33g9UgsWdM5YBabZ3U15KDhdgPL6NWS3/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(95).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7ft-IWd_Z7sq3c-o7tsIzsKrybYqNvZ4EPF8jRw5kWTVdsMMGRnh9ojRgrc4V8N6-m6PLIo5tyvOj9LseMC7U8bl8Fsz7HvRiyzlSDWGX93BVF0hCYz4Ml2ZQjDXH3R4S6Ze_akg-CPQmm4Oy9VCOGXenPC_33g9UgsWdM5YBabZ3U15KDhdgPL6NWS3/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(95).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Motaro...dies offscreen and his corpse is brought to Shao Kahn, who laments the loss. Wait, so we killed Kintaro in the <i>MK3</i> portion, and Motaro isn't even fightable?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Motaro kinda got done dirty by the later games in this series. They had issues programming him in <i>Armageddon</i> so they turned him into a bipedal ettin type creature. Now this game doesn't even animate him at all. Well, it's all just as well because he kinda destroyed me a couple months ago.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XPC6QYNx7V4" width="320" youtube-src-id="XPC6QYNx7V4"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;">SHEER CARNAGE!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQpSXVVAC2CIvBtQoPAd1kQgvPWsnI_Jq4HdGVbN1r68wcgpsCVJz91MecdG0NBQhvCrt8FgWLU2X0Gck2eDjcKpZ-SM5RGlsrhWBvzdJL-EROikfT3ANpQboCpEiyuyYxEfPiw6f7XYY1GOVvM4a6MFEZDzxDqd_D-GEu26xL8XRSvkZ_obhNphL5EGp/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(98).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQpSXVVAC2CIvBtQoPAd1kQgvPWsnI_Jq4HdGVbN1r68wcgpsCVJz91MecdG0NBQhvCrt8FgWLU2X0Gck2eDjcKpZ-SM5RGlsrhWBvzdJL-EROikfT3ANpQboCpEiyuyYxEfPiw6f7XYY1GOVvM4a6MFEZDzxDqd_D-GEu26xL8XRSvkZ_obhNphL5EGp/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(98).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sub-Zero wakes up in his new cyborg body, and we get what is hands-down the coolest new character in this game: Cyber Sub-Zero.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLWOpa3h8LZhjHknr5ICNjLYsSJajQoJIma98cpWRfvMx_32N-RWIx4aiNSyyDKqv77u4lrEQLNLywjHnjDZzzLDAkSbstZLgDO3UPfX0le-kNvw3VpB2PyCCZdvAqklR2ddBLxnIKsH4DrvY00yK2JXPgT7v2BmS76M9ySCyqI5vWVFEHsjMW39Xu2KB/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(100).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLWOpa3h8LZhjHknr5ICNjLYsSJajQoJIma98cpWRfvMx_32N-RWIx4aiNSyyDKqv77u4lrEQLNLywjHnjDZzzLDAkSbstZLgDO3UPfX0le-kNvw3VpB2PyCCZdvAqklR2ddBLxnIKsH4DrvY00yK2JXPgT7v2BmS76M9ySCyqI5vWVFEHsjMW39Xu2KB/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(100).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He has all of the normal Sub-Zero powers, plus a bunch of cyborg attacks like explosives and missiles, in addition to looking awesome. This is a deviation from how history was supposed to go, not sure if it means anything. Probably not considering normal human Sub-Zero is back in the next game for some reason. They just kind of introduce new ideas and then abandon them from game to game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjykOrNs_hkc9u2BftDPA_18-v3V94JxzldnawSDo2R2LYdbIZl24Ayxuy62qO-TFSwQBv6ZzfyOw1xLB800-vVNgDyWtZIjFunS3ubeInl39oM9eZzIA31ewTyPTnEFrlOtf5nFmSSeS9mSswLzxsiuMXfyl2bqeEmDL49dvWO_xMWyQkK3rKc_er0WvX_/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(101).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjykOrNs_hkc9u2BftDPA_18-v3V94JxzldnawSDo2R2LYdbIZl24Ayxuy62qO-TFSwQBv6ZzfyOw1xLB800-vVNgDyWtZIjFunS3ubeInl39oM9eZzIA31ewTyPTnEFrlOtf5nFmSSeS9mSswLzxsiuMXfyl2bqeEmDL49dvWO_xMWyQkK3rKc_er0WvX_/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(101).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next is a battle I would have loved as a kid. Goro AND Kintaro in an endurance match. And you get to play as the cool-as-ice Cyber Sub Zero for this. Best fight in the game IMO.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZb8EwNprAr6sd0UDkD-BtIVz9ugXRPma9iE47gjL0QeJXozLRJMN4R6mqwQpSdvAtN9m0HNpT9xZsceTxDetX7W5TRWZTvcAFjN9ZTjrV86xvvCIaoLfOtQusjaNRqULJqtcyqVsydZl6vzwqXIgFCR4wYElI-zZLh1OdAf4eiNQgcv11nbR7wKBrDZOZ/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(103).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZb8EwNprAr6sd0UDkD-BtIVz9ugXRPma9iE47gjL0QeJXozLRJMN4R6mqwQpSdvAtN9m0HNpT9xZsceTxDetX7W5TRWZTvcAFjN9ZTjrV86xvvCIaoLfOtQusjaNRqULJqtcyqVsydZl6vzwqXIgFCR4wYElI-zZLh1OdAf4eiNQgcv11nbR7wKBrDZOZ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(103).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's also a VERY TOUGH FIGHT, as one would expect, and I had to pull out all the stops to get this fight down. Easily the toughest fight in the game that isn't Shao Kahn.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Note how Kintaro gets main event billing by going second, as well he should. I'll always maintain that Kintaro > Goro. I argued this on the playground and everything, dammit.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIBGLv7HUOkP2b3LNcwCvunI2f1nGGkY4_uxz0Oqc41YiovzYCOoCdZP17ayKE4ZPbPIBS55dwWB3bGXiLefH_9LmzEHq3oc-Omu1BZYHLvPyKTWFJci-GT4CkEPRM-FyFwW11wcJq5S4gKQIc1jDihUO36Y6G3TLPsLbuPd8cPzONVKNCBMI4aMUldkk/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(106).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIBGLv7HUOkP2b3LNcwCvunI2f1nGGkY4_uxz0Oqc41YiovzYCOoCdZP17ayKE4ZPbPIBS55dwWB3bGXiLefH_9LmzEHq3oc-Omu1BZYHLvPyKTWFJci-GT4CkEPRM-FyFwW11wcJq5S4gKQIc1jDihUO36Y6G3TLPsLbuPd8cPzONVKNCBMI4aMUldkk/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(106).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cyber Sub-Zero takes on Noob Saibot. Two generations of Sub-Zero, both in distorted new forms, fighting at the end of the world.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPP3QCSaJ1gtUfYH_0EFAnJINGx3hFSMhWwKlfxNFOO88Ef6rjm3wzA2vvmz7bL-_znN-t1_sMeqm2aU0XviEc6IigfgV4H1CcsXSfdAsVSbkmwMwIzmB7sjDtosfD7CL_Npd-SbJsqAIdXdqzYGDyN51EwMahnCOdcmH4BEBSimJcDPDKvSebeQsQYqh-/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(107).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPP3QCSaJ1gtUfYH_0EFAnJINGx3hFSMhWwKlfxNFOO88Ef6rjm3wzA2vvmz7bL-_znN-t1_sMeqm2aU0XviEc6IigfgV4H1CcsXSfdAsVSbkmwMwIzmB7sjDtosfD7CL_Npd-SbJsqAIdXdqzYGDyN51EwMahnCOdcmH4BEBSimJcDPDKvSebeQsQYqh-/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(107).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Looks like Shao Kahn is rapidly collecting souls from Earthrealm with gigantic Soulnados. They're...tornados that suck up everyone's souls.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPPp_ubQ58v0nTMShgTSKlO2tYgEYKaEe6na76fRve91rrrVB-hF9zWivSa7lWXJ7YUvmNjfG8uF232bQmlXW8Oxo0mLykQKpVEnLbII47nNo9nGkwT1KaGYhmaHrtCdkJEkfS_u-4yP0c6PxMhNNOAL87bKp_3bbq8SsnyjUV2Ej-Q8yacFsEtSGS2Tc/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(111).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPPp_ubQ58v0nTMShgTSKlO2tYgEYKaEe6na76fRve91rrrVB-hF9zWivSa7lWXJ7YUvmNjfG8uF232bQmlXW8Oxo0mLykQKpVEnLbII47nNo9nGkwT1KaGYhmaHrtCdkJEkfS_u-4yP0c6PxMhNNOAL87bKp_3bbq8SsnyjUV2Ej-Q8yacFsEtSGS2Tc/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(111).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yeah, why aren't the Elder Gods doing anything?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-z7ge7NGl4X5-oFgp-fumLKgcZ2iCdSyYqyaYpmG8IYz_BdnNUDE7Jm0DJQhUGrPAoJo7HW4Cm1RUeFLIV3mswYw9yl-WH-Dgxf3_KaiH3YGFkWqwRXLJFhYJxwBLeIw1bbIVBFDudjISghznLUvJbQOOaljCiKvYJVgCXBWMF4Mf7XlMhIZyhO-2dX0/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(109).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM-z7ge7NGl4X5-oFgp-fumLKgcZ2iCdSyYqyaYpmG8IYz_BdnNUDE7Jm0DJQhUGrPAoJo7HW4Cm1RUeFLIV3mswYw9yl-WH-Dgxf3_KaiH3YGFkWqwRXLJFhYJxwBLeIw1bbIVBFDudjISghznLUvJbQOOaljCiKvYJVgCXBWMF4Mf7XlMhIZyhO-2dX0/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(109).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The tough part of being psychic: Trying to suss out what's a premonition and what isn't. Or whether you're seeing a possible outcome, or the one you're headed towards, or what. It sounds like a big headache.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyZB4JwAzgiVuUbwCjyY1f1ehWGZt_nx_noJUuGl2A0tUbqHcoAFuIcMXrWj6hdXkFVZU6gQf8hLbWv9nLdyHmTnPKpeSRAJSv86dYItn4p1-IlOI5IIj2giapNuVcgPUS8rAQDIH8nYZCB71lSdU74ra3oAG30YY1ucckFRp3itCq3O-X725fdUber7b/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(114).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyZB4JwAzgiVuUbwCjyY1f1ehWGZt_nx_noJUuGl2A0tUbqHcoAFuIcMXrWj6hdXkFVZU6gQf8hLbWv9nLdyHmTnPKpeSRAJSv86dYItn4p1-IlOI5IIj2giapNuVcgPUS8rAQDIH8nYZCB71lSdU74ra3oAG30YY1ucckFRp3itCq3O-X725fdUber7b/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(114).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next, Anchor Baby Sindel finally shows up and KILLS EVERYONE. ....well, that happened. No, I'm not kidding. She kills everyone except Liu Kang and Raiden, pretty much. What is even happening at this point? Rebooting a series is great for undoing all the characters you killed off, and they...immediately kill everyone off one game in.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNEUR75OAQSy2xjQ40V6o_j0rqznQZPOkij4iU7_VAPFqxUcy9tUGsrmpt0nmEGFo31VtrxWpK7EzGu770weASueyL8XQKeDGjnUu7VH4OTIJKvYwDpxz5va1RAdj_LOs-V9fLRDZ55-pyy-4zBKRVxtI-QU-M8DdX3fJoom8f0R3LIgtdcWNpsjZ756X/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(116).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoNEUR75OAQSy2xjQ40V6o_j0rqznQZPOkij4iU7_VAPFqxUcy9tUGsrmpt0nmEGFo31VtrxWpK7EzGu770weASueyL8XQKeDGjnUu7VH4OTIJKvYwDpxz5va1RAdj_LOs-V9fLRDZ55-pyy-4zBKRVxtI-QU-M8DdX3fJoom8f0R3LIgtdcWNpsjZ756X/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(116).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kitana is the last hero that she slays, and puts up a good fight. They share DNA, after all. Which explains how they're both impossibly fit goddesses.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">(Note: Johnny Cage and Sonya both survive this part, but both are too injured to continue fighting so they're pretty much out for the rest of the story. So basically we've distilled things down to the main MK movie characters)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGotay21VbRdnaygr_0luCC8iegAtr00Yw2WiCvW4YmpcZT2ZJDIzDcWBGIDjtBX8DZELCuCT32TlrPQfL13Wd3xCWV4AQw2vXxblBPfaujRaXTjz-HeuXYl5HGTwJqARkWFMCVqnrpLYMhjLkic8AahAYoUGTggsQV8Vvzqk7utZcedDnqoJzTj_9M3X/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(119).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEGotay21VbRdnaygr_0luCC8iegAtr00Yw2WiCvW4YmpcZT2ZJDIzDcWBGIDjtBX8DZELCuCT32TlrPQfL13Wd3xCWV4AQw2vXxblBPfaujRaXTjz-HeuXYl5HGTwJqARkWFMCVqnrpLYMhjLkic8AahAYoUGTggsQV8Vvzqk7utZcedDnqoJzTj_9M3X/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(119).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh yeah, and Nightwolf. He gets to be the one to defeat Kahn's wife and send her back to Hell. This chick is TOAST!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Talk about a downgrade, going from Cyber Sub-Zero (an incredibly cool new character) to one of <i>MK3</i>'s less cool additions. Nightwolf actually gets the penultimate chapter of the game, but so little happens in his chapter that I barely screenshotted it. He fights Cyrax, Sektor, then Sindel. That's it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfrJy5Nx-YXQAueMiQqBtiWt3QoB1aATz2TFypRCu-LOJJF-i0vArjs590Xop5g-dPzODKaYRbKlHzeJvaJ7XcwhcTXvvqo9uhbMo6vPODc5m_Wy_7msZvBZ8nTyQJPa4qvUX0eq-VsKboKxqi9KByTmKesEA7A-M1ei1RkLJGfAqt4KHUNJzfW0CntAnd/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(125).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfrJy5Nx-YXQAueMiQqBtiWt3QoB1aATz2TFypRCu-LOJJF-i0vArjs590Xop5g-dPzODKaYRbKlHzeJvaJ7XcwhcTXvvqo9uhbMo6vPODc5m_Wy_7msZvBZ8nTyQJPa4qvUX0eq-VsKboKxqi9KByTmKesEA7A-M1ei1RkLJGfAqt4KHUNJzfW0CntAnd/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(125).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden begs the Elder Gods to do something about Shao Kahn and they're all like "lol IDK"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Seriously, this is a total cop-out. Shao Kahn circumvents the rules of tournaments and these guys basically say we can't have a tournament to fix things because Earthrealm's destruction isn't their problem and is happening outside of a tournament.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So what's stopping Raiden from having an anchor baby in Outworld and then invading with all the world's militaries and the Justice League and shit?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, it seems that Shao Kahn isn't allowed to control Earthrealm outside of a tournament...so they'll do something if he establishes control. Until then, he's free to just murder everyone on Earth one at a time if he wants, I guess.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJf994RLKKqdkWkiWbkWNLeBxAY9Mgh-EtG6pYfcbKqGG4H3dJrZHAcviqNlvg3OhcY5_AUCIj2SUYywW6oJAIt57JjTmr_nFGvL7o6d2Gl8cEP3UQHEuvMgrsmDJTou_uIGi694_75vPjsQrLg-xeL2iWx0aNadnXTWOp5kPB3qRkI2902SPi4HFqjE-4/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(126).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJf994RLKKqdkWkiWbkWNLeBxAY9Mgh-EtG6pYfcbKqGG4H3dJrZHAcviqNlvg3OhcY5_AUCIj2SUYywW6oJAIt57JjTmr_nFGvL7o6d2Gl8cEP3UQHEuvMgrsmDJTou_uIGi694_75vPjsQrLg-xeL2iWx0aNadnXTWOp5kPB3qRkI2902SPi4HFqjE-4/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(126).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Final chapter begins with Raiden fighting Scorpion in Hell. Scorpion was kind of a loose end bad guy who popped up a few times, and they just tied it up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyB-7FmBSrDxGJbCSAPAvtPv9e-8y61AoD_lrKKxyxdmW_8E_JL6vJBIiPI69IpSibUuIkt3eWUM57yBoISw4LdBaxEJgyCUxSizbUUFVGtKRvxvhqKppRJnnUWZUekH_TzyHj57iV67QOmyw67nRdgUYaJXQXoTNDmEskg7h0iX9fKtav5OY4ufoZFDQ/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(128).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKyB-7FmBSrDxGJbCSAPAvtPv9e-8y61AoD_lrKKxyxdmW_8E_JL6vJBIiPI69IpSibUuIkt3eWUM57yBoISw4LdBaxEJgyCUxSizbUUFVGtKRvxvhqKppRJnnUWZUekH_TzyHj57iV67QOmyw67nRdgUYaJXQXoTNDmEskg7h0iX9fKtav5OY4ufoZFDQ/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(128).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next, Quan Chi forms revenants of the fallen good guys that Sindel murdered...and Sindel herself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mKdNkjRpDE8x_3WrH51b8A59d9royW-eSvrUxP2w3GtvA1TTb7ORl8aA69oX6UlBFTj8CkuDQmp7ISdIqK4_KOcyrvHegBGsR8Rd-VlKwjyi4iuL1mpEpSDRaVe-qjk8sXdORCgPyxNrbA-v94aPvfFcHU5ypAryAIQHVHFVhQ4lE5Fy88-zLMGeQb5l/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(130).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3mKdNkjRpDE8x_3WrH51b8A59d9royW-eSvrUxP2w3GtvA1TTb7ORl8aA69oX6UlBFTj8CkuDQmp7ISdIqK4_KOcyrvHegBGsR8Rd-VlKwjyi4iuL1mpEpSDRaVe-qjk8sXdORCgPyxNrbA-v94aPvfFcHU5ypAryAIQHVHFVhQ4lE5Fy88-zLMGeQb5l/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(130).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What follows is several VERY tough endurance fights where you go through not 2, but 3 enemies in one fight. The good news is that you only need to win one round of each fight (i.e. defeat the 3 foes once, not twice in a row) which makes things a lot simpler.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">After going through all the reanimated heroes (man this is dark)...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkvSS0NbRqq-7ieil6AAEcHdj3bI6rdO30m_auwVBz_Vqrd6n7rwZQsI-Lcu0uDes8NnviNBcqH2X7sv5NlelkdQ2It8JOH-0yh3wp1VozE9jiyP2eMBUfmhNgD0LQb86k2OOhqtg8nNY5AlsbzlKdnOwsxd1zLmh4HvVwP7rs4HeUZOUhDiJuV5MIAnG/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(131).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHkvSS0NbRqq-7ieil6AAEcHdj3bI6rdO30m_auwVBz_Vqrd6n7rwZQsI-Lcu0uDes8NnviNBcqH2X7sv5NlelkdQ2It8JOH-0yh3wp1VozE9jiyP2eMBUfmhNgD0LQb86k2OOhqtg8nNY5AlsbzlKdnOwsxd1zLmh4HvVwP7rs4HeUZOUhDiJuV5MIAnG/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(131).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Raiden and Liu Kang argue some more about how to finish this fight and save Earthrealm.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden says that if they defeat Shao Kahn, he'll just return later even stronger and win on the field of Armageddon, like he did the first time around.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">On the other hand, if our heroes surrender and Shao Kahn takes over Earthrealm, then the Elder Gods can punish him for taking over another realm without going through the proper channels of a legitimate confrontation. Liu Kang thinks this is bullshit and wants to fight Kahn now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIy8dPSszCc5pdjEzTxN2leFQKoPkm7TAtus28fp2BTIDP8OR4IQHgkbLC7nsu1oNXXienHiHPGhxI6zh_uGQT3IgZeuNgLHABlE1cilL-OF0H9HsGEz8MomDEV6zDTv9-rGLU5uM3Zt27w_cGhg4WovKxWTYUKan8-RKgfTwz01M-9RSDoiGJElzH8Eo5/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(132).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIy8dPSszCc5pdjEzTxN2leFQKoPkm7TAtus28fp2BTIDP8OR4IQHgkbLC7nsu1oNXXienHiHPGhxI6zh_uGQT3IgZeuNgLHABlE1cilL-OF0H9HsGEz8MomDEV6zDTv9-rGLU5uM3Zt27w_cGhg4WovKxWTYUKan8-RKgfTwz01M-9RSDoiGJElzH8Eo5/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(132).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our heroes fight it out instead since they disagree on what to do, and every disagreement is a fight in these games. Man, Kahn must be laughing his ass off right now watching the only two threats to him destroying each other.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">................................This leads to Raiden winning and accidentally killing Liu Kang.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Holy hell. THIS GAME IS NUTS.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAs-TI5n6Ys_SAwVXJXMeEqT6y3u2-q8OxSAj3umbKB88eVv5LFkrcxxstADbiSBa1pnTxySfeSgRtKYxETIina83ccXdxLyoUBHhUfST6HV2T_wgSu0WHQHnkixQXuv7FYHg4Vad7TsXe2rpafhjWlP-D1u6AaxcftTdLxh2AZDfB4_s-Feo9KhVxI1k/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(134).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAAs-TI5n6Ys_SAwVXJXMeEqT6y3u2-q8OxSAj3umbKB88eVv5LFkrcxxstADbiSBa1pnTxySfeSgRtKYxETIina83ccXdxLyoUBHhUfST6HV2T_wgSu0WHQHnkixQXuv7FYHg4Vad7TsXe2rpafhjWlP-D1u6AaxcftTdLxh2AZDfB4_s-Feo9KhVxI1k/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(134).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden then surrenders and gets beaten down by the soul-empowered Shao Kahn (absorbing souls apparently makes him more powerful, like Cell in DBZ), who declares victory over Earthrealm.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So this entire re-writing of history... didn't prevent Kahn from winning in <i>MK7</i>. No no no, it MOVED UP his victory to <i>MK3</i>!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02jYZKMftRl3UyMzkTfTw7RMPn6ljQ6UMV4XfIVYxOwwPkSuAJGk9qusRTOdk6LtKNB7Xi2L9aBfH3lMU7USk9p2tCqSuuKLZTz3IqNmQMxrstQhcOayodjXLKDLc5s5lTvtZcAkzd1GAbsPWHRAdt492j_O4rDruiTzrxRIxa_VPF9Fe1HSlQgt2cz8L/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(135).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh02jYZKMftRl3UyMzkTfTw7RMPn6ljQ6UMV4XfIVYxOwwPkSuAJGk9qusRTOdk6LtKNB7Xi2L9aBfH3lMU7USk9p2tCqSuuKLZTz3IqNmQMxrstQhcOayodjXLKDLc5s5lTvtZcAkzd1GAbsPWHRAdt492j_O4rDruiTzrxRIxa_VPF9Fe1HSlQgt2cz8L/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(135).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But wait! The minute Shao Kahn declares victory over Earthrealm via crooked methods, the Elder Gods can finally intervene, and empower Raiden with Elder God Ki. This puts him at the same level as Kahn.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3yUb5EeumRzLjh9wPeFXh7A3c-TMwgUBcizXoIP3zBGGO_NSdS4HMzLarNdBBDKyr4421oWzgDF4tWoxaHz2U0jP9U15nyNEYg0ONy25OTfPu5zd5UsFri9P6zBCiU4DI4Va6Wc8kdGbvgyHrGi1Nx_kBlOExXz4CaM1uHK3wOvg7XRGeuAJ_3inOAEw/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(136).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3yUb5EeumRzLjh9wPeFXh7A3c-TMwgUBcizXoIP3zBGGO_NSdS4HMzLarNdBBDKyr4421oWzgDF4tWoxaHz2U0jP9U15nyNEYg0ONy25OTfPu5zd5UsFri9P6zBCiU4DI4Va6Wc8kdGbvgyHrGi1Nx_kBlOExXz4CaM1uHK3wOvg7XRGeuAJ_3inOAEw/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(136).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Final fight. Shao Kahn is just as cheap here as he is in the Outworld fight earlier, so I fight him the same way.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZvrmARz8ugG6Byt-58tIAui8INq0kRXG9hhEm0fCUPpvvWLnINt8702g4Boq-Z7fFW47jueJ-QTEy1wuQVM9eUZfLVEw2gG7cBaeZCm0oYGSeqAz441XD0zdD-rK_VVMwwL6Izn8Sqo68JGPJkSPxgnYYYBztqhTolxCpoJuvRcldjL3oWOx9y7j35zL/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(137).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZvrmARz8ugG6Byt-58tIAui8INq0kRXG9hhEm0fCUPpvvWLnINt8702g4Boq-Z7fFW47jueJ-QTEy1wuQVM9eUZfLVEw2gG7cBaeZCm0oYGSeqAz441XD0zdD-rK_VVMwwL6Izn8Sqo68JGPJkSPxgnYYYBztqhTolxCpoJuvRcldjL3oWOx9y7j35zL/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(137).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Keep a distance, launch a lightning bolt every time he taunts. It takes an age and a half, but it works.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">With that, Shao Kahn is dead. Like, actually dead, for real. And yes, this actually stays true for the next game! They're trying their luck with a non-Kahn villain again.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">History has officially been changed and Earthrealm is saved. Too bad all the heroes are dead except for like, Raiden, Johnny, Sonya, and a couple others. Can't believe they even knocked off Liu Kang. Does this mean <i>MKX</i> will have the return of Zombie Liu Kang?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Xgh32kDQaES5RFqF8XhPhfYfOCmuBLqGClSgUWsp3oA1dqERq38izY2uqdkSy35XKhLM4xdQycawOGHtgehQd-a-VxjjHN6u9ROQS7gOXMOY9vqlYU1kOc6MJnxliPUBVZwphMntz9QP4g39_Shrsjm3Siier3QpsHbWcmEtTtEHeQvD-Fy6kbJutakC/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(139).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Xgh32kDQaES5RFqF8XhPhfYfOCmuBLqGClSgUWsp3oA1dqERq38izY2uqdkSy35XKhLM4xdQycawOGHtgehQd-a-VxjjHN6u9ROQS7gOXMOY9vqlYU1kOc6MJnxliPUBVZwphMntz9QP4g39_Shrsjm3Siier3QpsHbWcmEtTtEHeQvD-Fy6kbJutakC/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(139).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next we get a tease for <i>Mortal Kombat 4</i>, as Quan Chi slinks away and reports to his boss, renegade Elder God Shinnok. Turns out this all plays into their plan to take over both Outworld and Earthrealm. Turns out Shao Kahn was the main obstacle to this plan. With Shao Kahn out of the way, they can make their move, plus they have a bunch of revenants at their command due to the destruction wreaked in this game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkDXEB1fQUn31QvOs4t7k-Ex0eB8UrKlxpC-H-eLlpssEjb-MXZQNV13ssEDZ7EPTBblj12RlEfGCOlH8FjlnpdInUr_RTH_VdR39cBeebPpfeEttQ8XOHrgTNJXCnidW56rae2uAPZVOezgay4DzLixqqgViKxpcgipNbGq2i3dH1aQHSMsSVCHF744g/s2560/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(140).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="2560" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCkDXEB1fQUn31QvOs4t7k-Ex0eB8UrKlxpC-H-eLlpssEjb-MXZQNV13ssEDZ7EPTBblj12RlEfGCOlH8FjlnpdInUr_RTH_VdR39cBeebPpfeEttQ8XOHrgTNJXCnidW56rae2uAPZVOezgay4DzLixqqgViKxpcgipNbGq2i3dH1aQHSMsSVCHF744g/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(140).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">So there you have it, <i>MK10</i> is going to retell <i>MK4</i>. At least at first, there's more to it than that.</div><p style="text-align: center;">GREAT game here, and setting up a sequel left everyone eagerly awaiting the next step in the series. Alas, it wouldn't be for four years. The age of getting sequels a year later is long over with now.</p><p style="text-align: center;">So, thoughts on this game? It's pretty damn good, and up to this point I'd say it's the #1 game in the entire series. Beyond this point, only <i>MK11</i> might rank higher for me, but that might be a matter of personal taste more than anything else. I don't think it's possible to go wrong with this game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The trio of 9-10-11 is probably the single best run of 3 games in the entire series. Yep, better than the original 3.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Transitioning back to 2D was a good choice, and the backgrounds in this game are incredibly detailed (something that would persist for the rest of the series).</p><p style="text-align: center;">It also really GOES PLACES with the story, and takes some unexpected turns to say the least. Rebooting was another good choice and allowed them to reset things back to when the series was at its peak. Going forward, they've got a whole new timeline to play around with and it's gonna be interesting. I mean, unless they just randomly reboot it again a couple games later, but that's a silly idea. Looking forward to revisiting <i>MKX</i>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Mortal%20Kombat" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Other Mortal Kombat Posts</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-22308203935745228562024-02-09T01:18:00.003-05:002024-02-09T01:18:28.565-05:00Mortal Kombat IX (Playstation 3, 2011)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFWS_0niDKmg0vVLHwX9ezfeSzlMsn_VvwEIVdkDq7vbIUVk5NIX9Mw5daQ_jlvKtlDWuuvrbfviVFbQkIRzr7aOYaGA1RSZyIJkyzZx6-Oj5k6qzcdTFFANpY6YVN7MNLQrlEFbdmfta-t76xT3VmT5nl6z7h1dtL0IP7LL6vWqhU0E-ti5M41uD5cls/s542/mortal%20kombat%209%20cover%20art.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="500" height="501" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKFWS_0niDKmg0vVLHwX9ezfeSzlMsn_VvwEIVdkDq7vbIUVk5NIX9Mw5daQ_jlvKtlDWuuvrbfviVFbQkIRzr7aOYaGA1RSZyIJkyzZx6-Oj5k6qzcdTFFANpY6YVN7MNLQrlEFbdmfta-t76xT3VmT5nl6z7h1dtL0IP7LL6vWqhU0E-ti5M41uD5cls/w462-h501/mortal%20kombat%209%20cover%20art.jpg" width="462" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Technically this game is just called "<i>Mortal Kombat</i>" but it's known by fans across the board as <i>MK9</i>. It reboots the series by retelling the story of the first three games, which was a great choice, and completely resets the MK timeline. The story reason for this is that Raiden was able to send some kind of telepathic message to his past self about Shao Kahn winning <i>Armageddon</i>, so now in a new timeline Raiden has the foresight to prevent that and put things right.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is where I got back into the series back in the day after a many-year lapse, and I was just in time because this might be the series' best game. Whether it is or not, it being a retelling of the early parts of the saga is really what people like me had wanted to see more of for a while.</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejCBRNMh2Y_CDuVbDgoQ53bj8Te4gBmQ-SelhCXCQfyF6mXVgbj1MOENZBs8yHmXUOWeh1wJ-xExaS2YUT4M9_m37oHSERJN5OixIkiy2lLoFP3J6TapTHP2szB6_HET0hxSXX51OC7wUcsjKIPbSbFYonppAMoELqKMqWPNvRvf0wyt2ORkrg_D_3Yhv/s1892/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(2).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1892" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgejCBRNMh2Y_CDuVbDgoQ53bj8Te4gBmQ-SelhCXCQfyF6mXVgbj1MOENZBs8yHmXUOWeh1wJ-xExaS2YUT4M9_m37oHSERJN5OixIkiy2lLoFP3J6TapTHP2szB6_HET0hxSXX51OC7wUcsjKIPbSbFYonppAMoELqKMqWPNvRvf0wyt2ORkrg_D_3Yhv/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(2).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Robust character select for versus and arcade ladder modes. We've got most of the characters people liked from the first several games here. Scorpion looks particularly upgraded in terms of art design.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbDiPfnmrYRmbukan3CQWNi11Es9d0327_gv4XLxAK85MGZJhjxUDLfDcKUjNGcLrCDqSOQGLoQ6yw_1yHmGTwf5K72xtJQfN8D-lZaVcxhJaeP1_r5hXjIfCwKrPWNnt0-pjrOLOQnhzDaHXrFN_XO5kXsrR2nkx5Tmhfox02kKW1ladxAW3LfoeRLT2/s1897/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(3).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1897" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmbDiPfnmrYRmbukan3CQWNi11Es9d0327_gv4XLxAK85MGZJhjxUDLfDcKUjNGcLrCDqSOQGLoQ6yw_1yHmGTwf5K72xtJQfN8D-lZaVcxhJaeP1_r5hXjIfCwKrPWNnt0-pjrOLOQnhzDaHXrFN_XO5kXsrR2nkx5Tmhfox02kKW1ladxAW3LfoeRLT2/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(3).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sonya on the other hand...not my favorite design for her. They've done away with the athletic design of old and gone with "boobies"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIl4bbwLadjJYFLcSey-OfK_z7sl7N-R_XMcIdcbJl_JP8woWreAQ7L39IvHzvSOvls84OT9pzT3DifOW5qLBZnnyiMSNH_cPKvV2Bh4-IZAcT_3Xj9iDPuMkNvylSJaFvQaGMaBGk679bhWVppUeLmc97pqdgrCSThjalLbpbIeDSSfrDNMrCRO25bpUY/s1869/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(47).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1033" data-original-width="1869" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIl4bbwLadjJYFLcSey-OfK_z7sl7N-R_XMcIdcbJl_JP8woWreAQ7L39IvHzvSOvls84OT9pzT3DifOW5qLBZnnyiMSNH_cPKvV2Bh4-IZAcT_3Xj9iDPuMkNvylSJaFvQaGMaBGk679bhWVppUeLmc97pqdgrCSThjalLbpbIeDSSfrDNMrCRO25bpUY/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(47).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The two most popular characters face off in the underworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is Bi-Han, the evil Sub-Zero. Though the game also has the good Sub-Zero later on, and makes sure to explain the switch midway through.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4w3u7hi42wtkMw6iDwB5zMOPe9FGoLOTAiPJr_YurED2Ztj8EpLHNUbl9kttFFXYk4OXeieffZUh0bKUhyLOwGfUycJcW6enAGHFe4pcJaFxh_v4P41L7r8cng-_2Z3JAlKxYdIBl9pZ096rqV6kH61u9RxFvcup4rmzUE-TU5zNdaWhqIvN7vifLN3O/s1892/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(4).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1892" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl4w3u7hi42wtkMw6iDwB5zMOPe9FGoLOTAiPJr_YurED2Ztj8EpLHNUbl9kttFFXYk4OXeieffZUh0bKUhyLOwGfUycJcW6enAGHFe4pcJaFxh_v4P41L7r8cng-_2Z3JAlKxYdIBl9pZ096rqV6kH61u9RxFvcup4rmzUE-TU5zNdaWhqIvN7vifLN3O/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(4).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sindel bears a striking resemblance to Angelina Jolie. I hope she got royalties for her likeness. Also...BOOBS.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJ4HMgkSqHuAL8O4gn4bMxwfExnjUkWzTSnSvsJsVUMyyE7i7Z-o__rNA9dDr4ltznlgsv1AK95n0Ntgmq-iuB36lxVNzCdcANVqD-M3WFbI1EPHL-0b0TTQJT0at5hhRspP7EBE7Lu_kZvjWHHZ6Xk9F_lVjbR8iS9eZipxnW6BWWnv5CCLq38ZtGwxI/s1895/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(10).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1028" data-original-width="1895" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnJ4HMgkSqHuAL8O4gn4bMxwfExnjUkWzTSnSvsJsVUMyyE7i7Z-o__rNA9dDr4ltznlgsv1AK95n0Ntgmq-iuB36lxVNzCdcANVqD-M3WFbI1EPHL-0b0TTQJT0at5hhRspP7EBE7Lu_kZvjWHHZ6Xk9F_lVjbR8iS9eZipxnW6BWWnv5CCLq38ZtGwxI/w640-h348/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(10).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">At this point the arcade ladder mode is just a formality more than anything else, as the series has really moved on from that formula with the full-fledged story mode.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiY8a_yL-f1YRQ4azuwb2ZgaT-bn9_FkSkae-Twz8aGbr76krIYVu-FzZGE45KLOS9U4qfBVw2yuy2iSfivlqAHrnncZJOiaomJDGBI95fZGFMF3n8YmhHbXNMf0H2zD9PP4e_FqFHaK96mzVx9-YCTcHSfXs9xA6z8x5mC8d1xlnEhX7VtZoEAXof0qZJ/s1886/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(11).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1886" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiY8a_yL-f1YRQ4azuwb2ZgaT-bn9_FkSkae-Twz8aGbr76krIYVu-FzZGE45KLOS9U4qfBVw2yuy2iSfivlqAHrnncZJOiaomJDGBI95fZGFMF3n8YmhHbXNMf0H2zD9PP4e_FqFHaK96mzVx9-YCTcHSfXs9xA6z8x5mC8d1xlnEhX7VtZoEAXof0qZJ/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(11).png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Look at Kahn manspreading on the loading screens. This guy gives zero F's.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXne6MiCb1tJU9kh5nCMeCX0HEMO2Mo5FeV2RpRf0AZD9j6SJXv_7yqGSRhGod6Nw0R3ZXNfQx3PaG69CHj1J_Q9L9PBBxAGebs5y24hGlhuMNYD165M1IJD7WZIytobi1zLinEtdigR4TywrhLtu-3qq1BvHkOjzPXMxXFK0lH5yYh8u7_3nhYYNultIn/s1874/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(14).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1874" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXne6MiCb1tJU9kh5nCMeCX0HEMO2Mo5FeV2RpRf0AZD9j6SJXv_7yqGSRhGod6Nw0R3ZXNfQx3PaG69CHj1J_Q9L9PBBxAGebs5y24hGlhuMNYD165M1IJD7WZIytobi1zLinEtdigR4TywrhLtu-3qq1BvHkOjzPXMxXFK0lH5yYh8u7_3nhYYNultIn/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(14).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's a marital spat.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ya know, Sindel's ability to hover in the air would be super-useful in the bedroom.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGIs49r-VN2R631Y458PVHBdzwCWvuGe7Eq0E0BaohCusclgLFAL-aGoR3LpEr4_xSzReaY3GwWEZV3beku-sb_Fw_TRBoUaYoZC0jJvRxRNGfyMR2D9tlzSAt5t6utSN-U2_rxxETgj8KBQRCdt991SB-Wg8oiy-7wO0CERUXqaO12LMKbnj5NLdPk4yW/s1861/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(15).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1861" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGIs49r-VN2R631Y458PVHBdzwCWvuGe7Eq0E0BaohCusclgLFAL-aGoR3LpEr4_xSzReaY3GwWEZV3beku-sb_Fw_TRBoUaYoZC0jJvRxRNGfyMR2D9tlzSAt5t6utSN-U2_rxxETgj8KBQRCdt991SB-Wg8oiy-7wO0CERUXqaO12LMKbnj5NLdPk4yW/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(15).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Story mode begins with a cutscene showing the final parts of <i>Armageddon</i>. We're totally ignoring "<i>MK8"</i> here as it's basically entirely non-canon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbY_BgBHqRvJgUD-hyY4j0e85Zu8sO7lQAGhdEtpTMyz-Ff8hZssw0NnGtvM87_XDJ8n44tPCxwr8_oNGtLoDvxJNF48LdQLiYbsOEXLXAZ_AHMiozwWaUzGUz0A5DsJgSdy3za8YWNddDEQxJIbwIzrykGXlDPVDoTwUeR0isT8uQb8G84Xv5sQfGb8mM/s1887/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(16).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1887" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbY_BgBHqRvJgUD-hyY4j0e85Zu8sO7lQAGhdEtpTMyz-Ff8hZssw0NnGtvM87_XDJ8n44tPCxwr8_oNGtLoDvxJNF48LdQLiYbsOEXLXAZ_AHMiozwWaUzGUz0A5DsJgSdy3za8YWNddDEQxJIbwIzrykGXlDPVDoTwUeR0isT8uQb8G84Xv5sQfGb8mM/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(16).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">As everyone fights to reach the top of Blaze's Pyramid, pretty soon almost all of 'em are dead. Shao Kahn and Raiden were the final two to stand atop the pyramid and try to claim Blaze's quickening.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLHUwS_ockGEUhLMjvp4mRsKV_DSfxpCDKYXM2oKilTQEgSrmaGNhZG5e8mbzhu-qZ-e29IYDbt0yZGBj279OFOI0zROND2UP9mxtL7I7eJhyphenhyphenthXVML-09dpC5Yvc_WeVe6QPFoDbzGK7plB8rsO6OxnOUrZvTDcitm0ERyyUEZZyVO_FF3_2tYpKToXr/s1887/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(16b).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1887" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLHUwS_ockGEUhLMjvp4mRsKV_DSfxpCDKYXM2oKilTQEgSrmaGNhZG5e8mbzhu-qZ-e29IYDbt0yZGBj279OFOI0zROND2UP9mxtL7I7eJhyphenhyphenthXVML-09dpC5Yvc_WeVe6QPFoDbzGK7plB8rsO6OxnOUrZvTDcitm0ERyyUEZZyVO_FF3_2tYpKToXr/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(16b).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kahn gets it first, and with his new power he proceeds to obliterate Raiden. It's the canon ending of <i>Armageddon</i>. Except...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Right before Raiden dies, he manages to send a message to himself in the past. A vision of things to come.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8SW_m2Xv8Q9MqYQXLNAcS5e343wJmLAH0hIxyPPQLQhVhzUQ2vKWox86Nj5ykU_j4IUW83Dbc88pbpItnQc4zTo-jpMx8DNcPqh0RyG9s4p95xz2S7dTNQQzzreRzrqCoeig8bTITl5yR158TRouWaE_BtvQon5s0Xg9yIymXEEGm_F2srzGZPUxMwm9/s600/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(16c).gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8SW_m2Xv8Q9MqYQXLNAcS5e343wJmLAH0hIxyPPQLQhVhzUQ2vKWox86Nj5ykU_j4IUW83Dbc88pbpItnQc4zTo-jpMx8DNcPqh0RyG9s4p95xz2S7dTNQQzzreRzrqCoeig8bTITl5yR158TRouWaE_BtvQon5s0Xg9yIymXEEGm_F2srzGZPUxMwm9/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(16c).gif" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We snap back to the original <i>Mortal Kombat</i>, where Raiden experiences a rush of memories he hasn't had yet. Future Raiden is dead and the world will experience an era of darkness under Shao Kahn, but maybe Raiden in this new timeline can stop it. Unless we're going off of the "one timeline" format in which case everything is predestined unless Raiden can make better choices. Namely, make sure that Kahn actually dies in the first several games.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGySOcRlsJhJLdjc6ztPI1ZBhp7TG03i3l2h3PTmlKRtBNfytXCNyZu-OtIYg30aJTSqnuJ78KmzKMXML2D29VdPsryli7ZjuQ-FXFL6mlCRx_Ceo1e2u44Z2xjryeG-hO0XEZbToqkKPyDZ52D65YDGB6_DKQrZTK3akOXoZrjM75nQAx8CBEitgOKsF8/s1894/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(17).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1894" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGySOcRlsJhJLdjc6ztPI1ZBhp7TG03i3l2h3PTmlKRtBNfytXCNyZu-OtIYg30aJTSqnuJ78KmzKMXML2D29VdPsryli7ZjuQ-FXFL6mlCRx_Ceo1e2u44Z2xjryeG-hO0XEZbToqkKPyDZ52D65YDGB6_DKQrZTK3akOXoZrjM75nQAx8CBEitgOKsF8/w640-h352/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(17).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fact that this game retells <i>MK1</i> is such a selling point for me. <i>Shaolin Monks</i> was great in that regard as well. It's one of the few times where a timeline reset / reboot was really welcome in a series that I like.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BPVo21cRHqJ75o3aZFvuLlgoKHqZ6qlY35PiU8lV-HUDbpEBpNxiDcDA3vz8-5TC4XRfPOw5cAfKIONcXPJEzL9cpuhhAy_0Tepb8qVF5qK2KshuvckBOiMathKBpFN5YRtnIztLsVAbQKKYD_OSSTNutKX7pbhsXxqGx3qQh-qvtKD8CBCul2M8eiVp/s1891/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(28).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1891" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4BPVo21cRHqJ75o3aZFvuLlgoKHqZ6qlY35PiU8lV-HUDbpEBpNxiDcDA3vz8-5TC4XRfPOw5cAfKIONcXPJEzL9cpuhhAy_0Tepb8qVF5qK2KshuvckBOiMathKBpFN5YRtnIztLsVAbQKKYD_OSSTNutKX7pbhsXxqGx3qQh-qvtKD8CBCul2M8eiVp/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(28).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shang Tsung in all of his ancient, <i>Big Trouble In Little China</i> glory. He's flanked by those masked guards I always liked.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpAyDFZZ6kXHk_65dxPcsYAt-J5p3mqtgzICtcxguFMBnu5pKtmqgrt6x84OEFKAvd4ualsBVlhSzyiOIAYahO-EjuMyZDMoKS3p3MEsLxWRWxlPJDYGeq_x07X7JerQ4mMbz1t_zKYGyvL5WBwrHfDxoOxX0qsgvDgOj5uYJUKRh63Ya79tmyTrPUvoL/s1893/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(20).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1893" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJpAyDFZZ6kXHk_65dxPcsYAt-J5p3mqtgzICtcxguFMBnu5pKtmqgrt6x84OEFKAvd4ualsBVlhSzyiOIAYahO-EjuMyZDMoKS3p3MEsLxWRWxlPJDYGeq_x07X7JerQ4mMbz1t_zKYGyvL5WBwrHfDxoOxX0qsgvDgOj5uYJUKRh63Ya79tmyTrPUvoL/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(20).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Johnny and Sonya meet for the first time and he immediately flirts with her in his hamhanded way. She basically just insults him a lot as is tradition, mainly so he'll go away.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">These two are gonna have a kid later in the series</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYWV6U_xeemdRnCYPOC8IqbTBV1xkFwP9uYlBDwxGOG8q1_zfI2OgGZ4A4NkFlKebYgGSOUXfI64gge2WSV3d455z1w0Phdfr8qcZVbEnwRCtBkr75rVrmN5l_n5-7jVO2jAHjddSVLNSPrd1Skb1OokG8T9ixGlN6M9V6jNOAxdXePRcdhh_dnSR-xQa/s1891/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(21).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1891" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxYWV6U_xeemdRnCYPOC8IqbTBV1xkFwP9uYlBDwxGOG8q1_zfI2OgGZ4A4NkFlKebYgGSOUXfI64gge2WSV3d455z1w0Phdfr8qcZVbEnwRCtBkr75rVrmN5l_n5-7jVO2jAHjddSVLNSPrd1Skb1OokG8T9ixGlN6M9V6jNOAxdXePRcdhh_dnSR-xQa/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(21).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Johnny is our character for Chapter 1, which means we play as him to do tournament fights against characters from <i>MK1</i>. Like... Reptile?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7FYOl6i5REAmP6P4pdp1G3PLNCcpz4WES5VZe992Y-ZIiPzhoEuTznFareC2JX5GjSowz1zzPBELY0timVh7ritQaI4_wr0DHcMws2U6b2Ksx_AnTz07sgzxr2iwOhORXmtemlY5v00WHAL3lCEiqHHkmSDXYTNWuLy9mk2MG6GyzZSQGfpA1Q5DkO1c/s1880/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(24).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1880" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7FYOl6i5REAmP6P4pdp1G3PLNCcpz4WES5VZe992Y-ZIiPzhoEuTznFareC2JX5GjSowz1zzPBELY0timVh7ritQaI4_wr0DHcMws2U6b2Ksx_AnTz07sgzxr2iwOhORXmtemlY5v00WHAL3lCEiqHHkmSDXYTNWuLy9mk2MG6GyzZSQGfpA1Q5DkO1c/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(24).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And....Baraka?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Okay, this game takes some liberties with <i>MK1</i> to say the least.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBO1dXqEPwnklj7OmD7Ng0OeVNTCJl0jK3nJdkSWK4tsPpT4_OdG1Na5U8g63lILuhKsztskRIryA4ZplEv2xTqjs4El_x5OLKvfW_mNF-ALVZT7TCzwGBfOnp_WX20qgs0Gdm-PrFwcb_yriWn4hQagM-TfwulpFoDmOMQzD3-0uoI0yV2k4-IzDDOUM0/s1896/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(25).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1896" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBO1dXqEPwnklj7OmD7Ng0OeVNTCJl0jK3nJdkSWK4tsPpT4_OdG1Na5U8g63lILuhKsztskRIryA4ZplEv2xTqjs4El_x5OLKvfW_mNF-ALVZT7TCzwGBfOnp_WX20qgs0Gdm-PrFwcb_yriWn4hQagM-TfwulpFoDmOMQzD3-0uoI0yV2k4-IzDDOUM0/w640-h352/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(25).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Shang Tsung calls for Cage to "finish" his opponents, and Cage balks at this. He didn't know that the Mortal Kombat Tournament actually involved mortal combat!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGjfbcgRrD4X4T508bHpU3-LtjqR-XV4c3N38tKYYQMp8SaAcv_gG9xoiCtXQvjx4Nm80j3Gh89AhzL4t3wpauF9DCVUL8dqPZPyelab5iQN-tqdMmDkpFt1vgG60QtXvCn4PSDCUWlNnWY9tzDgNKenTUApha0k5m7kTy5t4ybfZgrPbMl6SACzTdkXD/s1895/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(26).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1895" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLGjfbcgRrD4X4T508bHpU3-LtjqR-XV4c3N38tKYYQMp8SaAcv_gG9xoiCtXQvjx4Nm80j3Gh89AhzL4t3wpauF9DCVUL8dqPZPyelab5iQN-tqdMmDkpFt1vgG60QtXvCn4PSDCUWlNnWY9tzDgNKenTUApha0k5m7kTy5t4ybfZgrPbMl6SACzTdkXD/w640-h352/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(26).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden and Liu Kang try to recruit Johnny into their Good Guy Squad, knowing the real threat Shang Tsung poses. Cage just wonders why everyone here is so damn weird, with their ninja costumes. He thought he was gonna be participating in a regular martial arts tournament, instead it's an anime cosplay convention with murder.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbGCRBaQwNeh6XNTT0Eds_tB2R58PU7fL40A-lJwX0yHBfQqHxrTii34j-04NszOPNxsrCNCqDSbhwCt2xxNTy6KQNjTeFtfzd97QjoEtuS6sAzIx8f1wVgHoG9wiHYLBrTA0I1x1VQ8m0KTDgaiP5umYtw8o-wH3rM_c-dKjZvPJATjOM22eqG7hXkXh/s1860/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(31).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1860" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbGCRBaQwNeh6XNTT0Eds_tB2R58PU7fL40A-lJwX0yHBfQqHxrTii34j-04NszOPNxsrCNCqDSbhwCt2xxNTy6KQNjTeFtfzd97QjoEtuS6sAzIx8f1wVgHoG9wiHYLBrTA0I1x1VQ8m0KTDgaiP5umYtw8o-wH3rM_c-dKjZvPJATjOM22eqG7hXkXh/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(31).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The QTEs and other annoying additions from the previous game are gone. This one is back to being fully 2D, as the Lord intended, and adds a super meter. Fill that up and you can do these gruesome X-Ray Attacks (yep, this is where that began) which are basically Mini-Fatalities inside of a fight that just do a ton of damage. IF they hit, that is, because a foe can block the initial strike and totally negate them. Plus you lose the entire meter if that happens. Ouch! This means, however, that when they do land, it's particularly gratifying since it isn't at all guaranteed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-6h6pNPjPUTAnn4NDA8e_n-OMzHVVQQC9Gew6KbPtz72mevqq5Lt7Ao6TQWu7xXTQle11OUSnCiEoEfR8loSxktQzd36SDiM7PxPOEhPNXxDSkNjeZ4L0g3ZohBYJV4FFF_ZPvvv3eJn-bnH2mkvLBzReJn75Ih2YhGksY0qNZqg4ngLhhfzvVOJ-zGy/s1879/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(34).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1879" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-6h6pNPjPUTAnn4NDA8e_n-OMzHVVQQC9Gew6KbPtz72mevqq5Lt7Ao6TQWu7xXTQle11OUSnCiEoEfR8loSxktQzd36SDiM7PxPOEhPNXxDSkNjeZ4L0g3ZohBYJV4FFF_ZPvvv3eJn-bnH2mkvLBzReJn75Ih2YhGksY0qNZqg4ngLhhfzvVOJ-zGy/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(34).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sonya takes on her archnemesis, Kano! Being able to go over the various hatreds and rivalries between the characters is a strong point of this game. I was always a lot more into the story and character interactions than I was into the over the top violence, though that also adds something to the series. I think the media really simplified things with assumptions that the violence was the only reason people were into this series. It's a lot more than that, for sure.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fH7Nz0V2-AyJSg2q0rXUcwwgHhsTIvAx8cuESnpU1MGORcBdu-cc6rIyLZQFYckiItTrFg7khoQ-c-MWQIBO5irgq8YlHXI7xppi2hrCUIC62wVLmBAdQPV1lPu7DutJ8in0e60M-s2ZwbuTxGuBVLJ9vFxVi6QEYo-v3L-25Ds5JGsJt-nkoB1LgU8g/s1880/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(38).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1041" data-original-width="1880" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fH7Nz0V2-AyJSg2q0rXUcwwgHhsTIvAx8cuESnpU1MGORcBdu-cc6rIyLZQFYckiItTrFg7khoQ-c-MWQIBO5irgq8YlHXI7xppi2hrCUIC62wVLmBAdQPV1lPu7DutJ8in0e60M-s2ZwbuTxGuBVLJ9vFxVi6QEYo-v3L-25Ds5JGsJt-nkoB1LgU8g/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(38).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Once the good guys have officially formed their alliance, Raiden decides to tell everyone about his visions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now Johnny is REALLY regretting going to this tournament. He has to save the world? But he was supposed to be on set at 8 AM!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMyaN60SmC3gkNDLnJi7tciH8TBcOMqF5EuMF4L_CSP4MtL89yvjw6OMJbf3EdsoEpdRIsJyCpXfv8Owpg2S4t2Yjr59cDU7-pb1k52qgK6hIguYUXFDAQaujwrErp5AV97BimmWCY7QYeZmV93RVYKQ1vSs9g1brMxqc_aHhghbtV0eRhCVpYFH2qa1L/s1873/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(39).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1873" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoMyaN60SmC3gkNDLnJi7tciH8TBcOMqF5EuMF4L_CSP4MtL89yvjw6OMJbf3EdsoEpdRIsJyCpXfv8Owpg2S4t2Yjr59cDU7-pb1k52qgK6hIguYUXFDAQaujwrErp5AV97BimmWCY7QYeZmV93RVYKQ1vSs9g1brMxqc_aHhghbtV0eRhCVpYFH2qa1L/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(39).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One of the guards reveals himself to be...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNIIvyjiE5ITFDIqwaWPuYPHoZvxfPYHP9ZxOzjLPWYQI3maGhUBXq6u6OZGo3kHg4PUZocyhZ24PrA1mKyowi0S5mULyFm-FRv8LMtLvW6_KHIU8O_wON2t9_0ir0jt6ujjsHNE3lrjGgAZMg4Qf4peM0ONU0NasG2717EbB7OqrGute4fiuHnLxkn3m/s1862/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(40).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1862" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNIIvyjiE5ITFDIqwaWPuYPHoZvxfPYHP9ZxOzjLPWYQI3maGhUBXq6u6OZGo3kHg4PUZocyhZ24PrA1mKyowi0S5mULyFm-FRv8LMtLvW6_KHIU8O_wON2t9_0ir0jt6ujjsHNE3lrjGgAZMg4Qf4peM0ONU0NasG2717EbB7OqrGute4fiuHnLxkn3m/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(40).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Kung Lao! Who, like I said in the <i>Shaolin Monks</i> post, really needs to be an added character if they ever do a straight HD remake of the original game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYFGtujamMwfJ7pMmF0p1UD8qGCiTgNZPc05yIYayYe3dzF-YtpSfN_dSEv8nEDlMlkXeyYm-Fg1bDvqBsYtQ6it8svzz_xuxe7LX6D1FCl8SGYPL9bZrz4OdWeskWbzsR73gxdK__vUgGGXNUXNQDcZH3ncT4lF5lv5fGZyF5dYgJuPl6R47zsOL9rWa/s1866/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(41).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1866" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYFGtujamMwfJ7pMmF0p1UD8qGCiTgNZPc05yIYayYe3dzF-YtpSfN_dSEv8nEDlMlkXeyYm-Fg1bDvqBsYtQ6it8svzz_xuxe7LX6D1FCl8SGYPL9bZrz4OdWeskWbzsR73gxdK__vUgGGXNUXNQDcZH3ncT4lF5lv5fGZyF5dYgJuPl6R47zsOL9rWa/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(41).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lot of familiar battle arenas here. Shang Tsung is sitting way back from the action compared to the original game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw72sQZKM8PYZnO8bVze6OO6aWva89CkRlhLbmWVEy7mNACwFZwjZyKQm7_pAoyPo-JEkMra_sKtqPHXHXli6Fr98Zn-IxnReqI_GVAbNvqk9p5Tt5K334NGsFUrUmOP55Xgch-BY18PYBxAZJjUhL6Q62igXbWJu-hGXparPXMEudBP9CtcXg-Eb4V7Dq/s1887/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(43).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1039" data-original-width="1887" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw72sQZKM8PYZnO8bVze6OO6aWva89CkRlhLbmWVEy7mNACwFZwjZyKQm7_pAoyPo-JEkMra_sKtqPHXHXli6Fr98Zn-IxnReqI_GVAbNvqk9p5Tt5K334NGsFUrUmOP55Xgch-BY18PYBxAZJjUhL6Q62igXbWJu-hGXparPXMEudBP9CtcXg-Eb4V7Dq/w640-h352/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(43).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wait, what? Tsung can just randomly make fights 2-on-1? This seems like something Raiden should object to. I know they're playing off of the endurance rounds in the first game (my least-favorite parts of that game) but it's still pretty obnoxious. The 2-on-1 fights are easily the hardest part of this game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHlVXsvqLH9RtpXTMzHHskt4UVqXC62H_DN92wokUcdS_eW2wIRZs1Lb9nQytf3yJnemzmGX1Aewwu_1NWvAGalgFAb2GKT1a-Qbr9AW6nEDjMj13yjKP2e7DHJA5qGJGLfaSMhlFK8DMe8I9GVMsIy8AuWKQCv5Oc0iYcDE9HnOyyak1orEp6wRpwS8l/s1885/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(49).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="1885" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzHlVXsvqLH9RtpXTMzHHskt4UVqXC62H_DN92wokUcdS_eW2wIRZs1Lb9nQytf3yJnemzmGX1Aewwu_1NWvAGalgFAb2GKT1a-Qbr9AW6nEDjMj13yjKP2e7DHJA5qGJGLfaSMhlFK8DMe8I9GVMsIy8AuWKQCv5Oc0iYcDE9HnOyyak1orEp6wRpwS8l/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(49).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cyrax and Sektor aren't cyborgs yet, as the Lin Kuei hasn't started their robot program. So we get to see them in their never before seen human bodies.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiR3jQK7J3Vx_OmJjYZCV_vfrhrWihaTqC-U_y884hlMWyEzusW9Aqk2YMa5OS_bBODz7rN8BXugNF3K-VmHrmPVqrKo1iZhZJiBRoTEoCwqwserPagyHp8DDfFPLsC3-NgCxpOPm1_tHTht2hRNfVZE0kWBIjowlGNTSsYqZ2Nt16Hio-OHPIsUteEGB/s1880/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(52).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1880" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiR3jQK7J3Vx_OmJjYZCV_vfrhrWihaTqC-U_y884hlMWyEzusW9Aqk2YMa5OS_bBODz7rN8BXugNF3K-VmHrmPVqrKo1iZhZJiBRoTEoCwqwserPagyHp8DDfFPLsC3-NgCxpOPm1_tHTht2hRNfVZE0kWBIjowlGNTSsYqZ2Nt16Hio-OHPIsUteEGB/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(52).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next we get a nice cutscene where Kitana and Liu Kang meet for the first time in a fight, and instantly find that they like each other's company. These two sparring is great.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsCJN_d-4GHJvDE_Yr0Fixhq8KzPoEHt-iom-kGp48SFzv1YB8pktow96aXC7xOBr2i_mftr06NKlcLU5TBrKm7VlZL5ed1ptC6bKPHc3nk6y3DUdDTN9EuYFVq2cQBNIPNrgfWnItr541x2TYOP-kTm-SFGjHf_cpHpIXlAAFIO8WjwiswQMjnNdn-Oo/s1878/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(54).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1878" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqsCJN_d-4GHJvDE_Yr0Fixhq8KzPoEHt-iom-kGp48SFzv1YB8pktow96aXC7xOBr2i_mftr06NKlcLU5TBrKm7VlZL5ed1ptC6bKPHc3nk6y3DUdDTN9EuYFVq2cQBNIPNrgfWnItr541x2TYOP-kTm-SFGjHf_cpHpIXlAAFIO8WjwiswQMjnNdn-Oo/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(54).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Speaking of Liu Kang, he's reached the finals of the tournament and Shang Tsung is a little concerned. Well, not that concerned.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Note: I think you could break a 2x4 across Kitana's steel abs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3PrAsMC_GrPnXqClDrnQvaSnYKEsyh_c41iUO4RuCBzfHxyMzMEcoMgZ_uQGOntcvh7BlIj-9a5YhCsDSAdWe6IzmIbExYCmd8d4xf6ozT1nMIqN1hKhKDwMf_x-vq50WU8mua0dgbXsSLUhxgMOkxpXYfxuKXsiUwC5YbBEmt4Bxyn2kiHURez-hTlhp/s1886/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(56).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="1886" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3PrAsMC_GrPnXqClDrnQvaSnYKEsyh_c41iUO4RuCBzfHxyMzMEcoMgZ_uQGOntcvh7BlIj-9a5YhCsDSAdWe6IzmIbExYCmd8d4xf6ozT1nMIqN1hKhKDwMf_x-vq50WU8mua0dgbXsSLUhxgMOkxpXYfxuKXsiUwC5YbBEmt4Bxyn2kiHURez-hTlhp/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(56).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The reason Tsung isn't that concerned: GORO. He looks kind of...weird.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrlKtQ6Jcik_pg4OkQDNtnMtSOCo27Eog9CV6urGrkG6hI_M9sjhLAG8XZ9jQcqMBkzkSqBRKDDXGdlFL4-6jYeqajOiCrhca7-8zuCiZMILHNkLfxyrpzm9z3jXVovJvQ11KCFKR3-8rBlemAQRf0NwrYpMK2W5Pk2eOIjeV2cXj4uEobSpOvWRxZO0V/s1894/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(59).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1894" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxrlKtQ6Jcik_pg4OkQDNtnMtSOCo27Eog9CV6urGrkG6hI_M9sjhLAG8XZ9jQcqMBkzkSqBRKDDXGdlFL4-6jYeqajOiCrhca7-8zuCiZMILHNkLfxyrpzm9z3jXVovJvQ11KCFKR3-8rBlemAQRf0NwrYpMK2W5Pk2eOIjeV2cXj4uEobSpOvWRxZO0V/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(59).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The key to victory here is spamming Flying Kick. In general the CPU seems very susceptible to special moves. Other than that, they re-created this fight very well and he has the same attacks and movement as the first game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGeC0Q4BSmacFrrDxoM7bQbXAzEz2eUvxvr1Dq9zI9EA5-sR14OYjehZ9tPh_hiQUi1OMbN_UlJez_3sXg6ZFRm0n67qpMR27IKJ9uGyyCWsyzdIcISs24VRLmmyWvlvkuhSUVav3AHM_XDW9Y20ogaXPpdxS92h4GZvH59uoNJnNHvSDNLwzX73exzBI/s1891/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(62).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1891" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGeC0Q4BSmacFrrDxoM7bQbXAzEz2eUvxvr1Dq9zI9EA5-sR14OYjehZ9tPh_hiQUi1OMbN_UlJez_3sXg6ZFRm0n67qpMR27IKJ9uGyyCWsyzdIcISs24VRLmmyWvlvkuhSUVav3AHM_XDW9Y20ogaXPpdxS92h4GZvH59uoNJnNHvSDNLwzX73exzBI/w640-h352/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(62).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Time for the Gokou Vs Vegeta of this universe. Notice how they didn't give Old Shang Tsung his own face portrait so he's young up there.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoQZNneqbyfUN60kL-j1agZD9f53cly_mR8QgY2ZjJqmruDyn2F6hoWisacHeXjCC_4hUQltExCuBns2auyTeXvdLjBfipWTJuDn7vWRXjBKYw-y4zn00CxnYiXIuhDvEtjU4M4Hr2EFQeiUEasbxCotIFH-nCnh2hIeYKHq2Xz9FoxebvSoFxA85sktN/s1877/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(64).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1051" data-original-width="1877" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaoQZNneqbyfUN60kL-j1agZD9f53cly_mR8QgY2ZjJqmruDyn2F6hoWisacHeXjCC_4hUQltExCuBns2auyTeXvdLjBfipWTJuDn7vWRXjBKYw-y4zn00CxnYiXIuhDvEtjU4M4Hr2EFQeiUEasbxCotIFH-nCnh2hIeYKHq2Xz9FoxebvSoFxA85sktN/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20MK1%20(64).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Run to the sides of the arena and you see this awesome thunderstorm in the background, befitting the final fight of the tournament.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJI0ncinIElCl1RRoXExtag57xFWo7cBL-KuohksfRzW-3hUgRsDij5ZtJAjsbYRcF2u2CL-uBm0fyv4wmc1wYxGSQtYLHc3Hctp8Di-b5WB9VKFjs2b3Yfdxy6DrKmE0GfMgEYhV92UrguTxYcHkLOW0NJLFeze9pNPA3YiEOogKXw6qE7dTe039rpnNN/s2167/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(2).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="2167" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJI0ncinIElCl1RRoXExtag57xFWo7cBL-KuohksfRzW-3hUgRsDij5ZtJAjsbYRcF2u2CL-uBm0fyv4wmc1wYxGSQtYLHc3Hctp8Di-b5WB9VKFjs2b3Yfdxy6DrKmE0GfMgEYhV92UrguTxYcHkLOW0NJLFeze9pNPA3YiEOogKXw6qE7dTe039rpnNN/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(2).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tsung is bewildered that anyone managed to get past Goro at all, and his attempt to stop Liu Kang was a desperation play.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcOsVFPSjamY1t1CIO8dUa15tZTFhAH5cvHFpBgVu5_rpiBPOsAGfqqPEkhkyB0hAMeAwVnAsV9iqjTAMJBr1901VfJYxC06TadiT8DwqZlnBbMDwG8V-rjC8_b29-xM32aXtuAmeXbJhDgzhXAo1Gs-ig1RgZOXAy2ywJOmZeig3ai_2nNuoV73d44w4/s2183/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(3).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="2183" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEcOsVFPSjamY1t1CIO8dUa15tZTFhAH5cvHFpBgVu5_rpiBPOsAGfqqPEkhkyB0hAMeAwVnAsV9iqjTAMJBr1901VfJYxC06TadiT8DwqZlnBbMDwG8V-rjC8_b29-xM32aXtuAmeXbJhDgzhXAo1Gs-ig1RgZOXAy2ywJOmZeig3ai_2nNuoV73d44w4/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(3).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The rest of the Earthrealm team congratulates Liu Kang on the win. He's so happy in this game!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...TF is Nightwolf doing here?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiALYqUqt-Qos-MEsB9aJ59fVOL119L4MuMvvNkH9k64DjBo7gl2K_Vj4QVt25vxAa57S7J3gIFLlMXg1Tb8NWMWAu5xciyTxVZ7G5ZIK1DA0SwvSqsUKc_bE1Ptj9TmRkagBFVxUxVau0Zc_5QiDDo-gNLbdP-K4F1WOvnOS75LNYxVIxuMsNeJoddDy/s2173/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(4).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="2173" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBiALYqUqt-Qos-MEsB9aJ59fVOL119L4MuMvvNkH9k64DjBo7gl2K_Vj4QVt25vxAa57S7J3gIFLlMXg1Tb8NWMWAu5xciyTxVZ7G5ZIK1DA0SwvSqsUKc_bE1Ptj9TmRkagBFVxUxVau0Zc_5QiDDo-gNLbdP-K4F1WOvnOS75LNYxVIxuMsNeJoddDy/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(4).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The original game is over, time for <i>MK2</i>. In Outworld, Shao Kahn is quite Displeased at this turn of events, as he was THIS close to getting control of Earthrealm through the Elder Gods approved methods. Now he'll have to find another way to do it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJRhkbIFYhSwnGSSyLF0hrnxRA5cL4UNI31GkiFEJWdwQrBoT56j6IlEgWWseZvXiu1jRR_eU41aupeW6EOza8d-RT3BMqBWZ0nTBVQCeHWIcX-ezv6rUFZ1pWto6k6FWe9BDpDUS-vy27UkD6oSEc24EVr9nK8JZl5z6qlufpLBRpV_RkuylL2sAVhcv/s2179/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(5).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1213" data-original-width="2179" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJRhkbIFYhSwnGSSyLF0hrnxRA5cL4UNI31GkiFEJWdwQrBoT56j6IlEgWWseZvXiu1jRR_eU41aupeW6EOza8d-RT3BMqBWZ0nTBVQCeHWIcX-ezv6rUFZ1pWto6k6FWe9BDpDUS-vy27UkD6oSEc24EVr9nK8JZl5z6qlufpLBRpV_RkuylL2sAVhcv/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(5).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He challenges Raiden to a winner-take-all tournament held in Outworld where he'll have the home field advantage. Raiden taps into his memories of things to come and sees that Liu Kang will successfully defeat Kahn, so he accepts the challenge.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden has basically become the John Connor of this game at this point. He's defeating Skynet because he cheats.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My question is...how did <i>MK2</i> come about in the original timeline? Because there was zero reason for Raiden to accept a winner-take-all Outworld tournament after successfully defending Earthrealm.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZErJxbQTkzcfmW-bniOFVztgenZcd3npcWqnwcTyd6ydkoOrXiOn8m64pBCY1lmrxEFL2rqyzZfbrAIRqfWeSVnfd9sd71vg6sDWMqvh0SDnc5e3oDwvaJaGwjsDDyqq5k1A_HAHrWG9MmUi2XSY5um5n7YyIw2rHieSmCTRCuXrIsFI4aw9F5rD0VbhG/s2172/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(6).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1215" data-original-width="2172" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZErJxbQTkzcfmW-bniOFVztgenZcd3npcWqnwcTyd6ydkoOrXiOn8m64pBCY1lmrxEFL2rqyzZfbrAIRqfWeSVnfd9sd71vg6sDWMqvh0SDnc5e3oDwvaJaGwjsDDyqq5k1A_HAHrWG9MmUi2XSY5um5n7YyIw2rHieSmCTRCuXrIsFI4aw9F5rD0VbhG/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(6).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The Outworld tournament draws a packed Wembley Stadium sized crowd. Also Shang Tsung was bestowed with his youth again after promising to make sure Earthrealm loses this time. His old self was just a curse.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlckF6YEGNLe5arLHAfrhO0tLtz5DTVfTX3HD319UG0OtbS1WBEGNV34uXMI9DzZONSr6kgMecDAQVOhM2d58jbfWzTEoTCZuWcw1Hhf3WwOGEBJJf_1CU30jSDMRR_xCcZwWEHrlZbrImsAkgVejiyCFM-upo90axaaLCOKQi93Ys3uU_MQy5FCVJrayC/s2171/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(7).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1220" data-original-width="2171" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlckF6YEGNLe5arLHAfrhO0tLtz5DTVfTX3HD319UG0OtbS1WBEGNV34uXMI9DzZONSr6kgMecDAQVOhM2d58jbfWzTEoTCZuWcw1Hhf3WwOGEBJJf_1CU30jSDMRR_xCcZwWEHrlZbrImsAkgVejiyCFM-upo90axaaLCOKQi93Ys3uU_MQy5FCVJrayC/w640-h360/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(7).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sonya is kidnapped by Outworld forces, but almost immediately rescued by the good guys. Specifically, Jax, who leaves no one behind. They do this thing where Johnny Cage is kinda wondering what's going on with these two and quickly realizes Jax is more like her brother.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkAo7pEJ4vRWxXxovrMqytmtq5KzPXSFBmX0K7mcUM9PyeWs0N6U8rgHiKTTMinPu3zmO32NwvZT_9tGo3eyZVgCAi706x7yGj1d_dVwgDRIrLT6sGdzOAJK-L_dKO3k3xEOG286mctJ2KKiRGjpYxyCe0tHfpQiuGlbe-3ZyZjiOp3Y_VipP7cxWuIS8/s2171/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(9).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="2171" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilkAo7pEJ4vRWxXxovrMqytmtq5KzPXSFBmX0K7mcUM9PyeWs0N6U8rgHiKTTMinPu3zmO32NwvZT_9tGo3eyZVgCAi706x7yGj1d_dVwgDRIrLT6sGdzOAJK-L_dKO3k3xEOG286mctJ2KKiRGjpYxyCe0tHfpQiuGlbe-3ZyZjiOp3Y_VipP7cxWuIS8/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(9).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Elsewhere, we have a new Sub-Zero, as the previous one was dragged down to Hell by Scorpion during the first tournament. We also find out that Smoke is another member of the Lin Kuei...and a decent guy?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cO6vay8uAxwQU6riHTPktPlKGTduak5uPYGaPXC5_oF3cs2FE1k5FnaHfdM9afRSDZaXYDCl9kCAt_aILFON9cvxnvv8P0NSnudSPIDedlFKblR7EmWD6zdeC0L0ZgGUZX-h_pEgE_earFg-_RxQ7QUtfm9A4-wfFYbCIXPprB0aWs6D6GnJ9xgLRMJJ/s2168/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(10).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1209" data-original-width="2168" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cO6vay8uAxwQU6riHTPktPlKGTduak5uPYGaPXC5_oF3cs2FE1k5FnaHfdM9afRSDZaXYDCl9kCAt_aILFON9cvxnvv8P0NSnudSPIDedlFKblR7EmWD6zdeC0L0ZgGUZX-h_pEgE_earFg-_RxQ7QUtfm9A4-wfFYbCIXPprB0aWs6D6GnJ9xgLRMJJ/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(10).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The next chapter has you play as him, which is cool, as he deals with Kahn's minions.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLWvaZRLoEZJd_YcM0BkpFxFRTgK7I4axsVlbwLGARqfEPTklLMo3knTN4-zbWNPTPlIYqR5ULcZSPhDXQv5XVWKW6nAX_Bg22aamx5gPtbPXmjtdDhqLa1WOYujr-OUJftCsatScbiNWwxiOJYbF_WFWKKlZRs7SFzUN4SJsSCXQkH90_3qMgpfOt__Q/s2170/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(11).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="2170" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxLWvaZRLoEZJd_YcM0BkpFxFRTgK7I4axsVlbwLGARqfEPTklLMo3knTN4-zbWNPTPlIYqR5ULcZSPhDXQv5XVWKW6nAX_Bg22aamx5gPtbPXmjtdDhqLa1WOYujr-OUJftCsatScbiNWwxiOJYbF_WFWKKlZRs7SFzUN4SJsSCXQkH90_3qMgpfOt__Q/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(11).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Daughter of Shao Kahn, King of the Druids!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Great, just what we needed, a Druish Princess.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmr0hf9_s4wwHHrJR5vqMT7ozIKcu1vgEkE5cbE-SNVYiuYAXqJvzlt0sHAhp9HENB8_TnUMrehFfseLhjl_gPKwIly180IRfkUYVlb1b7v4-GQZNIWwfNe_2dYZ2f8K5jsmIIUKxTLPEj4ahI0UrVL2ZnT_y0W4NgfoGmJP_n_1TzbyY34_Vvdk9oUE8/s2184/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(14).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1214" data-original-width="2184" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmr0hf9_s4wwHHrJR5vqMT7ozIKcu1vgEkE5cbE-SNVYiuYAXqJvzlt0sHAhp9HENB8_TnUMrehFfseLhjl_gPKwIly180IRfkUYVlb1b7v4-GQZNIWwfNe_2dYZ2f8K5jsmIIUKxTLPEj4ahI0UrVL2ZnT_y0W4NgfoGmJP_n_1TzbyY34_Vvdk9oUE8/w640-h356/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(14).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Meanwhile, the Lin Kuei have started converting their ninjas into cyborgs, something Smoke and New Sub-Zero are very resistant to. At this point, the Lin Kuei aren't asking, so our heroes have to fend off several of these new robot ninjas.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEMIpMg-tfp8xn0KM-T3cYbKsIRXYSjxJvrgha32YSmQWac3IAlqgUHsYyDtMybLn2j_uO0EZrhaFGMwgHGjhIGko_HJddrRhj7g_zL2jg4jupdUvBqvz9NfLFEMlal-n3xshr8DNTHkd5laWRUp9-uzfRA8mLHycvIS0j0ffhAbZCONtqaAVZ11lR-lD/s2168/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(16).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="2168" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnEMIpMg-tfp8xn0KM-T3cYbKsIRXYSjxJvrgha32YSmQWac3IAlqgUHsYyDtMybLn2j_uO0EZrhaFGMwgHGjhIGko_HJddrRhj7g_zL2jg4jupdUvBqvz9NfLFEMlal-n3xshr8DNTHkd5laWRUp9-uzfRA8mLHycvIS0j0ffhAbZCONtqaAVZ11lR-lD/w640-h358/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(16).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jax loses his arms in a fight with Ermac (who is a lame mummy in this game, not the cool red ninja of the early series), and Sub-Zero coldly walks off instead of helping Sonya get him to safety. New Sub-Zero may be a "good guy" now... but he isn't a great guy.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNae6yqOQkXhwFqTFmWK751HCiE_98tXbOAEMJ9XSJZeRsuDjz79Q5dfpMts74ABAkdUMFmU9JHjK8TqzlUSQJQfx8s9-QAppR6Y1jgL0f2sC6NZfYjNeGNRTv8lJ0K6w5sRdwvZT2xnYR7f-ChyOhsPRZe_ShKLw6OEj81KCzdp86v7wJ0YngW4_o2W8g/s2173/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(18).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1203" data-original-width="2173" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNae6yqOQkXhwFqTFmWK751HCiE_98tXbOAEMJ9XSJZeRsuDjz79Q5dfpMts74ABAkdUMFmU9JHjK8TqzlUSQJQfx8s9-QAppR6Y1jgL0f2sC6NZfYjNeGNRTv8lJ0K6w5sRdwvZT2xnYR7f-ChyOhsPRZe_ShKLw6OEj81KCzdp86v7wJ0YngW4_o2W8g/w640-h354/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(18).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sub-Zero only cares about three things: His freaks, his peaks, and getting revenge on Scorpion.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MUkvCny7-vFr3ppkb-LCSPk3bg1yCh4WLTbWDyArCu6zB-yIK_EY1z7ktNvPddRXnpaYLLluY6L0bIXv5xuPhhlZMGJfvDnPOjW9oL-8cvrNgUr60EkXx_j8kSd3LtYAEf_VOffiuOlNsOYBrBWJEp8t8rcljZoFJ5_dXuwTvy77p0k5PKDfVkvaNAIP/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(22).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0MUkvCny7-vFr3ppkb-LCSPk3bg1yCh4WLTbWDyArCu6zB-yIK_EY1z7ktNvPddRXnpaYLLluY6L0bIXv5xuPhhlZMGJfvDnPOjW9oL-8cvrNgUr60EkXx_j8kSd3LtYAEf_VOffiuOlNsOYBrBWJEp8t8rcljZoFJ5_dXuwTvy77p0k5PKDfVkvaNAIP/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(22).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sub-Zero defeats Scorpion (who just sort of slinks away), followed by the Lin Kuei showing up to grab more cyborg fodder. They wanted Smoke initially, only to have Smoke be rescued by Raiden. This messed up the original course of events, and caused them to come back here and take Sub-Zero instead. Apparently they made a deal with Shao Kahn to take Sub-Zero in return for the Lin Kuei now working for Outworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a deviation from history, as Sub-Zero was never supposed to be cyborged. Interesting. Raiden saves one guy, and they lose another guy. The timeline is merciless.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfju8BPNto31baKuJIdrWuK8poPIHOvbMBBSfM9PhI0CF5Mh1SY-QblxDLx2XsRFkYQ14Mm5pLgrRh4Ezw1VyfoV4oLf2ruBS6GTU4vMxwvR_-VfjJ5yLp0YO3g8ZzvTimVsbeLNQV9VD7nwoW7LOySeO1_6HBMmHc3ndBHp1Kz7dZTA0gSLfkcKiaIJU/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(24).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKfju8BPNto31baKuJIdrWuK8poPIHOvbMBBSfM9PhI0CF5Mh1SY-QblxDLx2XsRFkYQ14Mm5pLgrRh4Ezw1VyfoV4oLf2ruBS6GTU4vMxwvR_-VfjJ5yLp0YO3g8ZzvTimVsbeLNQV9VD7nwoW7LOySeO1_6HBMmHc3ndBHp1Kz7dZTA0gSLfkcKiaIJU/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(24).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next chapter has us playing as Kitana, probably the most statuesque character in this entire series.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh, forgot to mention a little plot detail: A lot of the Outworld cutscenes involving the villains have Baraka, Kano, etc transporting crates upon crates full of military weapons from Earth into Shao Kahn's coffers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's semi-subtle because it always happens in the background of the cutscenes, and even though it's very visible, they never explain what exactly is going on with that. Suffice to say, Kahn was planning his direct invasion of Earthrealm even during <i>MK2</i>. If Tsung's plan for a tournament didn't work, he already had a backup way to get it done. That involved importing lots and lots of weapons.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvabXmbQUB0JKhyphenhyphenneSEgV1xGIztNuysraBW09oSfl-BTFeueb6Obo6PFnbjPfcFXf4y_X9Ii9PpzQQ9BYMhCiC3GSdYEs3s-6ARi8vrqB5SpI6vKATlXLndabiiU7DTtjDmQpul-xB9a4xZIzgcieUYsjOj-cGB-cbqGYERgaSdYp2FswWre9wTmNIt9tG/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(25).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvabXmbQUB0JKhyphenhyphenneSEgV1xGIztNuysraBW09oSfl-BTFeueb6Obo6PFnbjPfcFXf4y_X9Ii9PpzQQ9BYMhCiC3GSdYEs3s-6ARi8vrqB5SpI6vKATlXLndabiiU7DTtjDmQpul-xB9a4xZIzgcieUYsjOj-cGB-cbqGYERgaSdYp2FswWre9wTmNIt9tG/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(25).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Anyway...most statuesque character in the entire series. Maybe the entire 2010's decade of gaming.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsYYbxiR0cKHZV2uY_Q7uHtgG1hrZSJb3ZA_6Hl4ypNxfKZvO-dRVDLqEpC59DuqtlrB1k_WMF71OroyHzh0z8ooMeFZlvXTaYKRemXSTArgIcdYAxX_XIdK8jzLs_aJX9gT0lfE7fbqDsUupa4c117xLCiWA0uFAABLxyILvhEQhDlpWyIYCMBKUcX7C/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(26).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBsYYbxiR0cKHZV2uY_Q7uHtgG1hrZSJb3ZA_6Hl4ypNxfKZvO-dRVDLqEpC59DuqtlrB1k_WMF71OroyHzh0z8ooMeFZlvXTaYKRemXSTArgIcdYAxX_XIdK8jzLs_aJX9gT0lfE7fbqDsUupa4c117xLCiWA0uFAABLxyILvhEQhDlpWyIYCMBKUcX7C/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(26).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Raiden tries to recruit Kitana to Team Earthrealm. She's faithfully devoted to Outworld, thinking Shao Kahn is her father.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">While Sindel IS her mother, her actual father is long gone and Kahn actually killed him.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">She doesn't believe anything Raiden says, but decides to listen when Raiden tells her to check out Shang Tsung's laboratories and see what horrors are being cooked up by Outworld.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs3_SmumOrpxFMO59lv78AxeuDzlBv1JQanSwZ0lbtsedfm37RPVSA6xDm9SQEX5ZfEhs3Rxz3IuRioTh9jjqBbsVOuvW8XTWT2ONZv1r0zbBcB3QuGu0kcjizMbmgXyUk7O2f32LSWaO8Hc9dALgVPWRulRD2F2Om1EZOrewIA0h3yMYh39SoH0aO404/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(27).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYs3_SmumOrpxFMO59lv78AxeuDzlBv1JQanSwZ0lbtsedfm37RPVSA6xDm9SQEX5ZfEhs3Rxz3IuRioTh9jjqBbsVOuvW8XTWT2ONZv1r0zbBcB3QuGu0kcjizMbmgXyUk7O2f32LSWaO8Hc9dALgVPWRulRD2F2Om1EZOrewIA0h3yMYh39SoH0aO404/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(27).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Her bodyguard, Jade, has a responsibility to keep her from going there. However, after Kitana wins the fight, Jade seems okay with Kitana finding out "the truth" if she can handle it. More on Jade in a bit, since she gets her own chapter in this game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpJb_I-mt_4AXLHi63SMV8c-9V97GihE2_wGPTvzUx4yM0qYUCufoGY8Q25tXMkTkFo03SFI_OxUY31PQfNeLxBKyqeNE-RDDCb7rOWwrlQ3eEsJvqj_iTwsWa6ckC-suf36YTer3HZRpgzdVSs9tD-kCM1W8AasOCM6eRFoST2z6DvthGZlGu4DSa-6k/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(28).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpJb_I-mt_4AXLHi63SMV8c-9V97GihE2_wGPTvzUx4yM0qYUCufoGY8Q25tXMkTkFo03SFI_OxUY31PQfNeLxBKyqeNE-RDDCb7rOWwrlQ3eEsJvqj_iTwsWa6ckC-suf36YTer3HZRpgzdVSs9tD-kCM1W8AasOCM6eRFoST2z6DvthGZlGu4DSa-6k/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(28).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kitana reaches the labs and finds out the truth: They're creating clones of her in these tubes, namely Mileena.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">THIS JUST IN: It has been widely reported by mainstream media that the news of clones is Russian Disinformation and that there are no clone labs. I repeat, no clone labs. Mileena is actually just the result of a guy mating with a bat.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5S0QWHDZtQxhxjnPPircLEhGobJGQGgGQ1RDTm6Z761nR8Uh71uAz4kuacQvP2ArRKuR2t8mWaEYb0mFVZezScVgmLAfCpgK93mNH-nWnHCrX1d290bKlD0_BA7LcAXTfKuFG-Ivs92ZUXIGMAnml-uWyjayUx6monB_TPKPMXq_LBukERhbtCUnvYw8/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(30).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj5S0QWHDZtQxhxjnPPircLEhGobJGQGgGQ1RDTm6Z761nR8Uh71uAz4kuacQvP2ArRKuR2t8mWaEYb0mFVZezScVgmLAfCpgK93mNH-nWnHCrX1d290bKlD0_BA7LcAXTfKuFG-Ivs92ZUXIGMAnml-uWyjayUx6monB_TPKPMXq_LBukERhbtCUnvYw8/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(30).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This would explain why she looks so grotesque. That or she's incomplete. I think they were also splicing Tarkatan DNA in, as well. This was back when Tarkatan was still a race, unlike the latest game when they changed it to be a disease. Not sure why they did that because it's a pretty huge retcon and kinda makes Baraka and his murder-army a lot less interesting. They're basically just a leper colony that mean well now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyR0W65g3cveRY9IGWbgVJYpASYd2-jim5vwzOn4iwGYhEPiqkMoBbhX1QvEqwH5vigILoDA5gM_jYoAf0dOtjAsvvhBX6YcigsxQHSY1ltCqh5NU-DPith_rSgFW1p7u537KN6YEpHIutAJb05-F2l9uSCQjh-AJUTeQ6uNhiOe11Sog77pZePLbCnK1T/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(36).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyR0W65g3cveRY9IGWbgVJYpASYd2-jim5vwzOn4iwGYhEPiqkMoBbhX1QvEqwH5vigILoDA5gM_jYoAf0dOtjAsvvhBX6YcigsxQHSY1ltCqh5NU-DPith_rSgFW1p7u537KN6YEpHIutAJb05-F2l9uSCQjh-AJUTeQ6uNhiOe11Sog77pZePLbCnK1T/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(36).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After defeating Mileena (and her bandages for an outfit), Shang Tsung appears and Kitana has to beat him up too. Now she knows the truth about how bad Outworld is, at least.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCyON34DqyZgB4cnMftPoNSXOoPq9lqMygpgElhvAEi9kxnQKU9NmcOXQweAIqfyttgDqGgbCuJ-ZgFFA3YEZRqpVEQ9jPvG6vk7n29XUhAWJKeySZnO_e1ePqX1nveH7pKylo0pSeHE5-wpQb83GqR4TzMBNdWWQLOjCcBqqRKpc5j949XjFrCqBLA81e/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(37).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCyON34DqyZgB4cnMftPoNSXOoPq9lqMygpgElhvAEi9kxnQKU9NmcOXQweAIqfyttgDqGgbCuJ-ZgFFA3YEZRqpVEQ9jPvG6vk7n29XUhAWJKeySZnO_e1ePqX1nveH7pKylo0pSeHE5-wpQb83GqR4TzMBNdWWQLOjCcBqqRKpc5j949XjFrCqBLA81e/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(37).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...except she assumes all of this is just Shang Tsung operating on his own. "Wait until my father finds out about this!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">....you think he isn't in on it? He's probably just gonna go "well done, sorcerer" when he gets the news.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, Kitana's gonna have to figure it out on her own, since she won't listen to Raiden. Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpfW_30O0uutymVFww3Klxw_Q81-4cfVEqH9Ekto6U-XYOEt06Gcfyo-o9umMlG111_HUZDHSzY1D4y9UMci0kNUhYUjtX_d0kh-xsSXVu7T7Na117Q4_dFXFe-dwG_jrvvGTl6FpRhcH7Ta7ZMen7Fv5Shvr0fLIyt7xEEsMEk41LKO6JZ9ec1sy1Y9c/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(39).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpfW_30O0uutymVFww3Klxw_Q81-4cfVEqH9Ekto6U-XYOEt06Gcfyo-o9umMlG111_HUZDHSzY1D4y9UMci0kNUhYUjtX_d0kh-xsSXVu7T7Na117Q4_dFXFe-dwG_jrvvGTl6FpRhcH7Ta7ZMen7Fv5Shvr0fLIyt7xEEsMEk41LKO6JZ9ec1sy1Y9c/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(39).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">..........like that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil36svrxtnuq83-4jAwcE89GfZzAH6rdF59czFaP88fjxMJKi3yM0LOOY6AItd0hcl4TVoXtrjHHF-NdizU2YU9gvBLqjLzT8W8vrZa4l8BzdcoZu1FtvhuYm1zQWBaCKjTuyxgVt6gqWOeiM54XRugbTw-MMw78WX8eyHECIgi5UT3WDnQb8LP0vqEuOD/s2582/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(40).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2582" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil36svrxtnuq83-4jAwcE89GfZzAH6rdF59czFaP88fjxMJKi3yM0LOOY6AItd0hcl4TVoXtrjHHF-NdizU2YU9gvBLqjLzT8W8vrZa4l8BzdcoZu1FtvhuYm1zQWBaCKjTuyxgVt6gqWOeiM54XRugbTw-MMw78WX8eyHECIgi5UT3WDnQb8LP0vqEuOD/w640-h344/Mortal%20Kombat%209%20-%20MK2%20(40).png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Kitana is heartbroken! She can't believe how evil these clearly-evil people are.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">If she isn't on board, Kahn has no use for her, and banishes her from the castle. Besides, he now has a "superior" version of her with Mileena, who he intends to be the heir to Outworld. More on that in the next several games.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's it for the first half of <i>MK9</i>, because the game is so big and expansive that I had to split it midway through the <i>MK2</i> arc. This really is the best the series has to offer, even now, so stay tuned.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Mortal%20Kombat" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Other Mortal Kombat Posts</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-58151228178458972962024-02-07T17:00:00.002-05:002024-02-09T12:15:20.648-05:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#195 - 213)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeQTDSX2qHAI5BcRF2kr5xOcZbCKQyNx4MngDSGh59zkBQ4GUxtahb2YSdPxkhmVFv4x3iBmRUPdC0hQlXedd7494-JX-D3iW4Jr8GU7aPnUadjVXL8aGKk5oC_TGQ1y33cQtidzY1VIFgQQ7fuVV0ktfpyMNDXw5FrpWkCUuwjJVpQkcM7OQ83bBvToB/s632/zelda%20master%20quest.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="474" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHeQTDSX2qHAI5BcRF2kr5xOcZbCKQyNx4MngDSGh59zkBQ4GUxtahb2YSdPxkhmVFv4x3iBmRUPdC0hQlXedd7494-JX-D3iW4Jr8GU7aPnUadjVXL8aGKk5oC_TGQ1y33cQtidzY1VIFgQQ7fuVV0ktfpyMNDXw5FrpWkCUuwjJVpQkcM7OQ83bBvToB/w327-h436/zelda%20master%20quest.jpg" width="327" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#195 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest (Gamecube) – Winter 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Today we're covering all of 2003, where I beat 18 games. This was an awesome remix of <i>Ocarina of Time</i> for the Gamecube that people got for free when they ordered <i>Wind Waker.</i> It also included <i>OoT</i> in its original form. Pretty incredible bonus here. I never pre-ordered <i>Wind Waker</i>, so I'm not sure how I got this. It must have also been sold individually.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjr_60fNgtT4sL-2RobsMvxRDi_b31bwc3MugHsWtBOknt2EjvL7bzTSUuQ_f0pgowNtGbUMdAvys_x3P0H4tIOiJZqTfpAbd48vofnAenCpHglrVLuYXR9IsdPsrh49prSXz0jgRONg7baUI-Q2HYTulGG35qQ6Bzu2AYaBs46qFYGaaFXSKq0BqHr2fN/s1296/master%20quest.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="691" data-original-width="1296" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjr_60fNgtT4sL-2RobsMvxRDi_b31bwc3MugHsWtBOknt2EjvL7bzTSUuQ_f0pgowNtGbUMdAvys_x3P0H4tIOiJZqTfpAbd48vofnAenCpHglrVLuYXR9IsdPsrh49prSXz0jgRONg7baUI-Q2HYTulGG35qQ6Bzu2AYaBs46qFYGaaFXSKq0BqHr2fN/w512-h274/master%20quest.png" width="512" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Most of the overworld of the game and the story were the same as the original, but all of the dungeons were totally shuffled and redesigned. Most of them were longer and more difficult than they were originally... with one humorous outlier. The Water Temple, the original game's hardest dungeon by far, was severely nerfed in this version and is now like 3 rooms long and beatable in about five minutes. Considering how tough the rest of the dungeons are, this was a pretty clever switcheroo. Definitely a worthy "second quest" for this game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Least-Tough Part: The Water Temple and it being five minutes long. Hilarious.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLASL2j2Jn0KNbT1ZraCcyoNdHatyFPO5Z6oEPhDqfZYi92_boK2Vl2A0gUX36kNALvIh0ChWQkv_noJBXZPHM8HeFognu9aniqaNdGhIpJHlq5kVC_Sfbqba6VKxzC7Q1MDBmHQa82VYUR9L6HpEtBgQ9c7CosJ8m2Ob_kYz8XwgVBmufpCS_VDvLC4zP/s256/Live%20a%20Live%20Super%20Famicom%20Super%20NES%2046.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLASL2j2Jn0KNbT1ZraCcyoNdHatyFPO5Z6oEPhDqfZYi92_boK2Vl2A0gUX36kNALvIh0ChWQkv_noJBXZPHM8HeFognu9aniqaNdGhIpJHlq5kVC_Sfbqba6VKxzC7Q1MDBmHQa82VYUR9L6HpEtBgQ9c7CosJ8m2Ob_kYz8XwgVBmufpCS_VDvLC4zP/w400-h348/Live%20a%20Live%20Super%20Famicom%20Super%20NES%2046.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#196 Live a Live (Super Famicom) – Spring 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Very cool game here that later got one of the best HD remakes I've seen. The Super Famicom version here was a fan translation and wasn't exactly high on my list of things to check out, but for whatever reason I made room for it. It's kinda funny to me that I never played things like <i>Bahamut Lagoon</i>, <i>Treasure Hunter G, Rudra no Hihou, Fire Emblem: Genealogy of Holy War, Tales of Phantasia, </i>and <i>Star Ocean, </i>and it took me a decade and a half after it was translated to get to <i>Seiken Densetsu 3. </i>Yet I made time for <i>Live a Live</i>. Of all things.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVXLIkQxvHly4mqmmT7wKPLqWuBbINgrQGWeiCH5atAKSxANeoJD-8poXVPSC2tcueeJsGa7q7NwIhVcQ_au-69LTc3QtcCVCBNP2SVkb44L7vl7wEpIssbYLw-Vu4TzdNH5vLw_khxGHuahdoXAyYYsK6wD5W44xaKoo52ls6xwkI9_QyGJ4I1mj7p_W/s256/Live%20a%20Live%20Super%20Famicom%20Super%20NES%2004.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVVXLIkQxvHly4mqmmT7wKPLqWuBbINgrQGWeiCH5atAKSxANeoJD-8poXVPSC2tcueeJsGa7q7NwIhVcQ_au-69LTc3QtcCVCBNP2SVkb44L7vl7wEpIssbYLw-Vu4TzdNH5vLw_khxGHuahdoXAyYYsK6wD5W44xaKoo52ls6xwkI9_QyGJ4I1mj7p_W/w400-h348/Live%20a%20Live%20Super%20Famicom%20Super%20NES%2004.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This was kinda like a SaGa series offshoot that for some reason didn't get the SaGa name, and did things a bit differently. I liked how each scenario had a very different style and setup. The chapters taking place in wildly different eras of human history was also pretty cool. I particularly liked the far-future chapter with the robot on the spaceship. Considering I was playing this around the same time I was eagerly awaiting <i>Xenosaga</i>, that chapter was interesting.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7a6nGYe7ecQ3-D79wPjCdUpUk-RZlp2skVfFh-B6L185zpv_XBhZkNoi3jtCHmR0-ELOqXD-dG0_MVasmA0Dl0sQzPEOA5u_6eSAxSW5kgLWhCrnXKcWrXgXHorh_4j5bZTD0QD455BsZoS0UI-yErzImIBvuW8meq7bBYm8oe2nmYc6WKvVFcA43xl5Y/s256/Live%20a%20Live%20Super%20Famicom%20Super%20NES%2008.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7a6nGYe7ecQ3-D79wPjCdUpUk-RZlp2skVfFh-B6L185zpv_XBhZkNoi3jtCHmR0-ELOqXD-dG0_MVasmA0Dl0sQzPEOA5u_6eSAxSW5kgLWhCrnXKcWrXgXHorh_4j5bZTD0QD455BsZoS0UI-yErzImIBvuW8meq7bBYm8oe2nmYc6WKvVFcA43xl5Y/w400-h348/Live%20a%20Live%20Super%20Famicom%20Super%20NES%2008.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The battle system is also unique, taking place on a grid. It's pretty basic, not much more to it than "use your strongest attacks and heal".</div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Sundown's final boss fight, the gatling-wielding bandit. For some reason I struggled with that fight and getting one-shotted by his gatling attack. You're supposed to be able to move out of its firing line, but when I tried that it didn't work for whatever reason. Still somehow managed to win.</p><p style="text-align: center;">(Lots and lots of) Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Live-a-Live" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizC9wUtpi3V6ZHTXKvo-0DyR924w312XyiFBrpYH6ntv2fR0cuSeU2HyhrFUZlg-8NBqZoCaEfRYSpeUrYGwiarueuBMFaxaE6Ei9LU3QhgAflFI-DLEh2I5-XsWXKnZP_qLFrk84J8ZUwUCuGG3MgAcwFB7VQ7VqBLX8zqllfxPzfvZI1q45b9HpiQZMa/s256/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%20III%20-%20The%20Manhattan%20Project%20(USA)_024.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="256" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizC9wUtpi3V6ZHTXKvo-0DyR924w312XyiFBrpYH6ntv2fR0cuSeU2HyhrFUZlg-8NBqZoCaEfRYSpeUrYGwiarueuBMFaxaE6Ei9LU3QhgAflFI-DLEh2I5-XsWXKnZP_qLFrk84J8ZUwUCuGG3MgAcwFB7VQ7VqBLX8zqllfxPzfvZI1q45b9HpiQZMa/w400-h375/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%20III%20-%20The%20Manhattan%20Project%20(USA)_024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#197 TMNT 3: The Manhattan Project (NES) – Spring 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Another fun TMNT arcade-style game. I think this was my favorite of the NES trilogy but it's hard to remember for sure. This one has Super Shredder as the final boss. Was this the first one with Super Shredder? Not sure. It's a damn good game regardless and has pretty much all the TMNT characters I like. Yeah, I skipped over <i>TMNT 1</i> but I'd circle back to it eventually.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2016/08/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-iii.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Mr-c6tt35nTo3UU5bFyRTmRXRzbFq3FOXVNTzVvADOKESCNbSgrptK0-rXYgraXZqjueuk_BiCprjkcBvyA_UIF6mc8pzMWtzVIToOCUWBbpuVQaax2PVsyX2QXFEXmTJEwpBp-nkcwZhbXvVrXW4dy2M9a-DbI6N4j_UVHOkk9S1CbokmZ3E0XeWzNJ/s400/Monstania%20-%20Undine.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="400" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Mr-c6tt35nTo3UU5bFyRTmRXRzbFq3FOXVNTzVvADOKESCNbSgrptK0-rXYgraXZqjueuk_BiCprjkcBvyA_UIF6mc8pzMWtzVIToOCUWBbpuVQaax2PVsyX2QXFEXmTJEwpBp-nkcwZhbXvVrXW4dy2M9a-DbI6N4j_UVHOkk9S1CbokmZ3E0XeWzNJ/w400-h350/Monstania%20-%20Undine.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#198 Monstania (Super Famicom) – Spring 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">An oddball game that I don't think got released outside of Japan. This must have been the season of me playing oddball fan-translated games. Only thing I remember about this is the female lead talking about how stimulated she felt.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Basically it's a Tactics style game, but it's also very short and very simple. So a miniature Tactics game. An introduction to the genre kind of thing. Not sure how this got played and so many Japan-only gems didn't.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizD-q4WRkecNgFloOgmzHceylpQLGC7aPkvB8ETfoz_MyHWFviX2Wc02N044859WNZwsmVmkupXxFXQ_JUe7WeS5UZEo0-2SjXvhqx9Ln4LTqaG2PLtt8779csANEpASrTQg090TbTPoClqxeyXUf6MsUHp9vE_mBO3goN_9rdCUdujyGMUys3LlKXfTgj/s1280/magic%20knight%20rayearth.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizD-q4WRkecNgFloOgmzHceylpQLGC7aPkvB8ETfoz_MyHWFviX2Wc02N044859WNZwsmVmkupXxFXQ_JUe7WeS5UZEo0-2SjXvhqx9Ln4LTqaG2PLtt8779csANEpASrTQg090TbTPoClqxeyXUf6MsUHp9vE_mBO3goN_9rdCUdujyGMUys3LlKXfTgj/w553-h311/magic%20knight%20rayearth.jpg" width="553" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#199 Magic Knight Rayearth (Super Famicom) – Spring 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Another oddball game that got a fan translation. Had 3 protagonists and they were all magical girls. Pretty fun game, I remember liking this one a lot. According to general reviews online it was pretty bad, but back then I had a knack for making the most of middling things and having fun with them regardless.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3-tJqW_0FluxFFvzigq3nGerz9DS_qyzAU2uUemCOjxe2kI5mwyASay2qLIjnDPHn1v0s5G2OYvGkIN2hfDOF410uxZBFgjY2IfNBLMqUoivh2pH37KhCH2hyphenhyphenzYCRcBL7aqSHUqC-LKdVmUEOVovMYe6RUalmV9dkz7YPyWlyqIK4YB74KfQly7X28wX/s1340/mario%20sunshine%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="748" data-original-width="1340" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3-tJqW_0FluxFFvzigq3nGerz9DS_qyzAU2uUemCOjxe2kI5mwyASay2qLIjnDPHn1v0s5G2OYvGkIN2hfDOF410uxZBFgjY2IfNBLMqUoivh2pH37KhCH2hyphenhyphenzYCRcBL7aqSHUqC-LKdVmUEOVovMYe6RUalmV9dkz7YPyWlyqIK4YB74KfQly7X28wX/w455-h255/mario%20sunshine%201.png" width="455" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#200 Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Kind of cool that this (huge) game got #200 for me. I think this was around when I had actually started keeping score, because I vaguely remember deciding to do something big for this number. This game did its best to make people feel happy in a relatively dark time. I appreciate it for that. As far as 3D Marioes go, I think it's my least-favorite of the bunch. Not a lot of diversity of environments (they're basically all island levels, none of the usual Mario variety) and the gameplay never really grabbed me either.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIe8i4SCQ4f5o0Tf96xq-3KjT6IRiAaAEpTPp9dPndSoMGduRw99Asm5iJsQ_szOGdcmJ4aMFD4WV2WRpns0-6D92lw5ggdnUzoVzXnEsWh9-9FTn353QiGgq-EjJaW_lWrHG-n0otR8oCKJxHkUYDbqmioFYGqPGEiGbZFnzArJEUMa2ee_Bc3MZ0XIC/s912/mario%20sunshine%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="912" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTIe8i4SCQ4f5o0Tf96xq-3KjT6IRiAaAEpTPp9dPndSoMGduRw99Asm5iJsQ_szOGdcmJ4aMFD4WV2WRpns0-6D92lw5ggdnUzoVzXnEsWh9-9FTn353QiGgq-EjJaW_lWrHG-n0otR8oCKJxHkUYDbqmioFYGqPGEiGbZFnzArJEUMa2ee_Bc3MZ0XIC/w462-h343/mario%20sunshine%203.png" width="462" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I remember listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin while playing this and trying to feel better. This was a rough timeframe, so I needed something to pep me up and this game worked to an extent. Unfortunately all of this also brought the game itself down a bit. In any case, <i>Mario Sunshine</i> is what it is and I'm glad it existed.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Note: It may be the least-good 3D Mario, but it probably has the best name out of all of 'em.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Nozzle: The rocket nozzle that lets you zip along the surface of water. Oh, and water in this game looked INCREDIBLE for 2002.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAT-jegTqPeUTN3PhTO5Zsxr4zKHhzn0h5nKn4z9bCd-oG9wLioR1drE5Iq7jlvFesqwJVeIC0kDzSEhhjuyUdK-SVlDihb-uyu5ul6m91FNyUkdT4hnbfdaGfNYdX7ptgktgBsW0InxbkUbtm8yjzrTaekRxbA7AIv-4ICDXeoieoqPzyk5oP-XDrmmY2/s2000/mario%20sunshine%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="2000" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAT-jegTqPeUTN3PhTO5Zsxr4zKHhzn0h5nKn4z9bCd-oG9wLioR1drE5Iq7jlvFesqwJVeIC0kDzSEhhjuyUdK-SVlDihb-uyu5ul6m91FNyUkdT4hnbfdaGfNYdX7ptgktgBsW0InxbkUbtm8yjzrTaekRxbA7AIv-4ICDXeoieoqPzyk5oP-XDrmmY2/w470-h299/mario%20sunshine%202.jpg" width="470" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Finding all the Blue Coins when going for 100% shines in this game. It doesn't keep track of how many you've found in each level, only how many of the grand total you have. So if you're at like, 220 of the 240 blue coins, good luck finding the last 20 because they could be ANYWHERE in the game. This meant doing all of the mini-games and side-challenges, then doing them all again because you had no idea which ones you'd missed. In short, keeping a list of blue coins from the beginning and checking them off as you find them is the only good way to do this.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAsmR-zXzt75HwLoB3pQfnwe4QdrWJMULghFFza9DA7vp3snNnEhCV26ttDqA-kAjwvP7GaTAGAiQyZ85PQXkb_2W6ZJybNjEKjOuqbyWHgY9XcWMIVRmY91psir3hw21ox36pE4yyjcvswADNgpHmfyyXML6QtMaJPf14rgcY2uvEsnVjP_oaFfzC9Z-/s256/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%20IV%20-%20Turtles%20in%20Time%20(USA)_00008.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAsmR-zXzt75HwLoB3pQfnwe4QdrWJMULghFFza9DA7vp3snNnEhCV26ttDqA-kAjwvP7GaTAGAiQyZ85PQXkb_2W6ZJybNjEKjOuqbyWHgY9XcWMIVRmY91psir3hw21ox36pE4yyjcvswADNgpHmfyyXML6QtMaJPf14rgcY2uvEsnVjP_oaFfzC9Z-/w400-h350/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%20IV%20-%20Turtles%20in%20Time%20(USA)_00008.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#201 TMNT 4: Turtles in Time (Super NES) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Swung around and finished off the TMNT beat 'em up series. This game is (hyuck) timeless. I love that the final boss is Shredder, and also Super Shredder, who really should be the ultimate bad guy in any truly great TMNT game. Yeah, I'm really on this "Super Shredder final boss" kick. This one plays the best of the TMNT beat 'em ups of this era and was precisely what a "super" fourth game in a series should be.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Stage: Probably Neon Night Riders: AD 2020.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sxSwyDiyLMhLs-P6yaDg_onCMAQC1sV8iz1CUVxk_CqkRi5faHKckF6YczteaJI_7ezk9yoNZws6JOwQtgxZwYe9gABIcnOHUqaX6AovteS1-MbezRfzS2thd_P4ZCfi2yanqO83tPHn0sJa-CJCqF6P1N8VTCq6BSmLR9U-mq9TCg1N2J9wy3DxDOVv/s256/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%20IV%20-%20Turtles%20in%20Time%20(USA)_00032.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-sxSwyDiyLMhLs-P6yaDg_onCMAQC1sV8iz1CUVxk_CqkRi5faHKckF6YczteaJI_7ezk9yoNZws6JOwQtgxZwYe9gABIcnOHUqaX6AovteS1-MbezRfzS2thd_P4ZCfi2yanqO83tPHn0sJa-CJCqF6P1N8VTCq6BSmLR9U-mq9TCg1N2J9wy3DxDOVv/w400-h350/Teenage%20Mutant%20Ninja%20Turtles%20IV%20-%20Turtles%20in%20Time%20(USA)_00032.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Villain That Isn't Shredder: Probably Slash, the evil turtle. He's got spikes like Bowser, and wields a freaking wave-bladed sword.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2016/08/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-iv-turtles.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6NBn9c9NdL0gQZopQeh3r23XaahG-DGxyAwAds7auQsPqWV8esob1muq41YKstgm9DGriXOZ0qTVoq3HAJppmkinwwOaQiVqBUyL91QebhANlDTPEXgMeByKlwVy1Pyx9-VDlhneraykZVEdOW4cQHArttCRd_SKiiyCO4tDIOxkpjV0FXb3UlpY6xO6/s256/Plok%20Super%20NES%20012%20I've%20been%20Diddled%20Again.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS6NBn9c9NdL0gQZopQeh3r23XaahG-DGxyAwAds7auQsPqWV8esob1muq41YKstgm9DGriXOZ0qTVoq3HAJppmkinwwOaQiVqBUyL91QebhANlDTPEXgMeByKlwVy1Pyx9-VDlhneraykZVEdOW4cQHArttCRd_SKiiyCO4tDIOxkpjV0FXb3UlpY6xO6/w400-h348/Plok%20Super%20NES%20012%20I've%20been%20Diddled%20Again.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#202 Plok (Super NES) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Cool, memorable platformer here, with a main character who fires pieces of himself at foes (and loses them when damaged). It's an oddball game but manages to be super charming. Only problem is that the difficulty is completely bonkers and I don't know why they cranked the dial so far into la-la land for this one. I had to use a lot of save states to get to the end.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_8xXwqDAFU8s0tCcZDz0gVPJU8kO9lVpsr-o_l223wl4CBrlMsY0hOebvGgnnu-5HXwTqh28m_2KGi2VOSbrAkxN4fnYrFWqGsXRVbUy_Zd4uwzuouP2klE4roJGp1ydkbRDwc85v46g0_615o_2Q4a2vx9pzA7Ycrxti23R4m-Cc8MkIbFza4KvxBoH/s256/Plok%20Super%20NES%20058.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit_8xXwqDAFU8s0tCcZDz0gVPJU8kO9lVpsr-o_l223wl4CBrlMsY0hOebvGgnnu-5HXwTqh28m_2KGi2VOSbrAkxN4fnYrFWqGsXRVbUy_Zd4uwzuouP2klE4roJGp1ydkbRDwc85v46g0_615o_2Q4a2vx9pzA7Ycrxti23R4m-Cc8MkIbFza4KvxBoH/w400-h348/Plok%20Super%20NES%20058.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Most Memorable Boss: Probably Rocky-Fella.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: The whole thing. This game is BLISTERING. The first two thirds or so are extremely challenging, but doable with some practice. Then the last third goes into full insane-mode and cranks the difficulty through the roof. Considering the game is ostensibly for kids and was never marketed as any kind of super-challenge I'm not sure why they felt the need to crank everything through the roof so much.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Plok" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvpIqjWEYc-ULQy0fL-yox2vV4aYTbEYqJ_5mnoDKQMfuRNK8e8G59o1TovQlwgbxKop6F5d4kRQrLbgXEkJ0UwdBAIKX0PGqC-RYolF2HPlfyH0cQADzsQpmhlG-Vms-SDTCr8Bdee0bK2sGSnpuYZze-giPBcWX0vQaJdppx9L2bxcT_9P-dkdPI8cl/s474/guilty%20gear%20xx.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyvpIqjWEYc-ULQy0fL-yox2vV4aYTbEYqJ_5mnoDKQMfuRNK8e8G59o1TovQlwgbxKop6F5d4kRQrLbgXEkJ0UwdBAIKX0PGqC-RYolF2HPlfyH0cQADzsQpmhlG-Vms-SDTCr8Bdee0bK2sGSnpuYZze-giPBcWX0vQaJdppx9L2bxcT_9P-dkdPI8cl/w449-h336/guilty%20gear%20xx.jpg" width="449" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#203 Guilty Gear XX (Playstation 2) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Cool fighting game with some memorable characters like Sol Badguy. I think this might have had some Cowboy Bebop aesthetic going on (but I didn't know it yet) with the character designs. Fighting games are kinda the "gimme" games of this list considering most of them are like a half hour long, but it is what it is. This was a fun rental and I enjoyed the soundtrack a lot.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vk7L0sRn9QI" width="320" youtube-src-id="vk7L0sRn9QI"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Good Example of the Soundtrack: Feel a Fear. The music in this rocked more than video game music was supposed to rock at the time.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAVLop3HifDDt0eJTfnw7Uxqxy9hna6HHIcAqlK9sQ9eLIknUsTCtunQlp9zaBmlB5DRhBztwgpJeuNnDtgrciLpGJXFMb32BUWFEjfY_vEWSU5JpaW111Cv92xaoDiJkAXRy-DCssL8UkG6y6NQtT-Ld0UNBbZUz3EyyCTxhg3DVmh_2gEfVEJixwYY5/s474/tobal%20case.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="474" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtAVLop3HifDDt0eJTfnw7Uxqxy9hna6HHIcAqlK9sQ9eLIknUsTCtunQlp9zaBmlB5DRhBztwgpJeuNnDtgrciLpGJXFMb32BUWFEjfY_vEWSU5JpaW111Cv92xaoDiJkAXRy-DCssL8UkG6y6NQtT-Ld0UNBbZUz3EyyCTxhg3DVmh_2gEfVEJixwYY5/w400-h341/tobal%20case.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#204 Tobal No 1 (Playstation) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">3D fighter from 1997 or so that I finally got around to on a rental. Not sure why I decided to get to it now, or why I didn't get to it sooner. The soundtrack of this game is <i>incredible</i> with banger tracks from pretty much all of Squaresoft's best composers. There's also a quest mode where you traverse a 3D dungeon and beat people up, but I didn't get very far in that.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNZPfBTYg5VF_3zR911V4DRVLMSrc4RSYEXTFarqM_oBTi0s4OMyzP3heYF_U_OQ2uTM6SQfx88Zbmt0UTOTB7BsrcUuP18BmaIeDv_rI9TWIxXNO-asV9MsJuFItQWAFdH3W4L1b9kP_9s2R7D9VwByqn3dzxFthVOL2qhjBiUaBDSW9b93i-n5PkEzV/s474/tobal%20no%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirNZPfBTYg5VF_3zR911V4DRVLMSrc4RSYEXTFarqM_oBTi0s4OMyzP3heYF_U_OQ2uTM6SQfx88Zbmt0UTOTB7BsrcUuP18BmaIeDv_rI9TWIxXNO-asV9MsJuFItQWAFdH3W4L1b9kP_9s2R7D9VwByqn3dzxFthVOL2qhjBiUaBDSW9b93i-n5PkEzV/w400-h300/tobal%20no%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This game did things that nobody else was doing at the time and really showcased Squaresoft's range. It's most notable for letting you free run around the battlefield to a limited extent, something you couldn't do in other 3D fighters in 1996. It walked so <i>Ehrgeiz</i> could run.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v2ndajsFZa8" width="320" youtube-src-id="v2ndajsFZa8"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: "Vision on Ice" which might be one of the most mystical battle themes I've ever heard. Plays when fighting on the ice planet. Yeah, this game has fights on other planets.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujUvSCgaYBWc5WmnUGP_Ezmk3AFZQ5e7O40VFij8p5U0-e80Z4lyaDkDJaJUGBQtpU_jqh52QF_LN4Ba45cG1BU_KFmTmoBzqlNgPBGjPBE5mgTIMWSPQGRHZLsNjHTMlsjLkBAALjmJGSP6e5gGYZBjhnj_1MrjENT-ZCaIgOVZdLwrQTo2BilpaZ4Em/s1296/xenosaga%20shion.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1296" data-original-width="972" height="487" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhujUvSCgaYBWc5WmnUGP_Ezmk3AFZQ5e7O40VFij8p5U0-e80Z4lyaDkDJaJUGBQtpU_jqh52QF_LN4Ba45cG1BU_KFmTmoBzqlNgPBGjPBE5mgTIMWSPQGRHZLsNjHTMlsjLkBAALjmJGSP6e5gGYZBjhnj_1MrjENT-ZCaIgOVZdLwrQTo2BilpaZ4Em/w365-h487/xenosaga%20shion.jpg" width="365" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#205 Xenosaga (Playstation 2) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Probably my most fondly remembered game of 2003, maybe because I never played it again to mess up said memories. That said, something similar to <i>Chrono Cross</i> happened here where I was incredibly hyped for the game beforehand, only to be let down by what it ended up being by the end. While I expected <i>Cross</i> to be a real sequel to <i>Chrono Trigger</i>, I expected this to be a prequel to <i>Xenogears</i>. I.e. Episode One of that game's canon, which it certainly appeared to be, and which a few magazines incorrectly characterized it as. Maybe they were just guessing since it seemed so obvious that it'd be Episode One of that story. It's in space, on a ship, has a young Fei named Abel, and so on.</p><p style="text-align: center;">I mean this has pretty much everything it needs to be a prequel, but at the end of the day it isn't, and might not even be in the same universe as <i>Xenogears</i>. All of the connections amounted to little more than vague references because Squaresoft owned <i>Xenogears</i> and Monolith (who made this game) did not.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm2acY1F8efe4WnobWSKiAip8TdqvELRFbCpzEiTM0FM2_z8r472qxdJu2aJEapEh4OAoxDJfdmpQ1mHxKD5eukBHOOpti0mY-ZLieGSrbtNUA7PMQa0F67A0PoWQZfa_H6N2uOWLR3I4xUN2K0uhzu9TcDc1E_NAMqrT_qnD1eQyuzCCJe2Bm2Tkp8Ta/s1235/xenosaga%20intro.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1235" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTm2acY1F8efe4WnobWSKiAip8TdqvELRFbCpzEiTM0FM2_z8r472qxdJu2aJEapEh4OAoxDJfdmpQ1mHxKD5eukBHOOpti0mY-ZLieGSrbtNUA7PMQa0F67A0PoWQZfa_H6N2uOWLR3I4xUN2K0uhzu9TcDc1E_NAMqrT_qnD1eQyuzCCJe2Bm2Tkp8Ta/w453-h341/xenosaga%20intro.png" width="453" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">At the time it dropped, I didn't know any of this, so I was glued to this game for days, eagerly awaiting Deus and Eldridge and all the other Xeno-isms. I DID sleep this time though.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The lack of music in most of the game's areas was an interesting choice, and while I'd frown on that most of the time, I think it was a good call here. The bleak emptiness of space came through a bit better when all you heard was machinery noise as you traversed the various ships the game transpired in.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AwUSyHpNrzRl-LWeQJLMDXswnT0evUV8aI0tPxf_Pb933buWXktIy0shNXFOHe5d8BdzNzra4wMHMG5DExj9gQ5MAd3BJnrgU2jErQDJGAsHLZ3j48keaTyg_Bh4Rb62yFHQMLtCQYUEn_sNOpLuHYeK2f0AqEQbX20y39kAjJtUtxtUWkYBkX_qUPqn/s480/xenosaga%20proto%20dora.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_AwUSyHpNrzRl-LWeQJLMDXswnT0evUV8aI0tPxf_Pb933buWXktIy0shNXFOHe5d8BdzNzra4wMHMG5DExj9gQ5MAd3BJnrgU2jErQDJGAsHLZ3j48keaTyg_Bh4Rb62yFHQMLtCQYUEn_sNOpLuHYeK2f0AqEQbX20y39kAjJtUtxtUWkYBkX_qUPqn/w457-h343/xenosaga%20proto%20dora.jpg" width="457" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">A couple of the dungeons were incredibly annoying, like the Cathedral Ship (too long) and Song of Nephilim (too confusing). That latter one is right before the final area, Proto Merkava, which is actually pretty awesome. Too bad I get the feeling not much of the playerbase got to see it.</p><p style="text-align: center;">...yes, they called the final area "Proto Merkava". Like Merkava in <i>Xenogears</i>, the seat of Deus. They did everything humanly possible to make this look like the prequel it wasn't. See also "Proto Dora" above.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Aforementioned Song of Nephilim was a legitimately stressful dungeon that just went on and on and on. One of those places that wears you down over time. I remember it feeling like it took 5 hours to get through, the night before my work week started. By the time I reached Proto Merkava it was bedtime and I had to wait a few days to have time to play it again.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4h8tyT3qdeL8jk_Tfv72OkmbIE5vBguepGCZBVcY53QeDAtIiQF7Dno7FlJ-9RTv_SZ4V0QISH8SVhtkajGFecQcoimI5ovn2gqhkSjcOLFolqPBReQa3B9p6gSoWB_-k6gh9VwBTyPUmZepuUnhFWxL5P9Snma8zHaQgO2xUCVxdUC8gvULvXqxfbkW/s431/xenosaga%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="290" data-original-width="431" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX4h8tyT3qdeL8jk_Tfv72OkmbIE5vBguepGCZBVcY53QeDAtIiQF7Dno7FlJ-9RTv_SZ4V0QISH8SVhtkajGFecQcoimI5ovn2gqhkSjcOLFolqPBReQa3B9p6gSoWB_-k6gh9VwBTyPUmZepuUnhFWxL5P9Snma8zHaQgO2xUCVxdUC8gvULvXqxfbkW/w461-h310/xenosaga%202.jpg" width="461" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Playing this with the air conditioner blasting because it was so damn hot outside in summer 2003. Having an air conditioner at all was kind of new to me, and I certainly didn't have one in 2001 when I was struggling through <i>Final Fantasy 2</i> and <i>3</i> in uncomfortable humidity. The AC added to the overall mood of <i>Xenosaga</i>: Sterile, air-controlled spaceship environments.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Rsj8Q_WB_8" width="320" youtube-src-id="-Rsj8Q_WB_8"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The music that played on the menu screen with the bestiary. This tune still gives me fuzzy feelings, even when few things from that era do.</p><p style="text-align: center;">This game didn't have much music, but what it had tended to be amazing. This tune was one of the first things I heard out of the game and it represented all my hopes and dreams of what story the game (and its sequels) was going to tell. Those hopes and dreams sort of dwindled and petered out as the game progressed and I kinda realized it wasn't Episode One of <i>Xenogears</i> after all. Would I have played it if I knew that from the start? I don't know. Possibly not. So I'm glad I was tricked, because I got to play a pretty decent game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Note: The sales for this series went off a cliff after this installment, so I'm guessing a lot of other people were also expecting a <i>Xenogears</i> prequel and jumped ship when they realized this series wasn't that. I still remember all the <i>Xenosaga</i> fanboys on GameFAQs basically pointing and laughing at <i>Xenogears</i> fans for reading so much into what was effectively a bunch of fanservice. Those people were annoying and probably turned off even more players, so good job. Indeed, it wouldn't be until years after its release that I played <i>Xenosaga II</i>. It might have even been <i>after</i> the third game. I'll need to see.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAwMIOK6HpZRdSWk_LIgB4vOl0lUSVBA8TB22Fnn4An7bFNefI8MGkpAeU17rmPVrwDLPelCM4326An10uZW2iKmrty4ZCxTEHKBfChXe3Sf5m2TPYwV9ayCQECyJavRzJy0A6ATaCLYFMyBnS79PVF3bXYFNBTyexEg7gzRePGE_6a8WV1W-Kt6kxYuc/s640/dynasty%20warriors%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsAwMIOK6HpZRdSWk_LIgB4vOl0lUSVBA8TB22Fnn4An7bFNefI8MGkpAeU17rmPVrwDLPelCM4326An10uZW2iKmrty4ZCxTEHKBfChXe3Sf5m2TPYwV9ayCQECyJavRzJy0A6ATaCLYFMyBnS79PVF3bXYFNBTyexEg7gzRePGE_6a8WV1W-Kt6kxYuc/w453-h340/dynasty%20warriors%204.jpg" width="453" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#206 Dynasty Warriors 4 (Playstation 2) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Got this alongside <i>Xenosaga</i> and it was kinda like getting the PS2 with two games all over again. I put this off until after the RPG was done, like I did a year before, but I was pretty stoked to play a sequel to <i>Dynasty Warriors 3</i>. Unfortunately I found this game to be worse overall. Less impactful gameplay and animations, music wasn't as hard-hitting, whole thing just felt kind of mellowed out. So this was my last DW game for a while.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Character: Sun Shang Xiang. One of her outfits had short shorts. I went with the all-white color scheme for the outfit and spent probably dozens of hours watching her sprint around in her white short-shorts, slashing at enemy armies with her two chakrams. Played as her for basically the entire game and maxed out her stats. We men are simple.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRWn899Y3uw" width="320" youtube-src-id="NRWn899Y3uw"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Gain Ground. This plays when Dong Zhuo is fleeing through Chang An, his own castle.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokhyrnS5cvtxXVNwM55Y-3fV7EMA07vMVJ8JDkHjGKfuc-Mrre8HcP18yN8pTa1aBjDiyhwyxigbDeSyAEdmebhtPtwBQJGWdmy_Xwjwthkbj0i8EE6I5bBABhfGAtWFaKHPxvBEp7jxYYKklNDCWxGnZsF2GQpkYTLl0sZJaBwo8q1Txqp4hjzd0pMsP/s1280/Zone_of_the_Enders_(USA)-1468191301.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhokhyrnS5cvtxXVNwM55Y-3fV7EMA07vMVJ8JDkHjGKfuc-Mrre8HcP18yN8pTa1aBjDiyhwyxigbDeSyAEdmebhtPtwBQJGWdmy_Xwjwthkbj0i8EE6I5bBABhfGAtWFaKHPxvBEp7jxYYKklNDCWxGnZsF2GQpkYTLl0sZJaBwo8q1Txqp4hjzd0pMsP/w516-h290/Zone_of_the_Enders_(USA)-1468191301.jpeg" width="516" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#207 Zone of the Enders (Playstation 2) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Super atmospheric and futuristic game here that was a good thing to play shortly after <i>Xenosaga</i>. It's a bit on the simple/basic side and doesn't take the concept outside of its comfort zone like the sequel does, but it has the most stylish combat this side of <i>Devil May Cry</i>. And it's a mech game with flight and lasers, so that's rad. I feel like this game might have gotten quite a bit of inspiration from <i>Battleclash</i> and <i>Metal Combat</i> back on the SNES, which is interesting if true.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmg6xFnOsJpCO6bK5DEat5I-9sj5waFij-dCMDmas2OCK4lUQWlZsPU55gma2byOkMh-VlgQoJg8T4LTBJkwQZXUwn3SM6jBmC1TZ4gq8Z82Wbw9o1-TXrJJ6h5II6W3IASqyQL1CGuLUQSCl5a-WBpHbzwR0VwDEamkDxQD_Ba9pYh7CdAQDibe7NSZBp/s1280/zone-of-the-enders-ps2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmg6xFnOsJpCO6bK5DEat5I-9sj5waFij-dCMDmas2OCK4lUQWlZsPU55gma2byOkMh-VlgQoJg8T4LTBJkwQZXUwn3SM6jBmC1TZ4gq8Z82Wbw9o1-TXrJJ6h5II6W3IASqyQL1CGuLUQSCl5a-WBpHbzwR0VwDEamkDxQD_Ba9pYh7CdAQDibe7NSZBp/w518-h291/zone-of-the-enders-ps2.jpg" width="518" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This was a game that legitimately felt like a "next generation" game, as in no version of it could have possibly existed before this point, and the technical prowess on display was well beyond anything I'd played on PS2 previously. Aside from <i>Metroid Prime</i> this was the first thing to really blow me away in this console generation.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The one downside to it is that the enemy variety is pretty bad, and for most of the game you're fighting the same couple of enemy drones over and over again (with different names and stats). Which is a bit lame once you notice it. The sequel would do a lot more with the concept and have a lot more variety, but that's later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i9e1zrXBO10" width="320" youtube-src-id="i9e1zrXBO10"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The first overworld roaming theme. Futuristic and stuff.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XV1eAD8NF4Nj9uFN0GlAzCrvocQ2sIps_byyEEET0BSoodVRFI-qz1pIWq9dFMoRs_B5qdyu_TC69zEqYHFmOyaJ-I_eEAOMFRaHPLL2Ofy7LnIpigT4NhzwAYG9GCjUD516eO8hW0QSMzJyu00PSZR-tSwpyE2vl55iStBULENHStQMnLi-AbyCtswc/s860/destiny%20of%20an%20emperor%202%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="860" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_XV1eAD8NF4Nj9uFN0GlAzCrvocQ2sIps_byyEEET0BSoodVRFI-qz1pIWq9dFMoRs_B5qdyu_TC69zEqYHFmOyaJ-I_eEAOMFRaHPLL2Ofy7LnIpigT4NhzwAYG9GCjUD516eO8hW0QSMzJyu00PSZR-tSwpyE2vl55iStBULENHStQMnLi-AbyCtswc/w400-h351/destiny%20of%20an%20emperor%202%202.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#208 Destiny of an Emperor 2 (NES) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Japan-only sequel to the first game, which I enjoyed quite a bit, so I expected great things from this one too. It's an improvement on the first and a lot of fun to play. What I mainly remember about this game is that it's just a better version of the first <i>DoaE</i>, with much-improved visuals due to being years later in the NES's lifespan.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8e7y9IraNXOmyG0gImTz-2au5NnHxIon7ETyvAQ5zb6d1VH0vCwsJGImjnFGiuA79R-E4C7FUvxCwbTiH4re0tlOUGvDgmkR6ELCxeUX7hvpFn1J7vTaPWomxWY_NAVegCzCU1XHSsnWBg68SIV2aXLHH11NnZk0xTB9OTsAcQcDv3PabCNIFjfzOGo7n/s384/destiny%20of%20an%20emperor%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="384" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8e7y9IraNXOmyG0gImTz-2au5NnHxIon7ETyvAQ5zb6d1VH0vCwsJGImjnFGiuA79R-E4C7FUvxCwbTiH4re0tlOUGvDgmkR6ELCxeUX7hvpFn1J7vTaPWomxWY_NAVegCzCU1XHSsnWBg68SIV2aXLHH11NnZk0xTB9OTsAcQcDv3PabCNIFjfzOGo7n/w400-h375/destiny%20of%20an%20emperor%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Can't remember if it had any other really significant differences over the first besides look and layout. Tells the same Three Kingdoms era story. Maybe it's got more of it, especially the early parts...can't remember now. Either way it was a great game.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ImYWPez50gQzClIYtZ8hwmpD0lLIl-JCcEVVuGA506WV7NRqWT4wwW5SFpmzsrGJERiXaXu2JVsztUvAVr-XKKtXqsUiImgZ9A6C0zU6u1pvazPvPtMoo4n2Rqfbg9NS9HJcxK-IyTXCv9hY3yBYrG_vAc7BLPPmbks8eghZzU9Y4r9EB4THbt_gh2SK/s474/r-type%202%20a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="424" data-original-width="474" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9ImYWPez50gQzClIYtZ8hwmpD0lLIl-JCcEVVuGA506WV7NRqWT4wwW5SFpmzsrGJERiXaXu2JVsztUvAVr-XKKtXqsUiImgZ9A6C0zU6u1pvazPvPtMoo4n2Rqfbg9NS9HJcxK-IyTXCv9hY3yBYrG_vAc7BLPPmbks8eghZzU9Y4r9EB4THbt_gh2SK/w400-h358/r-type%202%20a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#209 R-Type II (Game Boy) – Summer 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Still on the "sequels to things I like" train, I emulated the sequel to a game I'd bought back in the mid-90's. It's solid and plays well, you can't go wrong with this series. This was much more playable on a PC screen than the first one was on actual Game Boy hardware, and I had a lot of fun with it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhq5rqR0d3nJIGdpP70rrMGpkNsshdgksF2FPw4YicZYJRuFeHVb_gMLby57d5OAdmDn1OXe2C19pd7UXdn52hu8RCRua75lB1o8_HkqH3yfaEwGm7MnftZi_MuxrjG6SGx3-TerhGTw7zejoIEXUhdQbYgXJQTOwN9SpcIRw8-Ba5CZ6IkjiNhTXm_XB/s238/R-Type-II-b.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="238" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmhq5rqR0d3nJIGdpP70rrMGpkNsshdgksF2FPw4YicZYJRuFeHVb_gMLby57d5OAdmDn1OXe2C19pd7UXdn52hu8RCRua75lB1o8_HkqH3yfaEwGm7MnftZi_MuxrjG6SGx3-TerhGTw7zejoIEXUhdQbYgXJQTOwN9SpcIRw8-Ba5CZ6IkjiNhTXm_XB/w400-h355/R-Type-II-b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Best Aspect: The boss designs are very impressive for the Game Boy. I mean, damn.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEU858n6HxIioZKs-XWWjqdNkHhMZ_xGnylgiG3npVr5UIT8SBNd9H-ffzP9i1keKAa1lPnwBMM5a1pEkVptHhJ8ZsM4fwrLPUNguSubG7wgBE2OwpCnVBt8nz0xmGsWydbEgID05DpzGqwv2qqbTB-w7w6H6Z90vJyiooJZOBBluJ65jwFXMIEA9uuCgJ/s480/knight%20of%20lodis%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEU858n6HxIioZKs-XWWjqdNkHhMZ_xGnylgiG3npVr5UIT8SBNd9H-ffzP9i1keKAa1lPnwBMM5a1pEkVptHhJ8ZsM4fwrLPUNguSubG7wgBE2OwpCnVBt8nz0xmGsWydbEgID05DpzGqwv2qqbTB-w7w6H6Z90vJyiooJZOBBluJ65jwFXMIEA9uuCgJ/w400-h300/knight%20of%20lodis%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#210 Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis (Game Boy Advance) – Fall 2003</div><p style="text-align: center;">This is the first Game Boy Advance game I ever beat, as far as I know. Never had the system and largely missed that era entirely, but by Fall 2003 GBA emulation was prevalent and easy to do (if legally questionable due to it being a current-gen system). So I had an opportunity to check out a number of things. This is a prequel to one of my favorite PS1 games, so of course I had to play it. It's a damn good game and not even that limited by the hardware.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jUqCZlxotcM8KXleFMzfDB8AbeI2V7zb2h2d6HyrR3E4t3fC-kTp7lUmN35H2qEHIJwAzzG_Pr5PLgioM1IjmXCC1HHqj_eRU1jJEX-HT_uhW8emPwjZCepOnaeTwf56ZDoi8pZv_CfWH1Yh9aqJv0SSs7qbtkhCJowyogtl8rqqzOy0AmW23jfszQ1B/s960/knight-of-lodis-14.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jUqCZlxotcM8KXleFMzfDB8AbeI2V7zb2h2d6HyrR3E4t3fC-kTp7lUmN35H2qEHIJwAzzG_Pr5PLgioM1IjmXCC1HHqj_eRU1jJEX-HT_uhW8emPwjZCepOnaeTwf56ZDoi8pZv_CfWH1Yh9aqJv0SSs7qbtkhCJowyogtl8rqqzOy0AmW23jfszQ1B/w400-h266/knight-of-lodis-14.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I had a choice of either playing this or <i>Final Fantasy Tactics Advance</i> because I wanted a new tactics game, and chose this one. Though I was tempted to go with the other, considering I was working at Target by this point and they had an <i>FFTA</i> player's guide on display that I'd read during my breaks. Given what a disappointment <i>FFTA </i>would eventually be when I did get to it, I made the right choice.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Trying to find Deneb and make her like me more than any other guy. Not sure if she was even in this one.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMtzd5p5I81bAmCO3jP2XIWu0MbGl8npi8TjKVVFLMCXjNZigQDZWdFW6td_LVUcVRMUQQmTJ3eIOhjhAP5wWMh5QJJTye26crumqibnul6T0wL0Xp7-1mNnupQBmfIJV8Gvnem2nLafYqnz3E4l5VZw6zxxqs7v1CUEc2oKtR_O4zt7qlPqqCuW32d7W/s1280/wwe%20smackdown%20hogan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMtzd5p5I81bAmCO3jP2XIWu0MbGl8npi8TjKVVFLMCXjNZigQDZWdFW6td_LVUcVRMUQQmTJ3eIOhjhAP5wWMh5QJJTye26crumqibnul6T0wL0Xp7-1mNnupQBmfIJV8Gvnem2nLafYqnz3E4l5VZw6zxxqs7v1CUEc2oKtR_O4zt7qlPqqCuW32d7W/w522-h294/wwe%20smackdown%20hogan.jpg" width="522" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p>#211 WWE Smackdown 4: Shut Your Mouth (Playstation 2) – Fall 2003</p><p>The sequels continue, with me checking out the follow-up to <i>Smackdown 3</i> which I played to death the year before. This one adds Brock (a real one, better than my CAW), Hogan, the NWO, Booker T, RVD, and I think it had Shawn Michaels. No Scott Steiner or Goldberg yet. Still far more up-to-date than the one I had. I only rented this, though, and played it for a weekend.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R2mZGZ4ANBYiGBlAUeCwz3K_1H-j_CuVoQvSyT4Rp21bFWFd8R6Da-Ghvi4gDtLd0vDzlyzu3idMdImBtqAtaZBwRbK6i06TPAgopCXJlwJTWCasKf4gtOjHnr1DiH0-e81oIbuK1B2KzCAyv1NLuj-bZH5uMo_Vl7jOsOB2YVFOC4daw-YBGvtYtkp5/s578/wwe-smackdown-shut-your-mouth-20041104021942102-982185.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="578" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6R2mZGZ4ANBYiGBlAUeCwz3K_1H-j_CuVoQvSyT4Rp21bFWFd8R6Da-Ghvi4gDtLd0vDzlyzu3idMdImBtqAtaZBwRbK6i06TPAgopCXJlwJTWCasKf4gtOjHnr1DiH0-e81oIbuK1B2KzCAyv1NLuj-bZH5uMo_Vl7jOsOB2YVFOC4daw-YBGvtYtkp5/w422-h313/wwe-smackdown-shut-your-mouth-20041104021942102-982185.jpg" width="422" /></a></div><p>This game also let you do some zany matchups and had pretty much every match type you could think of. A huge improvement over the previous game. I was attached to said previous game though so I kept that as my main wrestling game and only played this over the one weekend. I played through the story mode (as Hogan and Brock, IIRC), had a blast, and that was about it. I didn't play the fifth and final Smackdown game until literally two decades later, which is crazy to think about. That I didn't play it, and also that two decades have gone by.</p></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkrWsEIE-T5isH0hj_n6yKaNIX60tiOMYXwFWO6OGGetKWnBEq7qHYJRstR4M4LSKdvL42zFbFO_cN_C5wIRWTEqh4Y4iHp1tspUG3iC8F-NhVYaeqvGnjBaujSHQ-PYJ50fCkn_shiEBqxnmUL9TMVahdvAlVui2akef4aKOz4DX34zqTQrLPSAN96TD/s717/terranigma%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="717" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkrWsEIE-T5isH0hj_n6yKaNIX60tiOMYXwFWO6OGGetKWnBEq7qHYJRstR4M4LSKdvL42zFbFO_cN_C5wIRWTEqh4Y4iHp1tspUG3iC8F-NhVYaeqvGnjBaujSHQ-PYJ50fCkn_shiEBqxnmUL9TMVahdvAlVui2akef4aKOz4DX34zqTQrLPSAN96TD/w400-h290/terranigma%202.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#212 Terranigma (Super Famicom) – Fall 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">Yet another sequel, this time to <i>Illusion of Gaia</i>. Though only in the sense of being part of the same "Soul Blazer Trilogy" of games. Don't expect to see any of the <i>IoG</i> cast popping up here. There's no actual connection between the games AFAIK. This game is most notable for being the one with the "inverted world" where you're somehow on the inside of a globe rather than the outside.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9VM-m8ApabAVm3B173hknHP9CQxmr_ukvmKlWkCGdis3cB3BfVWtNe9w2ybogjvseRjhABaKLnZjpR6PDTVZ91D2INofBukcCIsvJAtwTd1cY3Yn-Dn3jY6JWzVi_nSDnqrVCpT_DqUsG9rz3G68ZStmkTyaayJZhDuGVm2NmtRSGbip3LRntLxH3s_E5/s550/Terranigma-screenshot-1-550x512.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="550" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9VM-m8ApabAVm3B173hknHP9CQxmr_ukvmKlWkCGdis3cB3BfVWtNe9w2ybogjvseRjhABaKLnZjpR6PDTVZ91D2INofBukcCIsvJAtwTd1cY3Yn-Dn3jY6JWzVi_nSDnqrVCpT_DqUsG9rz3G68ZStmkTyaayJZhDuGVm2NmtRSGbip3LRntLxH3s_E5/w400-h373/Terranigma-screenshot-1-550x512.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This is another classic action RPG that didn't get released in the States. Surprised that it STILL hasn't had any sort of remaster or port even now. A lot of people swear by this being one of the best games on the Super Famicom, and I don't see it. It's a good game, no doubt, but I wouldn't say it's one of my favorites.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FNdBGJxelGoRAXxBAUxizz83eMMtKpA0O1YcJtC6k1SPhxcFuFssDKTZXEGqL5bQulk_JtGCHIwzTMIfX750aidy3qaounfhr7yDBP8WLRrvIUwyQSas2TOUf8e7TqkO48Wq-eY-w4hYeR2dMt9Jk-T_wdQwKt6BJswXOmUa9oemGgkZGci9yOHVJHeM/s480/terranigma.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FNdBGJxelGoRAXxBAUxizz83eMMtKpA0O1YcJtC6k1SPhxcFuFssDKTZXEGqL5bQulk_JtGCHIwzTMIfX750aidy3qaounfhr7yDBP8WLRrvIUwyQSas2TOUf8e7TqkO48Wq-eY-w4hYeR2dMt9Jk-T_wdQwKt6BJswXOmUa9oemGgkZGci9yOHVJHeM/w400-h300/terranigma.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Emulation came in clutch yet again for playing this, and I'm really glad so many fan translators worked so hard to get all of these games out to us masses. I just wish this game had Freedan and Shadow, because playing as the main dude Ark got kind of old after a while. At least he's got an actual weapon as opposed to Will and his flute in <i>IoG</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZS6ZUXwSbkuKjtv2RoI5qyElJHcr8lXPifpZ_WepLz0K2B_GmBvwP_llzo5_og0BxKsVAOu_pvlR3R4P9XYElpy77FApTgNA4seysgFujiEWB1hNGISc1LnRdq9QWM2jITh28mN9ZpYxJmoIINv7raSJf6v3Iyz-fTa_aqlroez-Ob109-qZGrBbRY-ds/s474/tekken%203%20ps1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZS6ZUXwSbkuKjtv2RoI5qyElJHcr8lXPifpZ_WepLz0K2B_GmBvwP_llzo5_og0BxKsVAOu_pvlR3R4P9XYElpy77FApTgNA4seysgFujiEWB1hNGISc1LnRdq9QWM2jITh28mN9ZpYxJmoIINv7raSJf6v3Iyz-fTa_aqlroez-Ob109-qZGrBbRY-ds/w400-h300/tekken%203%20ps1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#213 Tekken 3 (Playstation) – Winter 2003</p><p style="text-align: center;">And one more sequel. I liked <i>Tekken 2</i> a lot as a teenager so of course as an adult I was gonna check out the next one. Whoa, I guess I'm an adult as of this point in time. Not sure when that crossover happened. Some time in 2002 I guess. Let's Play was still in business and still well-stocked on PS1 games. You could buy some really good ones for like $8. I remember replaying <i>Breath of Fire 3 </i>somewhere in this timeframe too, thanks to them.</p><p style="text-align: center;">In any case I got this and gave it a whirl. It was a huge upgrade over <i>Tekken 2</i> and probably one of the high points of the series to this day. While the earlier Tekkens got by on being cutting edge 3D fighters (with melee sparks, can't forget those), this was the first one that really felt to me like a really legit fighter that could hang with the 2D fighters I grew up with in terms of gameplay.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Character: Hwoarang. Dude was like all kicks, but he threw the most stylish kicks.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Next up: 2004</p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a> <br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-62301836190036387442024-02-05T05:15:00.002-05:002024-02-05T05:20:57.063-05:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#182 - 194)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CVJw_I9MX-viLnHL1Ra29Vp-dHDsN8LK7iU4SA5hbZgRG-suJ4OKlRZaN7gdH3F67bIUxFNenGfGKZpUJMfKdyYN3vae-5Zri_bayxxmrXVl37H-ILnJCHqFRRdo1iuLydK5Lc1Fjh3jZyJYvHUs5KcAjHaaN0sqnxuKKGqge3LETUsX85ay2OECxX18/s1333/final%20fantasy%20x%20box.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1000" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CVJw_I9MX-viLnHL1Ra29Vp-dHDsN8LK7iU4SA5hbZgRG-suJ4OKlRZaN7gdH3F67bIUxFNenGfGKZpUJMfKdyYN3vae-5Zri_bayxxmrXVl37H-ILnJCHqFRRdo1iuLydK5Lc1Fjh3jZyJYvHUs5KcAjHaaN0sqnxuKKGqge3LETUsX85ay2OECxX18/w321-h428/final%20fantasy%20x%20box.jpg" width="321" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">#182 Final Fantasy X (Playstation 2) – Spring 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">Today we've got the entirety of 2002 on deck, starting with the game I got a Playstation 2 for. There were 3 games I wanted to play, but I could only get two with the system. That's okay, because the first thing I played was this incredible game. Just getting the game was an adventure, as I went to Electronics Boutique on a bicycle during a rainstorm (at night, no less) when I found out they had PS2s on sale and <i>FFX</i> in stock. The good news is EB was like a 15 minute trip from where I lived, even at night in a rainstorm. No, I didn't have a car. Glad I didn't because that was a fun adventure. I stuffed the PS2 box into a backpack that wouldn't zip up and pedalled back with it strapped to my front to keep it together, like in <i>E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial</i> or something. The rain was pretty light so it was all doable.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">I feel like in recent years the game has gotten a bit of a bad rap and gets dumped on a lot. Things like the "ha ha ha ha" scene get endlessly lampooned and it's kind of ridiculous. If the game deserves any flack for anything, it's the annoying, drawn-out temple puzzles. Other than those, it's a great game, with vibrant colors and outstanding music.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlx0Qz9buQZQCzdYOXoOzyY6y7BdnWhFncTW49mQXfteA9PyCfpaAuSH3p8P2goVwCUp4Tb6MVII4ewBBDzwcbWD4dAmY_7z1UXXj7dG3fnfCMHg3w0YWsSfVM7VWcMrC6KTHbXOQhea8MNjpwXExbIo_GpRVb35ZH7glvR4D0ynTu01R0IaBsOIlXH4K/s1200/ffx%20brotherhood.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnlx0Qz9buQZQCzdYOXoOzyY6y7BdnWhFncTW49mQXfteA9PyCfpaAuSH3p8P2goVwCUp4Tb6MVII4ewBBDzwcbWD4dAmY_7z1UXXj7dG3fnfCMHg3w0YWsSfVM7VWcMrC6KTHbXOQhea8MNjpwXExbIo_GpRVb35ZH7glvR4D0ynTu01R0IaBsOIlXH4K/w536-h301/ffx%20brotherhood.jpg" width="536" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">It suffers from the same "wrong main character" syndrome as <i>FFXII</i> (and debatably <i>FFIX</i>) so that's something one has to get past to enjoy this. The other characters are great and your MC is kind of this annoying odd man out, but it is what it is.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc63gFtHLaQmwtYV_0ziUXsYWyN_sEKfdQ5d4mq8gZjvnEunH2oyTf3A-uFzxnRIUB8d1aI_WPh-n2u92eN34tOLaYOleS0bUL9ldoYlhs-6ZPt3C6TZrSE7KtTz70oZWXPbyz2uBzOksaOY2ztRiO6EhzY_-L35aiSNZLPP3ANJ_5x5EFQVr9YPfA_PQU/s1920/final%20fantasy%20x%20yuna.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1920" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc63gFtHLaQmwtYV_0ziUXsYWyN_sEKfdQ5d4mq8gZjvnEunH2oyTf3A-uFzxnRIUB8d1aI_WPh-n2u92eN34tOLaYOleS0bUL9ldoYlhs-6ZPt3C6TZrSE7KtTz70oZWXPbyz2uBzOksaOY2ztRiO6EhzY_-L35aiSNZLPP3ANJ_5x5EFQVr9YPfA_PQU/w566-h354/final%20fantasy%20x%20yuna.jpg" width="566" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">When I first got this, it was probably the most visually impressive game I'd ever played. <i>EQ</i> hadn't upgraded its visuals yet to the higher levels it'd reach later, and by 2002 the excellent-for-1999 graphics were old. Other than the PC, the PS2 didn't have any real competition as far as visuals went in things I'd played. So this felt very much like a massive step up from the previous systems. Maybe the biggest step up from one gen to another that we ever got.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xtll0aM59GM" width="320" youtube-src-id="xtll0aM59GM"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: Luca. What an incredibly relaxing theme. Hearing it today takes me right back to Spring 2002, playing this game in the morning. It's also a theme that goes well with pretty much everything. Except maybe a first-person shooter</p><p style="text-align: center;">Best Place To Level-Grind: Highbridge. Helps that you have the "enemy attack" theme playing there and it overrides the normal battle theme, giving everything a sense of urgency. Every time I play I end up getting a ton of levels at that point. Course, you need spheres to actually spend your level points on stat improvements, and I found the best sphere farming to be... Besaid Island, right at the beginning of the game. Combine Besaid Island at the beginning with Highbridge about halfway through and all your leveling needs are covered until the endgame.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19vpOcI24s3HGpyYkbN8RJZdBbxkpG8SPOUYmnpJ1R5Hjwhqbydip-DnOBJaAM_ML8fEzyHNAnFRRFyViyuP_jK9sPTkFzINkhwlX_LvG3Cbo0jOGoPS9ojsKrWAEzsfxhRs68vDTrkphUMySldheTiL22EyArc8pu9ZB7oEKaI22f7ihqjd7iuZeCRKn/s640/braska's%20final%20aeon.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19vpOcI24s3HGpyYkbN8RJZdBbxkpG8SPOUYmnpJ1R5Hjwhqbydip-DnOBJaAM_ML8fEzyHNAnFRRFyViyuP_jK9sPTkFzINkhwlX_LvG3Cbo0jOGoPS9ojsKrWAEzsfxhRs68vDTrkphUMySldheTiL22EyArc8pu9ZB7oEKaI22f7ihqjd7iuZeCRKn/w471-h353/braska's%20final%20aeon.jpg" width="471" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Braska's Final Aeon. That thing completely obliterated me the first however many times I fought it. Great music for that fight. I hate it though, roughest final boss in the first ten games IMO. Or at least it was when I played it the first time. Didn't go on to the postgame or the super-weapons afterward because I was just glad to have the game down. Wasn't until about ten years later that I got really into RPG postgames, and <i>FFX</i> has a pretty robust postgame. When it's all said and done this guy really isn't a big deal compared to some of the bosses that follow.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUUfvpyganwpltc3TLro7XHMtetJmMz1nAUfCxyTfOAupQHPyBw-knM7RMlVvbBEpPMmNVwitSowg7gMPNFIVk1wvQZVhV5xo_AAiXK4hx0M1nJe5bpJsycK1Fxo3lcOdZyO0P58CpKEeUqJ9FvENGhyphenhyphenK8pH_ydcnpYiw8kIkHjBPBEiP2JvSIhLlKu_0/s415/dynasty%20warriors%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="415" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYUUfvpyganwpltc3TLro7XHMtetJmMz1nAUfCxyTfOAupQHPyBw-knM7RMlVvbBEpPMmNVwitSowg7gMPNFIVk1wvQZVhV5xo_AAiXK4hx0M1nJe5bpJsycK1Fxo3lcOdZyO0P58CpKEeUqJ9FvENGhyphenhyphenK8pH_ydcnpYiw8kIkHjBPBEiP2JvSIhLlKu_0/w507-h385/dynasty%20warriors%203.jpg" width="507" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#183 Dynasty Warriors 3 (Playstation 2) – Spring 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was the other game I got with the PS2. It was a difficult choice because <i>Devil May Cry</i> was getting a lot of positive press. This was a good choice though because it was a great stress relief kind of game. Went really well with <i>FFX</i>. I mostly associate this game with pro wrestling because I got really into it around this time, renting a bunch of VHSes of pay-per-views from the previous few years (like their Wrestlemanias, Summerslams, and even some oddball things like WCW Souled Out '99.... pretty much whatever Blockbuster had). This game also heralded me getting back into martial arts which I'd been out of for like 5 years at this point.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The game itself? Perfectly good, and I to this day think it might be the best of the Dynasty games. It had a limited but very choice selection of playable characters, and everything felt really impactful - from the music to the sound effects to the moment to moment bashing. Later I played <i>Dynasty Warriors 4</i> and it felt like a step down, nowhere near as impactful, and then I sorta just got out of the series until way later in time. For what it was though, this game was a good one.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Character: Zhang He with the Vega claws was a ton of fun to play as.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tunes: Got 3 real standouts that come to mind here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1SwgldWucqU" width="320" youtube-src-id="1SwgldWucqU"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Arena - The main tune I associate with the game, and the main tune I think of when thinking of all the above stuff like watching wrestling VHSes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Qg9_ZZ0qI4o" width="320" youtube-src-id="Qg9_ZZ0qI4o"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Rough Play - Some games have character select themes. This game has a CHARACTER SELECT THEME.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QlVaWkPV3q8" width="320" youtube-src-id="QlVaWkPV3q8"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">In Flames - If this one doesn't get you wanting to jump up and go do something, I don't know what will.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLH6eIHKwPsa3jVu8nu1KZ6N0SD2nftx364Xf-wAD6vtBPSh3VDUbm_qa3I8EhB8yCz6sSq_S9IWTtdCcWZ5q6qIaY4BYR2XttYmFcnZOwkSojiXKdy7j_039BsE9f1BaiudYD1Z00cCrVqG_dXL3jIF-WPH6MXg5P8QHXyejE4OwuBRpCsi8SHv9Zo67/s681/devil%20may%20cry.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="681" data-original-width="479" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinLH6eIHKwPsa3jVu8nu1KZ6N0SD2nftx364Xf-wAD6vtBPSh3VDUbm_qa3I8EhB8yCz6sSq_S9IWTtdCcWZ5q6qIaY4BYR2XttYmFcnZOwkSojiXKdy7j_039BsE9f1BaiudYD1Z00cCrVqG_dXL3jIF-WPH6MXg5P8QHXyejE4OwuBRpCsi8SHv9Zo67/w338-h481/devil%20may%20cry.jpg" width="338" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#184 Devil May Cry (Playstation 2) – Spring 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">Third PS2 game I wanted to play, so the next thing I rented once I finished the above two. For something that started out as a spinoff Resident Evil game, this ended up being a great trend-setting game on its own. Basically invented the "stylish combat" action genre. This first game is a little on the barebones side compared to <i>DMC3</i>, which does everything it does only far better, so I think it's brought down a little by (most of) its sequels surpassing it. If it were a standalone game I think it'd be remembered more fondly as a trendsetter that should have led to more. As it is, it's the first in a series that'd get a lot better. I was instantly a fan of this, though, and it looked incredible in 2002.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BKBX0HkYiSE" width="320" youtube-src-id="BKBX0HkYiSE"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: First main battle theme. Plays during the super-memorable Sin Scissors attack at the beginning and then continues being the main battle theme for like the first third of the game. TBH this should have been the main battle theme for the whole game. The one that plays for the other two thirds is okay but inferior to this. Kinda like HHH changing themes in 2001, for the wrestling nerds.</p><p style="text-align: center;">To me, this theme encapsulates <i>DMC</i>'s entire vibe and cutting-edge aesthetic.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1guCHxpZkNV-DpNf9-B2A1t9y8ng-yRwh8SKhUmXBoK3UW0LyO95649C3exH2WbTZPjQAocFnvsIKVTza-w16j0NL7ppK7BOCiD_QeGkwm4LmavDXooSdI_qbkRQwL8-CU1-bCZESdfBE5UWqBIdM0-XueGNrkoYTPdS_4BD0CxUpF3uFREUHViLbBzLW/s1136/690535-the-terminator-dawn-of-fate-playstation-2-front-cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="800" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1guCHxpZkNV-DpNf9-B2A1t9y8ng-yRwh8SKhUmXBoK3UW0LyO95649C3exH2WbTZPjQAocFnvsIKVTza-w16j0NL7ppK7BOCiD_QeGkwm4LmavDXooSdI_qbkRQwL8-CU1-bCZESdfBE5UWqBIdM0-XueGNrkoYTPdS_4BD0CxUpF3uFREUHViLbBzLW/w345-h492/690535-the-terminator-dawn-of-fate-playstation-2-front-cover.jpg" width="345" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#185 Terminator: Dawn of Fate (Playstation 2) – Spring 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">Next I found out there was a new Terminator game out, and it was actually...pretty good? I mean it isn't great or anything and it's quite derivative of survival horror games of the era, but it's a Terminator game that doesn't suck! It also takes place entirely in the Future War with a slightly younger Kyle Reese, which was interesting. To this day it's the only media I've ever seen that has early Terminator models in it (i.e. things that came before the T-600).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFRrvl3pAAa9zm1jx93dezDUrUs5qqEkmwSBRQO3HXT268P-EI89sseCO4bxy5SE_js7o3sNPEW2slup3nT0eGmx715oTJDKqaXJulDe9eTaFaKP4pkfNHUgaIgJ8sOGHSmaXijzROe5NNbYFpNqd90udXCKDFh9dxyI1WDEaydirmydDviiuj31j-_K-/s640/dawn%20of%20fate%20t400s.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFRrvl3pAAa9zm1jx93dezDUrUs5qqEkmwSBRQO3HXT268P-EI89sseCO4bxy5SE_js7o3sNPEW2slup3nT0eGmx715oTJDKqaXJulDe9eTaFaKP4pkfNHUgaIgJ8sOGHSmaXijzROe5NNbYFpNqd90udXCKDFh9dxyI1WDEaydirmydDviiuj31j-_K-/w400-h300/dawn%20of%20fate%20t400s.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">You'd think there would be more Future War games, considering how well it lends itself to any kind of progression-based game. As time goes by the machines get more advanced and more refined. It's a world where the enemies evolving makes total sense. Imagine an RTS in that universe where you could choose to play as either side and make use of the tools both sides had. Machine efficency and overwhelming power versus human ingenuity and guerilla tactics.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6TtguAV_NTVHAXTGXYJah9VObO62CY6YpOA81E6wEbKzHW3bNfYgXcGOeJ1oZLODdyXOG_-3GXf3D0lgj7lklYhc9abQVSMITcyXxIwAWeRk0SzfzPnuenJrX3seUPg0ZbS8zX1dP-2ioklCzMdnDI1gHhg9cUnQLbbaCYKntEvHQYhjOgFt-V3fbvOC/s596/dawn%20of%20fate%20hks.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="596" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6TtguAV_NTVHAXTGXYJah9VObO62CY6YpOA81E6wEbKzHW3bNfYgXcGOeJ1oZLODdyXOG_-3GXf3D0lgj7lklYhc9abQVSMITcyXxIwAWeRk0SzfzPnuenJrX3seUPg0ZbS8zX1dP-2ioklCzMdnDI1gHhg9cUnQLbbaCYKntEvHQYhjOgFt-V3fbvOC/w400-h248/dawn%20of%20fate%20hks.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">...this game is not any of that. But it's pretty good. Had fun with it. Thought it was kind of comical how you could melee-fight T-800's with an electric baton though. Oh, and they completely skipped over the T-700... just like every other game, movie, and show ever. It IS mentioned in the original script of <i>The Terminator</i> as the first model with human tissue, but relatively easy to put down compared to the T-800. Matter of fact the reason Kyle Reese brought a shotgun to fight the Terminator in the first place was because repeated shotgun blasts were really effective for knocking out T-700s. When the Terminator got up almost right away, he knew it was a T-800 and that his worst fears were realized.</p><p style="text-align: center;">And that's the only time a T-700 has ever been mentioned in anything. They were drawn up to appear in <i>Terminator Salvation</i> in the terminator factory, but the producers thought too many T models would confuse the dumb viewers so they overdubbed it to say the factory had T-800s.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Anyway, <i>Dawn of Fate.</i> Cool game, very inspired, got creative with the terminator universe. Solid B+ for this one.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2016/11/terminator-dawn-of-fate-playstation-2.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8XNbZUBGU5_RanztS9w3BUxpckW6ISJ3IKqYYaV6H0jo2hjJdaZl6L88M5JcUE05-OEFuJUETPJC5KEfoY4nUwIov_nHhGkvMZNWt-zvtF1aup0giGqSba-5Qn6s3fM7h5vfG4UU8kSd3V14vyXvDSr_wuq6QammquaviL6dVt7GNsAXa_QqFyQ4cYnv/s892/smackdown%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="892" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC8XNbZUBGU5_RanztS9w3BUxpckW6ISJ3IKqYYaV6H0jo2hjJdaZl6L88M5JcUE05-OEFuJUETPJC5KEfoY4nUwIov_nHhGkvMZNWt-zvtF1aup0giGqSba-5Qn6s3fM7h5vfG4UU8kSd3V14vyXvDSr_wuq6QammquaviL6dVt7GNsAXa_QqFyQ4cYnv/w437-h317/smackdown%203.jpg" width="437" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#186 WWF Smackdown 3: Just Bring It (Playstation 2) – Spring 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">The third PS2 game I bought (previous two were rentals). Paid $15 for a Blockbuster copy and think that was a pretty good deal. I spent probably dozens of hours on this game. Funnily enough, now it's generally considered the weakest of the Smackdown series on Playstation 1 and 2. But don't tell me that in 2002.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlR-de5guNPfiIgaDOUXQEbJNkulmhyhSUPt36s0j3NfwzdbUbwMuAoVYxttIvzSPgkFraX6Kjje50oD-NcTq6yG6vAGkSK2THqMlyykujh8tInMWHkHbkrEkigmvOE8Ewl9qP1ZAYh4NK25zJyjnOeKiR8JBcU9VTXkqGRY_t9CS9kkGAjQ3uzZGNwsol/s1280/smackdown%203%20undertaker%20vs%20kane.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlR-de5guNPfiIgaDOUXQEbJNkulmhyhSUPt36s0j3NfwzdbUbwMuAoVYxttIvzSPgkFraX6Kjje50oD-NcTq6yG6vAGkSK2THqMlyykujh8tInMWHkHbkrEkigmvOE8Ewl9qP1ZAYh4NK25zJyjnOeKiR8JBcU9VTXkqGRY_t9CS9kkGAjQ3uzZGNwsol/w456-h256/smackdown%203%20undertaker%20vs%20kane.jpg" width="456" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Most of the time spent here was with the create-a-character, where I created a (rough-looking) Brock Lesnar, a hot blue-haired chick, and a few other characters. You could even edit existing characters, change their themes, etc. So this was the last game I know of where you could play as HHH with his "My Time" theme music.</p><p style="text-align: center;">My created Brock Lesnar went on to dominate the world title for a long, long time, until several years later when I turned the game back on to have Eddie Guerrero defeat him for it and remain champ forever. RIP Eddie Guerrero.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbA8OV5yr-IG-Syarp8nXRb65tKNSioQcwPjm52-FU-CNNz0HKRsI4JQ_pg3j0ZQGrzWQV9iMXGVBNV1wwe_fyDczSLRUace8TW1D9dUkV1lFpiHtiUeQuJy1Hwvue_xQ-5n-onBPCZXznh09U-xhsR5pJwWhoTGyjd3YEI6gc6hUtUw7krJ75zxo9kh9P/s640/wwf%20war%20zone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbA8OV5yr-IG-Syarp8nXRb65tKNSioQcwPjm52-FU-CNNz0HKRsI4JQ_pg3j0ZQGrzWQV9iMXGVBNV1wwe_fyDczSLRUace8TW1D9dUkV1lFpiHtiUeQuJy1Hwvue_xQ-5n-onBPCZXznh09U-xhsR5pJwWhoTGyjd3YEI6gc6hUtUw7krJ75zxo9kh9P/w400-h300/wwf%20war%20zone.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#187 WWF War Zone (Playstation) – Summer 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">Wanted to go back and play something from a little earlier in time, and this was in a bargain bin. It looked cool in Nintendo Power. Didn't spend much time on this one at all though. I played as Shawn Michaels and beat story mode by superkicking people outside the ring and then beating the countout. The game is pretty hard if you're trying to win normally. This was the first real WWF Attitude Era game, so maybe my intention was to start here and play some of the others, not sure.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wYJldVj18bAZrGAe4YMPuaPLjwmgvUzq_LrZ2H3Rh3r8EUHns1fww6gdJJm4hnkOpiADPow4tFhsJilHCVjEZyNzPlQuHO8wDKDZCmMBoeo2q5gGbheJTKaTb8sfgGDRt_v708y5LIHC4DUpVpnnpPgjJ2SDuEjicCwjXRvAtIvGW8IOtzbgx8WNuozL/s955/wwf%20war%20zone%20shawn%20michaels.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="955" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wYJldVj18bAZrGAe4YMPuaPLjwmgvUzq_LrZ2H3Rh3r8EUHns1fww6gdJJm4hnkOpiADPow4tFhsJilHCVjEZyNzPlQuHO8wDKDZCmMBoeo2q5gGbheJTKaTb8sfgGDRt_v708y5LIHC4DUpVpnnpPgjJ2SDuEjicCwjXRvAtIvGW8IOtzbgx8WNuozL/w400-h301/wwf%20war%20zone%20shawn%20michaels.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Biggest Disappointment: Shawn Michaels...did not have his theme music! He only had the D-Generation X theme. Half of what I was looking forward to in this game was Shawn's theme music. The other half was playing as him, since <i>Just Bring It</i> didn't have him. This game was nowhere near as good as <i>Just Bring It</i>, so chances are I quickly abandoned any ideas to go through the wrestling games from an earlier point.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybkv9xk4wCkFdPMUeXyEc3ptylDM4gcWuVdW6Z8aZhjZMxY7_mbVdQ-RE_jYGzkZTlY_8Cqjp1sJAtppj4gYBNaagNzMGZf6z772A4x1GYf5oziGgq0PBfoMrSaQRCP61fzOVbSBgR7X4XQGJ9loR-wqX4bhGZrXh-_1l650xDpeKMsUtnt7GaIhArRur/s474/zero%20wing%20all%20your%20base.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="474" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybkv9xk4wCkFdPMUeXyEc3ptylDM4gcWuVdW6Z8aZhjZMxY7_mbVdQ-RE_jYGzkZTlY_8Cqjp1sJAtppj4gYBNaagNzMGZf6z772A4x1GYf5oziGgq0PBfoMrSaQRCP61fzOVbSBgR7X4XQGJ9loR-wqX4bhGZrXh-_1l650xDpeKMsUtnt7GaIhArRur/w400-h303/zero%20wing%20all%20your%20base.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#188 Zero Wing (Sega Genesis) – Summer 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">The game responsible for that ridiculous "All Your Base" meme video that everyone was quoting in Summer 2001. I guess it occurred to me a year later that there was nothing stopping me from emulating the thing. And...it's a very generic shooter. Not a whole lot to this one.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWXcvJ6PlXZG6T0ZygwJonQXpHZ-VG_VECvouzF-SxTHywcJsy1_5TkrOs8fotYF7BOYVk0VIYFy8k2y1A9vKcwgYIm54beeXjcu2yTxMXGvr_eGnFxbKjT2KT4yGcRAFPYwwhTpjSxuaG7SBOaRJLWWCxLU6i4jfZFe8k-smtcHe3bHr_A4pLBV0vkYa/s320/16332072-zero-wing-genesis-power-up-with-2-flying-cannons.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="320" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJWXcvJ6PlXZG6T0ZygwJonQXpHZ-VG_VECvouzF-SxTHywcJsy1_5TkrOs8fotYF7BOYVk0VIYFy8k2y1A9vKcwgYIm54beeXjcu2yTxMXGvr_eGnFxbKjT2KT4yGcRAFPYwwhTpjSxuaG7SBOaRJLWWCxLU6i4jfZFe8k-smtcHe3bHr_A4pLBV0vkYa/w400-h280/16332072-zero-wing-genesis-power-up-with-2-flying-cannons.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I guess I should say something else. Well, it's a standard shooter. You get two Options type pods that mimic your attacks and triple up your shots, which is kind of cool. Some of the enemies resemble Xenomorphs. And uh...that's about it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbUVVh8WljWO38xnaFTaEbzELFqLl8AGefO2-C8LYKvssdzT8Epy7slW8tOgmXa66cqMo2iT0yg84rLySqDyhw8hPNZy9GLteTqXCXlYyiLb88JyUoP9iNkeBrIRT2sek6rhQylJ0X5qwTgwm6TodxBpsqdF88s398OfzpeC9fuIcu2N6IjJj2fEjgb17/s256/kirby%20dream%20land%203%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnbUVVh8WljWO38xnaFTaEbzELFqLl8AGefO2-C8LYKvssdzT8Epy7slW8tOgmXa66cqMo2iT0yg84rLySqDyhw8hPNZy9GLteTqXCXlYyiLb88JyUoP9iNkeBrIRT2sek6rhQylJ0X5qwTgwm6TodxBpsqdF88s398OfzpeC9fuIcu2N6IjJj2fEjgb17/w400-h348/kirby%20dream%20land%203%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#189 Kirby's Dream Land 3 (Super NES) – Summer 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was a fun little jaunt when I wanted to emulate something else from The Emulation Backlog (which is infinite) and settled on the next Kirby game. Surprised I didn't get to this one sooner. It's an okay game but nothing about it really jumps out at me the way the others do. I think I finished this entirely inside of one afternoon.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLtO_JlETOhO7EpHvRkf456fy0sanOuyKn_uCQ-a9rUVjIo5u1w4nwLqpwC5KG8-w0x1Mm-amium9HzPuUt8F2BexeJEAzUzq6elEGvVDXTGTj0FBdRM5hax1fGaG4eearsUCKkcaQW4QzWsOoV7e13uVQgkAstS8byZNaqfGN27W9tfGUZylo1yW6p0s/s256/kirby%20dream%20land%203%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="223" data-original-width="256" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLtO_JlETOhO7EpHvRkf456fy0sanOuyKn_uCQ-a9rUVjIo5u1w4nwLqpwC5KG8-w0x1Mm-amium9HzPuUt8F2BexeJEAzUzq6elEGvVDXTGTj0FBdRM5hax1fGaG4eearsUCKkcaQW4QzWsOoV7e13uVQgkAstS8byZNaqfGN27W9tfGUZylo1yW6p0s/w400-h348/kirby%20dream%20land%203%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Surprised I played this before <i>Kirby Super Star</i>, which was the one I wanted as a kid. The fact that it still hasn't appeared on this list (and won't for a while) is wild. The art style here is fairly appealing and a bit like <i>Yoshi's Island</i>. The animal mounts returned from <i>KDL2</i> which is probably the best thing here. All in all it isn't my favorite Kirby game or anything but it's one that I think probably gets underrated.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2015/05/kirbys-dream-land-3-super-nes-1997.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWazgyoxcoD4TOlN9C32R1z_1ZmQiS5ssCaZHGzaT0IKY6XiOTX2QNIng_en6svbPgm6k_vS9abmMyYel1L1lxgddmV3o_blaFFwOtX-65iRIKMcVvsN4TbRhdjTii1LijJ5OUh3EyHrQ9XNBIHNq1iiQdTakWQ0UcV1OSZ38AoZLm1w7kZS0ySTX4rym/s996/mgs2%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="996" height="368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGWazgyoxcoD4TOlN9C32R1z_1ZmQiS5ssCaZHGzaT0IKY6XiOTX2QNIng_en6svbPgm6k_vS9abmMyYel1L1lxgddmV3o_blaFFwOtX-65iRIKMcVvsN4TbRhdjTii1LijJ5OUh3EyHrQ9XNBIHNq1iiQdTakWQ0UcV1OSZ38AoZLm1w7kZS0ySTX4rym/w555-h368/mgs2%202.png" width="555" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#190 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (Playstation 2) – Fall 2002</div><p style="text-align: center;">After doing a bunch of part-time odd jobs for a few months, finances weren't so hot, so I was looking for my first full-time real job. That search wasn't easy and caused me to start having a lot of legitimate concerns about life for the first time. Which was in retrospect a good time to play <i>MGS2</i>, a game full of legitimate concerns about life and the way things are. When Raiden finds out that he's been believing a bunch of lies, then has to run through a cold endless hallway while being blasted with propaganda, that's metaphorically how a lot of people felt in the early 2000's. And how even more people feel in the early 2020's.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3gw5NSAfV-2-tfjeIUoUjidqR0ANtxeQHXx4KoZN9CW62o3aQ3uCJwcLi4SzYmIaOpwI9DLjHHeZEZRdMbCxj9SLhgU4vK0Tt1sj2_puHjtw6oheknkwOQpLux8WbIQb_Jy0oh4k28F0DvcAkT-oGp2XrrzAJLGIWFbhR_s08XM3t7E0RZur3QtdlUJx/s1497/mgs2%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1497" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3gw5NSAfV-2-tfjeIUoUjidqR0ANtxeQHXx4KoZN9CW62o3aQ3uCJwcLi4SzYmIaOpwI9DLjHHeZEZRdMbCxj9SLhgU4vK0Tt1sj2_puHjtw6oheknkwOQpLux8WbIQb_Jy0oh4k28F0DvcAkT-oGp2XrrzAJLGIWFbhR_s08XM3t7E0RZur3QtdlUJx/w550-h307/mgs2%201.png" width="550" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The game is alright. A lot of people didn't like it at the time but I never understood that. I like it more than the first game, and the visuals alone are a massive upgrade. The bosses all have interesting gimmicks and the game in general just strikes me as more atmospheric and moody than the first. I can really get immersed in this one. The main problem people had was probably that you play as Raiden for most of the game and there was a bait-and-switch, which is a legitimate complaint. At least Raiden didn't brutally murder Snake with a golf club right before you took over playing as him for most of the game, then people would have really gotten mad.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE2XkPbTmbxPliQamE8qQirJdAkYihAkplhGBf38AclbWf01EHgL1VvLxr22WLr9S1S193i_x-aH7ukiRKHrWwCuEgKIkaQikhScyxleDwLAWJUczk0eB2duSKbjQ3spblxWa_8fWsB_eFDvRxOc_nLL7q8Z-AJWvQ0YeGnbsEQrTQ7xFWFaW61RJerPU/s2290/mgs2%20raiden.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1286" data-original-width="2290" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpE2XkPbTmbxPliQamE8qQirJdAkYihAkplhGBf38AclbWf01EHgL1VvLxr22WLr9S1S193i_x-aH7ukiRKHrWwCuEgKIkaQikhScyxleDwLAWJUczk0eB2duSKbjQ3spblxWa_8fWsB_eFDvRxOc_nLL7q8Z-AJWvQ0YeGnbsEQrTQ7xFWFaW61RJerPU/w540-h304/mgs2%20raiden.jpg" width="540" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After getting attached to gruff, tough-as-nails Snake, switching to Raiden is jarring. Look at how wimpy this guy is. He's like "myehhhhh"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8h_f5APHgIbls6grmMYe7hbtbod7Zicf595SpI16QexL1EAC_6dGYiV5kbC7aWEngTtaB0XIoUhGTIluaayy8-87lmymNT4YquSVB5sO0O1BtLT7337Ob8AsVInESBKFo-678ZSi5kMwk1OeR8ozm21k1a8o7iTWpcVSWhk0FfkJa3Pz24UO2PMWTYJpb/s1131/mgs2_big_shell_by_killerx20_d68f471-pre.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1131" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8h_f5APHgIbls6grmMYe7hbtbod7Zicf595SpI16QexL1EAC_6dGYiV5kbC7aWEngTtaB0XIoUhGTIluaayy8-87lmymNT4YquSVB5sO0O1BtLT7337Ob8AsVInESBKFo-678ZSi5kMwk1OeR8ozm21k1a8o7iTWpcVSWhk0FfkJa3Pz24UO2PMWTYJpb/w556-h348/mgs2_big_shell_by_killerx20_d68f471-pre.jpg" width="556" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Running around the Big Shell oil tanker with the sun shining and seagulls flying around. Something about that place had a really peaceful and calm feeling to it when you were outside, for some reason. I don't know of any other game with a setting like that either.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh48R6Je52Z9cx_0_h6HICU7XQdA20htNWT94fYXAVi7U3IKRmZc8ygJQAv2EkVx5CJz9shnYRLA8q8uea7MuruTTONQoOFM2VoLmJ83lnAB04uSCrGlprBJay9Re1KPrM99izpi1VEWGsd2ENDCStIYNbJ3KhqXrRRt4Ygm7d82u3bS_wrADCRdmxmTsGq/s1708/suikoden%203%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1708" data-original-width="1200" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh48R6Je52Z9cx_0_h6HICU7XQdA20htNWT94fYXAVi7U3IKRmZc8ygJQAv2EkVx5CJz9shnYRLA8q8uea7MuruTTONQoOFM2VoLmJ83lnAB04uSCrGlprBJay9Re1KPrM99izpi1VEWGsd2ENDCStIYNbJ3KhqXrRRt4Ygm7d82u3bS_wrADCRdmxmTsGq/w316-h450/suikoden%203%204.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">#191 Suikoden 3 (Playstation 2) – Fall 2002</div><p style="text-align: center;">This game was a bit of retro comfort as I started at my first major, full-time job, which was a particularly intimidating job piloting mechs at a warehouse. Retro because in late 2002, the year 2000 (when I played the other two) felt like it had been a decade previous. I loved the system of multiple characters with multiple chapters where you could jump between them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPzA-D1pwyKKCp6P_OGNxtSa_fyo2PEZ-eepm59XxLft9Yhh8s0VtREOeHRMp7OK08TcWlh-EkJuNVhRbcssk4zNPT0R13HDOIQ9-YaQT6I3XHS_MAZqOtZCPHbu5r12yYW8PHCO0jU8UZGPqLSvmgd7ltr6LOTtSUkIraOQbaXSSODgxte5e7f-vGy27/s512/suikoden%203%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="512" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKPzA-D1pwyKKCp6P_OGNxtSa_fyo2PEZ-eepm59XxLft9Yhh8s0VtREOeHRMp7OK08TcWlh-EkJuNVhRbcssk4zNPT0R13HDOIQ9-YaQT6I3XHS_MAZqOtZCPHbu5r12yYW8PHCO0jU8UZGPqLSvmgd7ltr6LOTtSUkIraOQbaXSSODgxte5e7f-vGy27/w400-h350/suikoden%203%203.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I worked at night, so when I had a night off there wasn't much to do besides game. I remember I'd try to knock out a chapter of this over the course of a night of playing, and usually I was able to. As a funny side effect, I associate this game with dead silence and late night, not being used to being awake at those hours. Thankfully that didn't last more than a year or so.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqPPn-HpAjMO_f0Q11kD5f5IG_KykHBf-FMggQ95UQSr8iAvD2S23shE-UXqfAzYBWRQoqrraLPmbOnHLRNGXH7bGKV9HH0gQMXAobMErTcOSoa15vBbXqoP-b3SqI-qrgKbJiz9owqrBX15ZAkJQexvZkS991x8Jg9W-raLVkzVJFQttRhJ_YMo5Nao5/s650/suikoden%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="650" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeqPPn-HpAjMO_f0Q11kD5f5IG_KykHBf-FMggQ95UQSr8iAvD2S23shE-UXqfAzYBWRQoqrraLPmbOnHLRNGXH7bGKV9HH0gQMXAobMErTcOSoa15vBbXqoP-b3SqI-qrgKbJiz9owqrBX15ZAkJQexvZkS991x8Jg9W-raLVkzVJFQttRhJ_YMo5Nao5/w400-h275/suikoden%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Each of the three leads have three chapters each, with a 4th and 5th chapter after they're all done. I remember being almost certain that the endgame would give us a new main protagonist, the "Flame Champion", after it being hyped all game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The instruction booklets even had pictures of the Flame Champion wielding a staff, and he looked like a typical Suikoden series hero. However, that guy just turned out to be the previous Flame Champion, and you chose one of your three characters to inherit his power. Which was cool, but not what I thought was going to happen. He's also featured on the box, facing away behind the 3 protagonists.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwlb4MEaBcR1gDKevxp9RQEebKLI2yOOAbsj6erp5ZLxjDBMWCt3iWfRRezbCXfj2y3tcLG5BNpepFKWogXxoXrC4aGkCxPnrob7kBagyJxKyW_GctucsS9nFdvwpxTTR2ssKUaoWOkGG5tZI6IdoH4AA4AWW7DpLys-BJ-Zg1tb0BcUgLUDTcjZzGcaT/s474/suikoden%203%20who%20is%20this%20guy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="474" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikwlb4MEaBcR1gDKevxp9RQEebKLI2yOOAbsj6erp5ZLxjDBMWCt3iWfRRezbCXfj2y3tcLG5BNpepFKWogXxoXrC4aGkCxPnrob7kBagyJxKyW_GctucsS9nFdvwpxTTR2ssKUaoWOkGG5tZI6IdoH4AA4AWW7DpLys-BJ-Zg1tb0BcUgLUDTcjZzGcaT/w468-h351/suikoden%203%20who%20is%20this%20guy.jpg" width="468" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This guy. Who is this guy?? Not the main character, that's for sure.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehQYbmuhwGKXOZ0_7MMwN-GiJA0lIr5EB_nWS0oyKcIeTIoB3WyEb9l4UfdQ_PnBWhF0BVqmTl56Xtc6M3UlVQUBkaZCTo1pVkeIK_f9n-tpCFF3gIbDMk92lfNsJ4wkb4t298f0HDiE9W10k4_r0dOz1ioivqkNrAb2ZH2DAqfsHRwugj3HFPYGR1be7/s536/suikoden%203%20who%20is%20this%20guy%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="455" height="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhehQYbmuhwGKXOZ0_7MMwN-GiJA0lIr5EB_nWS0oyKcIeTIoB3WyEb9l4UfdQ_PnBWhF0BVqmTl56Xtc6M3UlVQUBkaZCTo1pVkeIK_f9n-tpCFF3gIbDMk92lfNsJ4wkb4t298f0HDiE9W10k4_r0dOz1ioivqkNrAb2ZH2DAqfsHRwugj3HFPYGR1be7/w349-h410/suikoden%203%20who%20is%20this%20guy%202.png" width="349" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Thought this might be the protagonist as well, but I'm pretty sure it's Luc. Was surprised that the villain of the game was a relatively minor bit-player from the first two games, who never even particularly struck me as bad guy material. All of that said, I had fun with this, almost as much as <i>Suikoden 2</i> a couple years prior, and it helped me get through a rough first few weeks of warehouse work.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr3WHtspBsOidbZStIs6i_TjkAPSwH3PeAncCzsjCI-e4_-UwSA1daZGn4BsCQRwI73GnJC9mAYz1hUqduJlp7wIgebAvtxRxo0hsHuVaskl6m0ENrlwJE7avNoz16JklAHeZMxtVW9cWxFX21S5z5mOohbLHeyW3642pjghXvSoftshTHd0IZRaDhlP4/s1600/suikoden%203%20chris.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1280" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXr3WHtspBsOidbZStIs6i_TjkAPSwH3PeAncCzsjCI-e4_-UwSA1daZGn4BsCQRwI73GnJC9mAYz1hUqduJlp7wIgebAvtxRxo0hsHuVaskl6m0ENrlwJE7avNoz16JklAHeZMxtVW9cWxFX21S5z5mOohbLHeyW3642pjghXvSoftshTHd0IZRaDhlP4/w360-h450/suikoden%203%20chris.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Character: Chris, the knight. Here she is riding the world's luckiest horse. Once you get to maybe halfway through her chapters, she sheds her suit of armor and lets down her hair and she's just a gorgeous character. A good approximation of a Joan of Arc type character, whether they intended it or not.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNlPJNKhw9lLFO0XOH6hVqnTU6ezFpf6kIZMyQ3bSUma0sPooPqe46KmGRpdoQAtdxeBgd6GD8iq8xofFz3iZVteXF6raeNHKwzwThVD9mJWho1Lh9fwzbYM_MzIOU3apN2zQSdItFqkuQalNO5dKdm8BKKW-AeZGqSvtG7ILJwBAz6ZuM6dQSobDZxYZ/s640/Metroid%20Prime%2001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipNlPJNKhw9lLFO0XOH6hVqnTU6ezFpf6kIZMyQ3bSUma0sPooPqe46KmGRpdoQAtdxeBgd6GD8iq8xofFz3iZVteXF6raeNHKwzwThVD9mJWho1Lh9fwzbYM_MzIOU3apN2zQSdItFqkuQalNO5dKdm8BKKW-AeZGqSvtG7ILJwBAz6ZuM6dQSobDZxYZ/w640-h400/Metroid%20Prime%2001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#192 Metroid Prime (Gamecube) – Fall 2002</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WLLE_PvJ5mY" width="320" youtube-src-id="WLLE_PvJ5mY"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Right Away, Favorite Music: The file select theme. This has one of the best file select themes I've ever heard, maybe THE best.</p><p style="text-align: center;">This was game of the year for me, despite some very steep competition. I got this, and a Gamecube, pretty much as soon as it was out. The Gamecube never gave me the kind of mileage the PS2 did, but it was a good little system with a few classics I'm glad I got to play. This was actually one of the first things I got with money from the full time job, a situation where I really HAD money for the first time ever. Also picked up <i>Mario Sunshine</i> along with this and the system, but didn't get to that game for several months.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYK60xENgLgyMWL4I9KSBbkrH2YO3tjeXmVOKAdNZdu1S7EJbEI1f81_nQOczsQsFoKMvgHM2TGxONlTCB6AzaZalyNHEkdsTslz27ZNXZVtd4YHDROSmrVZzlUOQSWCmoNcB_9gdWeAvvq-JBVrTuC3wL2JMIDdeOC56kZPGMD-PD9bG3tbSJHkBWKvRs/s640/Metroid%20Prime%2066.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYK60xENgLgyMWL4I9KSBbkrH2YO3tjeXmVOKAdNZdu1S7EJbEI1f81_nQOczsQsFoKMvgHM2TGxONlTCB6AzaZalyNHEkdsTslz27ZNXZVtd4YHDROSmrVZzlUOQSWCmoNcB_9gdWeAvvq-JBVrTuC3wL2JMIDdeOC56kZPGMD-PD9bG3tbSJHkBWKvRs/w640-h360/Metroid%20Prime%2066.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This on the other hand I played as much as I possibly could over a couple of weeks, and it was pretty spectacular. At this point it might be a little played-out as I've played it so many times and it isn't really tremendous to look at (even the HD version) now. Believe me, though, in 2002 this game was incredible on all kinds of levels. I'd waited almost a decade for another Metroid game after <i>Super Metroid</i> and this was one situation where the wait was worth it. Looked amazing, played amazing. You could use the Wave Beam to light up dark rooms (no longer works in the HD version). I mean there were so many idiosyncrasies and quirks to this game that it felt more like a sandbox world to play around in. That elusive thing that's hard to find outside of an MMORPG.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgb_hWv3oKs16o0bjW7-ELrZ5fkb37x2xvuGSQCn6PkuhmBNH7fCLLZsXZ6M_3a8Pkyunzl3MVDCvAF7N6NXiY9_yTRgHaWOvee6nlgEFloudwHNqEjHqvAVnBL8RjypObVG58qQto-Tqmox0N0292cRGjTpiMxXRpmCrtZUCGQCZtdMQ5xc_Hq2KZb8RD/s640/Metroid%20Prime%2009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgb_hWv3oKs16o0bjW7-ELrZ5fkb37x2xvuGSQCn6PkuhmBNH7fCLLZsXZ6M_3a8Pkyunzl3MVDCvAF7N6NXiY9_yTRgHaWOvee6nlgEFloudwHNqEjHqvAVnBL8RjypObVG58qQto-Tqmox0N0292cRGjTpiMxXRpmCrtZUCGQCZtdMQ5xc_Hq2KZb8RD/w640-h360/Metroid%20Prime%2009.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Moment: First landing on the planet, in the rain, and being able to look around in full 3D. Look up at the sky and raindrops start pattering on the visor. This was absolutely unreal in 2002.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Side Note: When I was in 6th grade or so, I drew up a full "Metroid IV" game in a notebook, with something like 12 areas to explore, numerous bosses, new items, etc. I went really in-depth with it. I had the final boss as a giant armored spider-shaped Metroid. The ultimate evolution, caused by radiation. Well, <i>Metroid Prime's</i> final boss is a giant armored spider-shaped Metroid, the ultimate evolution, caused by radiation. So that was pretty cool. Almost as cool as <i>Ocarina of Time</i> jumping forward to a post-collapse Hyrule like my notebook novellas had done.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZvq3nYNdeDiKHOd32uD5hm4e0aB_AigiyYXPV5J1UqNB-K2IeESwJsQYJKrggjIUvaHoVcDl9Tnq1teeg_op0AkC6DXMOaFY1_pFsJNdh3vuaFJox0r1wNW53g-gH05b_tPb0QRHZ5a-3m-nWGn7nPM5qOFKPQxGJiJq4yoP0LAk_Ett0WMXrqcDjBso/s640/Metroid%20Prime%2022.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZvq3nYNdeDiKHOd32uD5hm4e0aB_AigiyYXPV5J1UqNB-K2IeESwJsQYJKrggjIUvaHoVcDl9Tnq1teeg_op0AkC6DXMOaFY1_pFsJNdh3vuaFJox0r1wNW53g-gH05b_tPb0QRHZ5a-3m-nWGn7nPM5qOFKPQxGJiJq4yoP0LAk_Ett0WMXrqcDjBso/w640-h360/Metroid%20Prime%2022.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Area: Phendrana Drifts is one of the coolest areas in any game. I already like "ice levels" and that was a pinnacle, S-Tier ice level.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: Phazon Mines. Can be tough to find all the save points, leaving you with long distances between heals, and the color-coded space pirates are treacherous.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2013/04/metroid-prime-gamecube-2002.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. Had to hand-take the pictures for it due to no way to screen record the Gamecube at the time, but if any game is worth that level of effort, it's this one.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtYZ9mV_AHVrjDu_aXRWky_vB8F4bMuKfekIvP8Jrrisad1M9RchPXiR7GFzfEfDfhBgaYyQmINSDrAQGCFJdaqNEEYV8praIvIB-gBWzC3Ds8vMmoG-FppsoFJG29JBYFm13zooCNmOrzoSYxOM3D7TQ-cVQAMZuopQcWJE4W4opy0gULcxQbtsGkWkA/s2173/dbz%20budokai.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2173" data-original-width="1542" height="447" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqtYZ9mV_AHVrjDu_aXRWky_vB8F4bMuKfekIvP8Jrrisad1M9RchPXiR7GFzfEfDfhBgaYyQmINSDrAQGCFJdaqNEEYV8praIvIB-gBWzC3Ds8vMmoG-FppsoFJG29JBYFm13zooCNmOrzoSYxOM3D7TQ-cVQAMZuopQcWJE4W4opy0gULcxQbtsGkWkA/w317-h447/dbz%20budokai.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#193 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai (Playstation 2) – Winter 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">I seriously can't remember this one at all. Drawing a total blank. I know later on I played the superior <i>Budokai Tenkaichi</i>, but I don't remember this one. Surprising considering this was the first good 3D DBZ game that I had access to. Was pretty novel to finally have DBZ games getting American releases at all, for that matter. I don't even have any screenshots of it because I can't tell the difference between this and the five other Budokais on the PS2. Well, glad I got to play a really solid DBZ game at last. Besides <i>Hyper Dimension</i>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1O8nEERqP4Fq0hcdIL_fFJjIZx5ZmbiHE8R1kN4JRJc0r_0BDk66LYYTYJRrso7-0HcTlc92CQx_fVTeDHAEjtY4c26O5BqtN81QKsHVhEr9S6xZiTydG2b2o7-f1rfMP6Hi78h2bBsUmlEnO6iQ3ozWCM_GF_wbF7YQZNP8PlfD5tR-bhXVwOHRtb61c/s640/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(12).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="640" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1O8nEERqP4Fq0hcdIL_fFJjIZx5ZmbiHE8R1kN4JRJc0r_0BDk66LYYTYJRrso7-0HcTlc92CQx_fVTeDHAEjtY4c26O5BqtN81QKsHVhEr9S6xZiTydG2b2o7-f1rfMP6Hi78h2bBsUmlEnO6iQ3ozWCM_GF_wbF7YQZNP8PlfD5tR-bhXVwOHRtb61c/w548-h343/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(12).png" width="548" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#194 Mega Man X6 (Playstation) – Winter 2002</p><p style="text-align: center;">Really disappointing game here to say the least. I've been waffling between this and <i>Mega Man X7</i> as "worst X series game" ever since. This game still plays like the other two PS1 games before it, only a little bit slower and clunkier, with slight delays on things like dashes and sword swings. It doesn't reinvent the wheel like <i>X7</i> does for the worse. However the level design in this one is so bad that it might actually have <i>X7</i> beat on being the worst.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Still, it was a new X series game and I was still very into that series, especially after <i>X5</i> and all of its Wily-bait. ...which this game doesn't really continue with, aside from Isoc who they do nothing with even though he's clearly a Wily shell. And then Wily never appears again ever.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYOk2kJz47Sj2-vTSBBZ5WVCxcILriJAW7KsG86p4mnRappPXXXxLhym7OxVsvxNr9rh5AjZ3HdsEFsqssqOBTyC6QJlRjY8q5J-vji1813wZbZe5TVrFI2pke7_q7oNpBk-qK3fjVCWlDw4oca_gJbigjVd3NBfJhY9jXZnV8sLfjniovh1Mr1hmrmv4/s640/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(46).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="640" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxYOk2kJz47Sj2-vTSBBZ5WVCxcILriJAW7KsG86p4mnRappPXXXxLhym7OxVsvxNr9rh5AjZ3HdsEFsqssqOBTyC6QJlRjY8q5J-vji1813wZbZe5TVrFI2pke7_q7oNpBk-qK3fjVCWlDw4oca_gJbigjVd3NBfJhY9jXZnV8sLfjniovh1Mr1hmrmv4/w515-h327/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(46).png" width="515" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I think the thing that jumps out to me the most about this game is how I spent seemingly hours on Metal Shark Player's stage. Wouldn't even say the stage is necessarily difficult, but it's very slow and tedious and you can easily die if you make a mistake due to the control delays and clunky dashing. You can't race through that stage to get back to where you were because you're constantly at the mercy of the giant trash compactor that crushes the stage every few seconds. So you're stuck going through it at a slow pace every time you have to start over.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ohOPE0O6vGJ-RN5AryO9cxm4SJQcbqW2o5t9Aaq-zetz60l3gsryfRH1hXhgBU4rm-LcRXGCThMSuGgb_wHVsboXqZhZHRBsLXa84zacYGGgHs9fzMFksNsSiHa9TniohnoBBM_jxVZTmqT1qdSKkH8Xt1dZ3xQ28IaqFjc_wTcyEbBhDVKf3vxLfFbL/s640/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(16).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="640" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ohOPE0O6vGJ-RN5AryO9cxm4SJQcbqW2o5t9Aaq-zetz60l3gsryfRH1hXhgBU4rm-LcRXGCThMSuGgb_wHVsboXqZhZHRBsLXa84zacYGGgHs9fzMFksNsSiHa9TniohnoBBM_jxVZTmqT1qdSKkH8Xt1dZ3xQ28IaqFjc_wTcyEbBhDVKf3vxLfFbL/w540-h336/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(16).png" width="540" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: High Max and his invincibility. I don't even know if this is necessarily "tough" so much as "really cheap and unfun". Never found that fight exciting or interesting.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Level: Rainy Turtloid's stage is actually pretty good. Lot of atmosphere there.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuCeowhFrvANOd7RSN_woTM0JIsulSTErRkB94JyA7XidGcmMnlrko7DqdsIuJ_RgQJcquMktygK-tatfohG215wFaAr3ayVl4beVIsqVkLx7y_JtuGEB0Yj16Pf8rqxRE2HYQQIWoz1y4xTmL3ILIx-8gPa-GYsBJr_BPnvQF2C32v7TelzkJnz0z5jq/s640/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(70).png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="640" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuCeowhFrvANOd7RSN_woTM0JIsulSTErRkB94JyA7XidGcmMnlrko7DqdsIuJ_RgQJcquMktygK-tatfohG215wFaAr3ayVl4beVIsqVkLx7y_JtuGEB0Yj16Pf8rqxRE2HYQQIWoz1y4xTmL3ILIx-8gPa-GYsBJr_BPnvQF2C32v7TelzkJnz0z5jq/w555-h355/Mega%20Man%20X6%20(70).png" width="555" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Creepiest Part: The fortress stages and their demonic aesthetic, with all kinds of weird demon stuff in the backgrounds. Between this and Wily living on as some sort of virus, this game had the potential to be setup for even more interesting things to come. However, the fact that the sequels were so meh causes this game to just be a dropped ball in retrospect. Rather than just a lull, it's where the series goes off the cliff.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Dumbest Part: This same screen. I wonder how many <i>MMX6</i> players got to the first fortress level, were all excited for it, and then ran into this spike wall midway through and had to die out of the level. You can't get past this wall unless you finished the extra armor sets, which are obscure AF so good luck, OR have the Jumper powerup (which is well-hidden AND <i>missable</i>) and combine that with an ice block step. Might also be able to get hit and i-frame your way up the wall if i-frames protect you from spikes, IDK. ...it's ridiculous that this wall is even here. Just an example of how bad the level design is in <i>Mega Man X6</i>.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/09/mega-man-x6-playstation-2001.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a> <br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-43101576953267716252024-02-03T00:46:00.001-05:002024-02-03T00:46:40.017-05:00Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part IV - Training Montage<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCK7B_imSjZWuXj1OYwDU0ZNnX1cZUtqAF0Nw3pGaAMXtY6TgjkzghUOzOBBXRg-hSFwDGaxAPSz2n-S3OHz4yXOkUhpcmxepGOtbgFBrChUFhlHThCVPhHiVCKeovTDmToMpZcUn8uh-gKPmalqN5ikePV_tUohfqrFAhN5LPcV3AC2Q2O_Db0SSRAMy/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCK7B_imSjZWuXj1OYwDU0ZNnX1cZUtqAF0Nw3pGaAMXtY6TgjkzghUOzOBBXRg-hSFwDGaxAPSz2n-S3OHz4yXOkUhpcmxepGOtbgFBrChUFhlHThCVPhHiVCKeovTDmToMpZcUn8uh-gKPmalqN5ikePV_tUohfqrFAhN5LPcV3AC2Q2O_Db0SSRAMy/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Took me a while to get back to this one, but it's time.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The SFC version of this game is completely different looking enough to justify it getting its own series. Time to do the back half of this one as a lead-in to ::groan:: <i>Dragon Quest VII</i>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Need to issue a BIG correction: I said in the past that class mastery bonuses (+10 to a stat, etc) carried over. Since then I've been informed that they don't.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvCfzihxNkNAsZMBMcpeoB__xSafVXvamIIC3GeXwpiMGSyHRRLBt7O_cfRffmlUF0TDzFMOZPN_X8yC1iAGgapJNosu3LMYTHY_WYoQaTDcFBFkyaHt35fjdP1YCdPCnXsQe4bwhk23k5mBqfEkyYfhU9fIzvcRP_LTepNfpI2VPEZErAZ3FcEX4xtvs/s530/carl%20weathers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="398" data-original-width="530" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvCfzihxNkNAsZMBMcpeoB__xSafVXvamIIC3GeXwpiMGSyHRRLBt7O_cfRffmlUF0TDzFMOZPN_X8yC1iAGgapJNosu3LMYTHY_WYoQaTDcFBFkyaHt35fjdP1YCdPCnXsQe4bwhk23k5mBqfEkyYfhU9fIzvcRP_LTepNfpI2VPEZErAZ3FcEX4xtvs/w508-h381/carl%20weathers.jpg" width="508" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">R.I.P. Carl Weathers 1948-2024</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's been a bit since I covered any of this game, so you may want to review the first 3 posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2023/08/dragon-quest-vi-super-famicom-1995.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>, <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2023/08/dragon-quest-vi-sfc-part-2-mirror-mirror.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>, and <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2023/09/dragon-quest-vi-sfc-part-iii.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. I recommend re-reading part 3 at the very least, as it explains where I am and what I'm doing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I tried covering this version at the same time that I covered the remake version of the game, which seemed like a cool idea on paper, and it didn't work out super well because the SFC version totally fell off. Well, time to do the rest.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQiWv7DaYtMvi7ctv6untBzZEGXDDj9QzzE-bxwdmsZS4sKlPpJYuFTwWg6i6DBH8hXdUSKHGWSOTVPgIrvqYolcHMaolr_LGEq7Ja0AWsNyDjCSq4fAcXtu2DTJVy3Hhl96Y-gsftMt1phr2ZsKi9uJAC6gwVA0Sa29uxRTrLNfsvQin7esL9eh31y7bD=w640-h299" width="640" />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Got something cool for us today. Managed to dig up the Nintendo Power coverage of this game from Epic Center. I actually remember reading this!</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgeDMvaVeTcfPIfQ18iOEp8sNUe4BgbkTGuZXLNLIB3YSVkQjkXQa7cYx367pr4s3PcMFswv3FZ4u1O-9_is94rnQCbWrOoWAun35TeC6deZAfa99_fq7lp-rCa4mOdGHjlfhz_l9XjDuS46F-Js7-2YL9BXnnYjiCH8iHUJIhZ30ED3ZX6hfCl0LIPtbqW=w640-h299" width="640" />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">It makes the game look pretty awesome. Now in 1995 when I read this, I don't think I'd ever played any game in the series before. This looks a lot like <i>Chrono Trigger</i>, and that piqued my interest. However, it never made it over, like so many of the other awesome new RPGs in Japan in mid-90's Epic Center that got hyped up and then...nope.</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uufHHDFZhxx43RFuKKBOS1Jb5sXHBy-OCQEcN9bFJhrOBQgza-MH9BLTQRTgRjzpLM8GEUeJuruc443ZTmdLxhgUedDgnlX7kYz-dDSliKYrsMwZxh5b5eyUc_IeCIDBTvxKBMBnvWhwIq7t-k0Ou-_sG1gA4csBaMVTal0M6xhM4y3A77faEbKQUbgv/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_uufHHDFZhxx43RFuKKBOS1Jb5sXHBy-OCQEcN9bFJhrOBQgza-MH9BLTQRTgRjzpLM8GEUeJuruc443ZTmdLxhgUedDgnlX7kYz-dDSliKYrsMwZxh5b5eyUc_IeCIDBTvxKBMBnvWhwIq7t-k0Ou-_sG1gA4csBaMVTal0M6xhM4y3A77faEbKQUbgv/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We left off on Spiegelspire, where I have to defeat a magician to uncurse this woman trapped in a mirror. The King is really infatuated with her... because she is hot. Apparently she was trapped in there because she refused to marry this guy who wanted her, so he got her cursed by the nefarious sorcerer Spiegel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now the King wants to rescue her...so he can marry her. So basically the same thing is gonna happen to her all over again. But it's okay, this guy means well! No curses here! .....alrighty then.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">But first, time for massive class grinding, just like I did in the remake. Mirror lady can sit her butt down and WAIT.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOq0JOE4cBAFbZ4I7pfG79B90uLvbKAuNqg2S_21yJjzTVwd0_2m419ylaI-6IHjlt__Wc1UimDxdg2Ywx6nZTjs3wF6NHRoSUyJy3HJOedYUeR0Owpoppdk6FLinUA2m1BSIAP4NkzbhbK1BgIDFXlU2TvZrdqyScTvNzDUA6Ub5vjLNPkZIRtIjCMU4/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi000.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOq0JOE4cBAFbZ4I7pfG79B90uLvbKAuNqg2S_21yJjzTVwd0_2m419ylaI-6IHjlt__Wc1UimDxdg2Ywx6nZTjs3wF6NHRoSUyJy3HJOedYUeR0Owpoppdk6FLinUA2m1BSIAP4NkzbhbK1BgIDFXlU2TvZrdqyScTvNzDUA6Ub5vjLNPkZIRtIjCMU4/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi000.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Muriel is now the final boss of <i>SaGa Frontier</i>!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">There may not be any net benefit to maxing out classes from a stat perspective, and the ability bloat may be unreal, but I have to do this to unlock the final secret boss. Or at least max out every class once.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXivVdAkAbZNCDU_6DXU3P9tKq33g7Vxie54K9ap-4uGlayG0VWybnx-Ru66H6_gyDfd7iRHehcQLwlRGoIvfzDGxMAweN6uL6qkMdkKbhnhSzDvIDpbtrsHCYYXf9DO3UGfiTsZdGFRwAfMiPDfl7pdOvzA8SL326NyxOUxzNQYl-AmWl0CWukTfausCV/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXivVdAkAbZNCDU_6DXU3P9tKq33g7Vxie54K9ap-4uGlayG0VWybnx-Ru66H6_gyDfd7iRHehcQLwlRGoIvfzDGxMAweN6uL6qkMdkKbhnhSzDvIDpbtrsHCYYXf9DO3UGfiTsZdGFRwAfMiPDfl7pdOvzA8SL326NyxOUxzNQYl-AmWl0CWukTfausCV/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi001.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">IT'S THE! EYE OF THE TIGER!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hand of God is a good name for a really good class. Battlemaster is only Tier 2 and probably the most efficient class in that tier. At a high level they get a very good AOE with no MP cost, and grinding gets a lot quicker once everyone has that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9jBxjr6Tsh7tTXVjY1zh8kx6Y93WlBbVqN_eLFvkbWKGLipv3mdToQodIynKBFdDle8KzLWdCE9g_gCnYS_xTPDx82C7hPJAILb2LVt6zx1Vfzlt8bJQSf8m8iNkepSKRPo4F0Sc9GcdbpX0WYP2IdidNgNod5-8v6JZ9h__E6RIbKqlsbU1tJgbIrGa/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9jBxjr6Tsh7tTXVjY1zh8kx6Y93WlBbVqN_eLFvkbWKGLipv3mdToQodIynKBFdDle8KzLWdCE9g_gCnYS_xTPDx82C7hPJAILb2LVt6zx1Vfzlt8bJQSf8m8iNkepSKRPo4F0Sc9GcdbpX0WYP2IdidNgNod5-8v6JZ9h__E6RIbKqlsbU1tJgbIrGa/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi002.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Explodet...USED TO BE the end-all of DQ attacks. Now it's kind of useless. Yeah it does big damage but it also costs a lot of MP, and there are a whole plethora of new zero-MP AOEs that do almost as much damage.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">IT'S THE THRILL OF THE FIGHT!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUhKG_-_k9M4wTrb_YmWSwiXDtdnxNnyVDMGoFTU8zxRK4DqelFSNYWhJuoMFKl8CVoFBJVu57P8uF1S4hkikZSxNngXAbbwE7Hyf6s65f384Dsw_SuwW4x7dU8rOk8YJPxaBG7iT-m6SNWMmlNsu8fn6cgMAmSByffK4aTx6wIvd8JGJYWTK-MqM9jkU/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi003.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUhKG_-_k9M4wTrb_YmWSwiXDtdnxNnyVDMGoFTU8zxRK4DqelFSNYWhJuoMFKl8CVoFBJVu57P8uF1S4hkikZSxNngXAbbwE7Hyf6s65f384Dsw_SuwW4x7dU8rOk8YJPxaBG7iT-m6SNWMmlNsu8fn6cgMAmSByffK4aTx6wIvd8JGJYWTK-MqM9jkU/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi003.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Like this one! It misses a lot though. Wonder if it's stronger against undead, given that it's the ultimate move for Paladin.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAYoudSQP2bGo6W_nXH6yTTn5v8Ni_DxH5IGxswWgBWaRVzvduFCeyFRPZpidvgJVFUBEoj_NHSxpHQmOdPae1rzA0_hC-xhhFjTiBGfMd4gnCiXbLbxPKG3BCNdd-2cemeYQXcqdo5CXsJgGwsxxJ7d1d5hqFhrLMExc-Eq20h_Clb0Xx-pF3Q1UWK_d/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi004.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAYoudSQP2bGo6W_nXH6yTTn5v8Ni_DxH5IGxswWgBWaRVzvduFCeyFRPZpidvgJVFUBEoj_NHSxpHQmOdPae1rzA0_hC-xhhFjTiBGfMd4gnCiXbLbxPKG3BCNdd-2cemeYQXcqdo5CXsJgGwsxxJ7d1d5hqFhrLMExc-Eq20h_Clb0Xx-pF3Q1UWK_d/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi004.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">At some point in the grinding, a wyvern joins the party. I forgot this was even a thing in this game. It played a much bigger role in <i>DQV</i>. Since you have seven human characters in this game you really only have room for 1 monster. One joining you seems to be an ultra rare occurrence, so I'll take it. We'll see if something better comes along later (Cureslime would be great). Or I might try to recruit that Lizzie character if she/he is in this version. I don't remember, it's been 22 years.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4XwG-kZj01I6-hCrPSnACYIA_z0GyFqKIHfWWAQ7sSXBPuEfvDOHvi-ZBwWmsoMqff3bJhxFkpTlzEeScoVQiqNPk6O_tr-DXoHzxVS3vSbpG63KXEE6m0Gv9c8UXsmJ2dm1z6qXiXtSXrliUGqSpeQeyIWiziR0GdV4N2nf56voWdYwLBRvRnDHySjB/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi005.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd4XwG-kZj01I6-hCrPSnACYIA_z0GyFqKIHfWWAQ7sSXBPuEfvDOHvi-ZBwWmsoMqff3bJhxFkpTlzEeScoVQiqNPk6O_tr-DXoHzxVS3vSbpG63KXEE6m0Gv9c8UXsmJ2dm1z6qXiXtSXrliUGqSpeQeyIWiziR0GdV4N2nf56voWdYwLBRvRnDHySjB/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi005.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hiko temporarily goes into a life of crime to get the Thief skill mastered. He had to break-a some knees.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">GONNA RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OF OUR RIIIIIVALS!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ixa-A8a4Z7TVp5Dz_oOSSljHhhKoxaKB85FPOqp7KKiVKAQExL9xUYuNCWbQ23uZLNV-MwPGTjsxVrGVVVlMLio6lxsuf0YyHqM7qgCg5oivGcTXo5IvTrCttoqp0n39VdpQssA3e3X6-6DaVgJOAl4tsZ0XDILiPg0mSswfCdjxZE52Va8mxe_OauIo/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi006.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Ixa-A8a4Z7TVp5Dz_oOSSljHhhKoxaKB85FPOqp7KKiVKAQExL9xUYuNCWbQ23uZLNV-MwPGTjsxVrGVVVlMLio6lxsuf0YyHqM7qgCg5oivGcTXo5IvTrCttoqp0n39VdpQssA3e3X6-6DaVgJOAl4tsZ0XDILiPg0mSswfCdjxZE52Va8mxe_OauIo/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi006.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Weird ability here. What does Scream have to do with being a shopkeeper? Did she just notice Hiko is a Crime Boss?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRlRdCi7ia6tmJsClFrocgNa3S1mbKEpa_PBAAvcbjF8QP9S3MpZKz7r42OTIm7sQLuuqhEb5GmKclIAz7W90KAjdY04LCC3LLicSvA8sCCrtx0OlZWL-lD_LW4pAeagnJE2eoxm248XMKNrrrUo4OVlnkmq2NNbLU5Mm-DMGSbDRCqz6iOjjIdk3c8WN/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi007.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsRlRdCi7ia6tmJsClFrocgNa3S1mbKEpa_PBAAvcbjF8QP9S3MpZKz7r42OTIm7sQLuuqhEb5GmKclIAz7W90KAjdY04LCC3LLicSvA8sCCrtx0OlZWL-lD_LW4pAeagnJE2eoxm248XMKNrrrUo4OVlnkmq2NNbLU5Mm-DMGSbDRCqz6iOjjIdk3c8WN/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi007.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hiko's life of crime has paid off and he's now a MILLIONAIRE! HE'S A MILLIONAIRE, BAY BEE!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTFY-X3dmf4C2E8bC7mNT6HShuXCplRn9R1gZUJvoTIplemfub9Nrkr8UzGnhTab2hFTO71jOm7qjWECGLkILBXT9jT0wyUtOVpq5CyJbzM2W6VLE1pin3_9D8v7_c1f6o7Kjr6Vlzq-EF4_2bRO2Sv-OCx7pLb59aEiOS3zikenQKbGj4_OLGIih_2vv/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi008.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTFY-X3dmf4C2E8bC7mNT6HShuXCplRn9R1gZUJvoTIplemfub9Nrkr8UzGnhTab2hFTO71jOm7qjWECGLkILBXT9jT0wyUtOVpq5CyJbzM2W6VLE1pin3_9D8v7_c1f6o7Kjr6Vlzq-EF4_2bRO2Sv-OCx7pLb59aEiOS3zikenQKbGj4_OLGIih_2vv/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi008.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ranger is the class that takes the longest to get pre-reqs done for (besides Hero of course). It has 3 mastered class pre-reqs while all the other Tier 2 classes only have 2 pre-reqs. So you'd think Ranger would be super awesome and better than the others, but it's...really nothing to write home about. Maybe even the most mediocre Tier 2 class when it comes down to it. Also you'd think the class would be some sort of forest archer type deal, but it's actually a Power Rangers reference.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZt-ZbyoTlv49iNzPM26xdNDOXT-HJCR_vKan5Pdkj293y97Mfsj2r38_lUpaQOdXEkTQR2KK4NW40EnViJ48WYA8KSaqGMWiMuftTA03fQaERW5RUgotb3B3ruzWScq4tdBZd8DwNOZqFPhGrGSEgvEsKDUDQh2EhxOgVmU1DaE_l_e5hK0qiKYNEq9E-/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi010.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZt-ZbyoTlv49iNzPM26xdNDOXT-HJCR_vKan5Pdkj293y97Mfsj2r38_lUpaQOdXEkTQR2KK4NW40EnViJ48WYA8KSaqGMWiMuftTA03fQaERW5RUgotb3B3ruzWScq4tdBZd8DwNOZqFPhGrGSEgvEsKDUDQh2EhxOgVmU1DaE_l_e5hK0qiKYNEq9E-/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi010.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hiko learns how to flash his peen at foes to throw them off balance. That or they'll start sending him OnlyHeroes money to see more peen.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">IT'S THE! EYE OF THE TIGER IT'S THE THRILL OF THE FIGHT!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5voeVawiJo-TyfVaYHg0b486ROYRxcanww8fWRfxWBcevOWdwLHpSu8nSbwWlE1hkNiva39RKtW7d8abauGVTXFz_UHVhMG4N6ySfDPiX7OF4EIabTFfsmqslbhjQdkWHFlWjFzcxsbk0bwrSUmV68wdi9v5X2Vt3AcbH-TEGoDaeMMn-afLscf5nfU7L/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi013.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5voeVawiJo-TyfVaYHg0b486ROYRxcanww8fWRfxWBcevOWdwLHpSu8nSbwWlE1hkNiva39RKtW7d8abauGVTXFz_UHVhMG4N6ySfDPiX7OF4EIabTFfsmqslbhjQdkWHFlWjFzcxsbk0bwrSUmV68wdi9v5X2Vt3AcbH-TEGoDaeMMn-afLscf5nfU7L/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi013.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hassan learns the Moonsault of pro-wrestling fame. 22 years ago when I first played this, the Moonsault was my favorite wrestling move.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBevIWgTIuSTsFSq87BERn8n9gbG1VhcZNghpE4GzjzSbHupxOyihKYrr4hvr59DlUG6Rqy3-7MxDKwWV-R1ILd2r9UPDW2v-PpFcYmBjygzALP2svPriiy6tWlUeexKjckkaim228B4c16VWlrHylLTOn0FLXrvfscjuXggkXLr2ovWR8U043dfCsU4u/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi014.png" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Finally, I had all Tier 2 classes maxed on everyone and turned them all into Heroes. That'll do for the rest. Between the class' natural regen, and all of the extra levels, the game will be no problem up until the endgame. The Hero class levels should come naturally from playing the rest, whenever I'm in an area with no level cap. Grind over!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">OF THE TIIIII-gerrrrr!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dun dun DAOOO, <span style="font-size: x-small;">dun dun daooo</span>, <span style="font-size: xx-small;">dun dun dao</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdY25lhWDoSdJGxh2i6HQhp6Gxw0OBbFCOvH-1nTd-K5Xn9SmB7jgQOe8ILZeDmcJPTEvOla_rJdoFwtkIAgAWWupU0IvBVvlik8PZDUBJmeH2c3Mptw3TCZ__7a3XlJPGLcGPl360OlHaU8HN6fd9x0SGz5PROjzgBPs8ojG5VxXx6nzh3AZyXIONwm3/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNdY25lhWDoSdJGxh2i6HQhp6Gxw0OBbFCOvH-1nTd-K5Xn9SmB7jgQOe8ILZeDmcJPTEvOla_rJdoFwtkIAgAWWupU0IvBVvlik8PZDUBJmeH2c3Mptw3TCZ__7a3XlJPGLcGPl360OlHaU8HN6fd9x0SGz5PROjzgBPs8ojG5VxXx6nzh3AZyXIONwm3/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi017.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After all this time, I finally go to the top of Spiegelspire to fight the boss. He just let our heroes train up in his own dungeon for the past however many hours, now he doesn't have a chance. Also the mirror woman is probably elderly now.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5zWlvWAkdtZJXfAQ5g68sot5sXMSLV-qOGF7k2kpBSVeenIqRXnL-ugOWMvNKVOyr7O89NkayCylN3qRScr1kXThVUnR_iMOxw5n4Z_rSW8c6FQYVCcyGa_5sKBemTv5D4BJ71sO3TqAsg9tSnZaek1MjuRLtUcvXxUTu0GvG-PbiaE4lZ3GAakFuBxJ/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi015.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5zWlvWAkdtZJXfAQ5g68sot5sXMSLV-qOGF7k2kpBSVeenIqRXnL-ugOWMvNKVOyr7O89NkayCylN3qRScr1kXThVUnR_iMOxw5n4Z_rSW8c6FQYVCcyGa_5sKBemTv5D4BJ71sO3TqAsg9tSnZaek1MjuRLtUcvXxUTu0GvG-PbiaE4lZ3GAakFuBxJ/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi015.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Miralgo (Spiegel in the remake) is no match whatsoever for this crew. Normally your levels would be like 25 at this point, and I've got an extra 20.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll still need to level grind again outside the last castle, namely to get the Liquid Metal Slime class maxed for Hassan to tank the optional superboss, and get the levels to actually fight said superboss. The remake version's superboss is the hardest thing in the first six DQs. If this is as bad...I'll need level 60 or more.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FN2MpuhTgTVp302A6juGmjvKZfB96hqUTaEh82ggQ07ZdyYaZ7_8V1Pp-ZYpQHztS7uB193kA_bs0OYVts7VmqmniuqETlutsLLS-r8m_mIUE6sJnYboJR7Zjw4v12FMIGiPXSosuWW1_WRAIG-T8vwOZ7_fkKRoR2Xh1opjpErGX7tKEoHJQlaDXXNF/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi016.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9FN2MpuhTgTVp302A6juGmjvKZfB96hqUTaEh82ggQ07ZdyYaZ7_8V1Pp-ZYpQHztS7uB193kA_bs0OYVts7VmqmniuqETlutsLLS-r8m_mIUE6sJnYboJR7Zjw4v12FMIGiPXSosuWW1_WRAIG-T8vwOZ7_fkKRoR2Xh1opjpErGX7tKEoHJQlaDXXNF/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi016.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The reward for winning the fight. Not to get too excited, because it doesn't do what it does in the other games. It's just an MP restore with a few uses. Hustle Dance is basically the new Sage's Stone, as a zero-MP HealUs equivalent.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EH80hcPYWfbt6Qz-S4_l5MoC1d1iGbsJhPoAPIWkS113_cZTYUnKj9-kUIwOhb_92PrPy7ZgKKj6icY5dVfOzkzuDgC8OU8VvIlqpqC-qEFb7c0vbtGXMmuSqRQlLwurcG9G9Hbq0tPmv_eRotd_jvCnvZi4cqxR9KDI_LSKVbaeEx3cTCn9LYLAIRdj/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi018.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EH80hcPYWfbt6Qz-S4_l5MoC1d1iGbsJhPoAPIWkS113_cZTYUnKj9-kUIwOhb_92PrPy7ZgKKj6icY5dVfOzkzuDgC8OU8VvIlqpqC-qEFb7c0vbtGXMmuSqRQlLwurcG9G9Hbq0tPmv_eRotd_jvCnvZi4cqxR9KDI_LSKVbaeEx3cTCn9LYLAIRdj/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi018.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The King speaks in bizarre incantations now that Miralgo's curse is lifted. Good thing it wasn't a Danhausen curse, we would be screwed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JFzCZRfrz2SHoTyh7bL0eNn-z5J1-mGlm05QCBZqWNCw7SmcODNKptHRSOHd1l-vkohy841RumDi1IHpLBDuLvPdROakxYbXPRjr4ZRPlhyphenhyphenWXuv9RSB2f56FLr_OzFGooWa8NXu3wBOQwB4P1bSQc7qLBzJF2-OUTUq04pITihoK038Ez9UkyGgWxxAZ/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi019.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9JFzCZRfrz2SHoTyh7bL0eNn-z5J1-mGlm05QCBZqWNCw7SmcODNKptHRSOHd1l-vkohy841RumDi1IHpLBDuLvPdROakxYbXPRjr4ZRPlhyphenhyphenWXuv9RSB2f56FLr_OzFGooWa8NXu3wBOQwB4P1bSQc7qLBzJF2-OUTUq04pITihoK038Ez9UkyGgWxxAZ/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi019.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Erika: "What? Where am I?"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIntg8yKbOH3Aw_cVVmtmkeYqL0ylLHAiSxEAsMYCu9yxQsF_rBITGp8E29BJLp3M_t7KPK57KyEIaTW_DvAXgSfzdboGR14kW2NyeT1JBchi7NIWEPpzGanHAPnH0ZjGIxnwXZpDfQifWaJIZEheOETZ3ZjdJrLnKkWjZGvxee7k77addSCnscowsxjfM/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi020.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIntg8yKbOH3Aw_cVVmtmkeYqL0ylLHAiSxEAsMYCu9yxQsF_rBITGp8E29BJLp3M_t7KPK57KyEIaTW_DvAXgSfzdboGR14kW2NyeT1JBchi7NIWEPpzGanHAPnH0ZjGIxnwXZpDfQifWaJIZEheOETZ3ZjdJrLnKkWjZGvxee7k77addSCnscowsxjfM/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi020.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Erika: "Who??"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3YvY5tJAlrbJnO7Axz5XPiWOIwgTBMjP4QnuMS7FBloYq52uVsvWM0RHGtmTZvP-_3dn227-jInfbBLtoI8UvthyFmiPsf_NMCWp4q6h8s4W8fAfyo_2TyNWjf3Wugm370hyphenhyphenZiFn9lcOZp3fEmATj1TSYexLKLV-2l6H8_ycEONIt0I7m6T7Zu2wVvWp/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi021.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL3YvY5tJAlrbJnO7Axz5XPiWOIwgTBMjP4QnuMS7FBloYq52uVsvWM0RHGtmTZvP-_3dn227-jInfbBLtoI8UvthyFmiPsf_NMCWp4q6h8s4W8fAfyo_2TyNWjf3Wugm370hyphenhyphenZiFn9lcOZp3fEmATj1TSYexLKLV-2l6H8_ycEONIt0I7m6T7Zu2wVvWp/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi021.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I mean seriously, that's what's going on here. I guess they kinda know each other from her gesturing wildly at him to get her out of the mirror.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bLThxLtWLT03WYRyD61zsaAscBmKd_lIPNc5mepSXqTxaYJkmMERUiXQw6gW_WDfbRM4UK3Br_ut0Y6tPgw9FJvcJ3jwD0LJyp3ly1agH0NLfiXFdz6qGend41x-kFTnIfxcJ3OOhzRP6D41WsZsn6hQ4CsXEwG1Jl1iAPr9qs2a4sqbUZGwixHGREC_/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi022.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1bLThxLtWLT03WYRyD61zsaAscBmKd_lIPNc5mepSXqTxaYJkmMERUiXQw6gW_WDfbRM4UK3Br_ut0Y6tPgw9FJvcJ3jwD0LJyp3ly1agH0NLfiXFdz6qGend41x-kFTnIfxcJ3OOhzRP6D41WsZsn6hQ4CsXEwG1Jl1iAPr9qs2a4sqbUZGwixHGREC_/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi022.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The King drags her off to get betrothed. Erika never got to experience the wonders of being left alone for a minute.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1GC3uRl7A3IbZuUXCbUmzsTdi655pubiwwniKsZ0nrhCki6mTA8MGPKXlHrxATrxSyE2pOMOYzfhhVqxChlXI_860wLLz8CqazWWx9y0rFZlCABrl1BJ6O7VZN_42krehXXwuLRr9MHBdG_vi6E_d-ulRSAj3VE3GEhUEZR8EP1PF_QWkLPoaiVZB_za/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi023.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy1GC3uRl7A3IbZuUXCbUmzsTdi655pubiwwniKsZ0nrhCki6mTA8MGPKXlHrxATrxSyE2pOMOYzfhhVqxChlXI_860wLLz8CqazWWx9y0rFZlCABrl1BJ6O7VZN_42krehXXwuLRr9MHBdG_vi6E_d-ulRSAj3VE3GEhUEZR8EP1PF_QWkLPoaiVZB_za/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi023.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The King gives up the latest key. Unfortunately this isn't a big deal like the Jailer's Key and whatnot of previous games. All it does is open one waterway.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE4HolPhyHVJnNzgMmMWLbszu8121ZempSdQXp9GfTHalxh1n2VAA48yDJRNivpnTUI1G4vMVo7H8CnYTOCb3FKRgmqmFgawqnZQruu_qdRd9E3wVtqF0Gpt7g4iF4egq6WqcNnWHIFDa7bYlCpbtDKCiMWWvDIRmO_fhWG_QjrhDL6jwJijxbFmUvBGq/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi024.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpE4HolPhyHVJnNzgMmMWLbszu8121ZempSdQXp9GfTHalxh1n2VAA48yDJRNivpnTUI1G4vMVo7H8CnYTOCb3FKRgmqmFgawqnZQruu_qdRd9E3wVtqF0Gpt7g4iF4egq6WqcNnWHIFDa7bYlCpbtDKCiMWWvDIRmO_fhWG_QjrhDL6jwJijxbFmUvBGq/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi024.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Who, The King or the other guy? Oh, the other guy. Well good thing you actually want to marry this guy. ...right?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, who knows. Time to move on from this whole episode.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLD2pPjt11Jsd6G16oN1b6Y2MYaZOFFlvEdBNebZhZmSDsZoK2t2aPDKmFTXiakW61vgb3B-vKlvYk8ZBoAQqqhMH4dgOaH6js75f_HPstN3FwK6yHtbAq4n_k60j_nqQ7gi0cK4hagYldwECpsm1AAttE3v0a98hjiwtgUKc3NIwU4dUu2S6MqoHfEgCg/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi025.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLD2pPjt11Jsd6G16oN1b6Y2MYaZOFFlvEdBNebZhZmSDsZoK2t2aPDKmFTXiakW61vgb3B-vKlvYk8ZBoAQqqhMH4dgOaH6js75f_HPstN3FwK6yHtbAq4n_k60j_nqQ7gi0cK4hagYldwECpsm1AAttE3v0a98hjiwtgUKc3NIwU4dUu2S6MqoHfEgCg/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi025.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Welcome to the 2020's.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxFVKxUVYIE6x53CJCIGmzsZ3SfY_imbFbmjc3pahXFAHTzTZ4UKUQq6vUePy9xV97vbVmXyERmW-LOpJyrHL13OKoaONUjMZ1gpbcOBL-MDUqxjTglmkOuHT6tVNyMxbeiLqTN8jjUPaX_43RmybPixgPC3m9REfFYrasWunE5VVzVfPY7JrwzLOSGkc/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi026.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxFVKxUVYIE6x53CJCIGmzsZ3SfY_imbFbmjc3pahXFAHTzTZ4UKUQq6vUePy9xV97vbVmXyERmW-LOpJyrHL13OKoaONUjMZ1gpbcOBL-MDUqxjTglmkOuHT6tVNyMxbeiLqTN8jjUPaX_43RmybPixgPC3m9REfFYrasWunE5VVzVfPY7JrwzLOSGkc/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi026.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's probably how Erika feels right about now. POW!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoHAJNYN5QSpT1rHF-EXZa5_n9uffd2lOo2ycBnNKhLWYdawBLFNY9GgNm1e-PzqpHEGvOEharK0PQKZQs3MUL5nXGTrGIEFBaZl8os9OKP5uqHI7wBbjxz0dlNsbceI6zddUDjBg-A6tWWQakfRzPdHCQiET2QiZE5QWfIoHYkmqNi2uEPKrRXKswJkM/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi027.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNoHAJNYN5QSpT1rHF-EXZa5_n9uffd2lOo2ycBnNKhLWYdawBLFNY9GgNm1e-PzqpHEGvOEharK0PQKZQs3MUL5nXGTrGIEFBaZl8os9OKP5uqHI7wBbjxz0dlNsbceI6zddUDjBg-A6tWWQakfRzPdHCQiET2QiZE5QWfIoHYkmqNi2uEPKrRXKswJkM/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi027.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This guy needs somebody to smuggle his mermaid friend Denae back to her mermaid town. She's stranded on the other side of the world and is too lazy to swim. Well look no longer! I'm your guy!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcVao_MlgRxYazmzayYZz7SQBoAyN1aJaaz_j3qNeqZljUDQwmRPi-yaJR9rH5BnQu826hOtgiGBwqUHqtVb-35zIO5T2HwZKoizOkLzcKdmZaGiF15wsfh-cjlx8F0QvHu9qkIGXd2WS8gbmVpWyfswqhlgmQpUF3TQBgYKZyrtwbqKqR2LPxTCuKpvD/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi028.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvcVao_MlgRxYazmzayYZz7SQBoAyN1aJaaz_j3qNeqZljUDQwmRPi-yaJR9rH5BnQu826hOtgiGBwqUHqtVb-35zIO5T2HwZKoizOkLzcKdmZaGiF15wsfh-cjlx8F0QvHu9qkIGXd2WS8gbmVpWyfswqhlgmQpUF3TQBgYKZyrtwbqKqR2LPxTCuKpvD/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi028.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I traffick the mermaid back to mermaidville... which I'd be wandering around looking for for hours if I didn't have a walkthrough. This world is huge.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinRf-kGZ3Vc4o6u0pTDvbqoBceJhOys-gCKxV-8AOen4wfEIzZQ8wV_8ODWBqlallyXc02K2WBsyd4w37v9e-yRtNBguvYhm6WwIrXTIDbqmYM8GCP8_XnTCN_RCRE68Yih4xM9ayJOaf-6ILhWI5eoXwXZDI_gIl7jFJWyUMuA5zoOMoN4BAdWaBrvfWW/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi029.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinRf-kGZ3Vc4o6u0pTDvbqoBceJhOys-gCKxV-8AOen4wfEIzZQ8wV_8ODWBqlallyXc02K2WBsyd4w37v9e-yRtNBguvYhm6WwIrXTIDbqmYM8GCP8_XnTCN_RCRE68Yih4xM9ayJOaf-6ILhWI5eoXwXZDI_gIl7jFJWyUMuA5zoOMoN4BAdWaBrvfWW/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi029.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Denae is reunited with the other mermaids, namely Dina. I think they might be lovers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWL3WIAOFFTKmDzL6JDhQ3AUDD-g-c0ZIuCg-BP-WPDO4NyMMlYVdQDkohOD_hCxjoWW75G2TDgf1OG06r2eeavCyc1xZrqnxSEA4YZ76VuqJKEwva0S2FCXcIU-Z1Qd0ktln76xUNwIzsZc32S76SWWI3PSXgjSdy6oRZmIEm4NhZHl3re4OE9vJqS6i/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi031.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmWL3WIAOFFTKmDzL6JDhQ3AUDD-g-c0ZIuCg-BP-WPDO4NyMMlYVdQDkohOD_hCxjoWW75G2TDgf1OG06r2eeavCyc1xZrqnxSEA4YZ76VuqJKEwva0S2FCXcIU-Z1Qd0ktln76xUNwIzsZc32S76SWWI3PSXgjSdy6oRZmIEm4NhZHl3re4OE9vJqS6i/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi031.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alright, I'll just leave you two alone</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R4E1mDytAtZgoy4htI1FBRHHm9upniUXlUAiKvqjLlGHW6grUmO5IKhc_ti3rkOkT4m_jZi8aDtr1dbRjLs1VG5Mqn-kP4ihLjNgk25PkikG1z5oWMfRS5fPqfzNjaH8IxkSDXbGsJaarKSpowbHcnY2DaFENyXmhMkhi7Y7CRFlzfrGOdZCcraZYhIU/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi033.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2R4E1mDytAtZgoy4htI1FBRHHm9upniUXlUAiKvqjLlGHW6grUmO5IKhc_ti3rkOkT4m_jZi8aDtr1dbRjLs1VG5Mqn-kP4ihLjNgk25PkikG1z5oWMfRS5fPqfzNjaH8IxkSDXbGsJaarKSpowbHcnY2DaFENyXmhMkhi7Y7CRFlzfrGOdZCcraZYhIU/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi033.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Doing that gets you the ability to travel underwater. Not only does this really impress mermaids, it also lets you get to a whole bunch of new places.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMrU1VSsbC5zAZd2uLl1Xp-SKGZB8vK_kyJSyJQvgp-pKkYKONbAcRp0IK4rSgL-WL8WcyxuCiGZmnzTnkytyV1IILXTU9O4YRUX8LcqpwYBD-xlJEQt323PTWP4x26FpKhc2lS_CQdC_xKVRCE1zSHOSgskHsGjumUPyNyGAAwaeOUC8Qvi8_vjLU3KL/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi034.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMrU1VSsbC5zAZd2uLl1Xp-SKGZB8vK_kyJSyJQvgp-pKkYKONbAcRp0IK4rSgL-WL8WcyxuCiGZmnzTnkytyV1IILXTU9O4YRUX8LcqpwYBD-xlJEQt323PTWP4x26FpKhc2lS_CQdC_xKVRCE1zSHOSgskHsGjumUPyNyGAAwaeOUC8Qvi8_vjLU3KL/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi034.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This random side-dungeon has a few decent pieces of loot in it...if you can get past some minibosses.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8umUfWKLhAs9VfWPeEoH4RhKy4h7if671uYMjwcsK8SaAvTIOU1BE6kqi26Qw_P-xMp6d0pT9Nkw_iLZxClmHPidAmtaLeCwNxlYRa1kIrHK42-GzFN7D_3fIpqOXkDmOoeHR-gQKMFaJzRYfPZ6D1iKEpEBaNyRPxt-MaGoxrYT5i_9ln1YsqTZklQbJ/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi035.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8umUfWKLhAs9VfWPeEoH4RhKy4h7if671uYMjwcsK8SaAvTIOU1BE6kqi26Qw_P-xMp6d0pT9Nkw_iLZxClmHPidAmtaLeCwNxlYRa1kIrHK42-GzFN7D_3fIpqOXkDmOoeHR-gQKMFaJzRYfPZ6D1iKEpEBaNyRPxt-MaGoxrYT5i_9ln1YsqTZklQbJ/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi035.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They're just regular enemies from much later in the game, and actually put up a fight even at level 45. If I'd come here at level 30ish like the game probably intended, these would be some of the toughest fights in the game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alright, I'll take my loot now!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSopVgi7bA2WiwD1vN9OWKcdV1M8SO3YPhmWc7_kHOn9gZ0y3MeXiMb3PwGmyxzQRssFLnu9Ctt7uOhW1AnVHHCmWygxohKm7d5nD710W9s9oy3YlfpklVAFHEqlmi7pFNfqArote6W9tmIMj9Nskg-uYXtqnkOGRusy6lDBNdF4J1Sw7ilwPN_RhsR1CN/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi036.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSopVgi7bA2WiwD1vN9OWKcdV1M8SO3YPhmWc7_kHOn9gZ0y3MeXiMb3PwGmyxzQRssFLnu9Ctt7uOhW1AnVHHCmWygxohKm7d5nD710W9s9oy3YlfpklVAFHEqlmi7pFNfqArote6W9tmIMj9Nskg-uYXtqnkOGRusy6lDBNdF4J1Sw7ilwPN_RhsR1CN/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi036.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">.........what</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next goal: Find the Final Key, I guess.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68L4gIvdOvi7Sw0PkDMI0UQQMCujMBtMyRvY_w9yOjNoaHxWoSs2B5Jj6vv50GkSW1GaddcV6zCG3y2YKRgNezoRMjpMaz_E0ibNaPuPvV_pgPRnmm8_hQhX81JCmv7CKlgf4ipBmu-sQooHKI_B5IOr_i415xUuYd4Q008rZf_8YGa-pKmsUoe8QQCfW/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi037.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68L4gIvdOvi7Sw0PkDMI0UQQMCujMBtMyRvY_w9yOjNoaHxWoSs2B5Jj6vv50GkSW1GaddcV6zCG3y2YKRgNezoRMjpMaz_E0ibNaPuPvV_pgPRnmm8_hQhX81JCmv7CKlgf4ipBmu-sQooHKI_B5IOr_i415xUuYd4Q008rZf_8YGa-pKmsUoe8QQCfW/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi037.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But first! It's Rubiss, of <i>DQ3</i> fame. She's still around, lurking under the ocean. Why doesn't she ever actually help stop any of these world-threatening villains?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-91JzNZBowp5YQQvq9EBLStY9iWNupGb2AYeamRYhM8WdWg82WDR7haSoQYLE22t4wSbBkEPMuUb8zE4nOGzXNe6SaWrcr65_e9vXSjQQ1aahOgJT2YkrGUthxKPoyVVfYIa9U_ovTH4SKJmOEEAZaJUGGQte9Rq98JReb-spPXC-xCaLuKuiW0GVh7Uo/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi038.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-91JzNZBowp5YQQvq9EBLStY9iWNupGb2AYeamRYhM8WdWg82WDR7haSoQYLE22t4wSbBkEPMuUb8zE4nOGzXNe6SaWrcr65_e9vXSjQQ1aahOgJT2YkrGUthxKPoyVVfYIa9U_ovTH4SKJmOEEAZaJUGGQte9Rq98JReb-spPXC-xCaLuKuiW0GVh7Uo/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi038.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">A higher power than the Maous? Who could this higher power be?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Rubiss: "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm very busy doing nothing."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCvGlEGK8BYTCSipoPJbJMCnhvROfMzPXNrIqQLuojnny0XY25y93ml1EF4sZ0NAu5N2wyPgfS3Uv5lONtwFfLwl0_yuAsJywi6mdQTaxP-xko1ZOMOGSMp4IQmrYV7f3VW2opXnTx56JCgZL27I2uMPS8cgS5SRBHlrD_AokgoJxvZqs7vXHfuRxEJLH/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi053.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoCvGlEGK8BYTCSipoPJbJMCnhvROfMzPXNrIqQLuojnny0XY25y93ml1EF4sZ0NAu5N2wyPgfS3Uv5lONtwFfLwl0_yuAsJywi6mdQTaxP-xko1ZOMOGSMp4IQmrYV7f3VW2opXnTx56JCgZL27I2uMPS8cgS5SRBHlrD_AokgoJxvZqs7vXHfuRxEJLH/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi053.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">One last thing for today. Found this house with two elderly people napping. And I don't know what it is...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHeY7LAnf5QkScWfusYBUOV8jYVYW-yN73QG5_Le0a0uhJWU-pDXJ8BSrCt9FojbEzUaEFRh8XxJr_11FDzJ6n7deQGF7odLw4dM6BB0HuJwMVv9MQZql3ii-ZrslNzAZC0jarNzMhpaY5P1RiJi2c9WaoLq1enqMyPfhAXQUk5nWVyWoOBD071MtfR5Dn/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi054.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHeY7LAnf5QkScWfusYBUOV8jYVYW-yN73QG5_Le0a0uhJWU-pDXJ8BSrCt9FojbEzUaEFRh8XxJr_11FDzJ6n7deQGF7odLw4dM6BB0HuJwMVv9MQZql3ii-ZrslNzAZC0jarNzMhpaY5P1RiJi2c9WaoLq1enqMyPfhAXQUk5nWVyWoOBD071MtfR5Dn/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi054.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...but I think there's something kind of poignant about this scene. Rest of the world is plagued with problems and busy people, yet this place contains... just an old couple, having a nap.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest" target="_blank">Other Dragon Quest Posts</a></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2020/03/dragon-quest-master-post.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">The Dragon Quest Master Post</a></p></div>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-50950174194231392862024-01-31T20:23:00.001-05:002024-01-31T20:23:39.429-05:00Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, Chapter 12 - Epilogue<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnr-CZI2hiIhi2O-2uhkpQb8L4HC0aYiLOnaD9RJ0lwNwavnVhN84SqQDME14lEa5vxYtqHUwzlwzsTABTLWd5sZaMKZlyI0YlxlbiePm1Z6ryuGxTBviAz4pYcV08_I30DgU3meWzGOxY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252832%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnr-CZI2hiIhi2O-2uhkpQb8L4HC0aYiLOnaD9RJ0lwNwavnVhN84SqQDME14lEa5vxYtqHUwzlwzsTABTLWd5sZaMKZlyI0YlxlbiePm1Z6ryuGxTBviAz4pYcV08_I30DgU3meWzGOxY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252832%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The final boss may be defeated, but we have one last battle to fight: Spike's feelings for Tania.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">JUST KIDDING, it's an uberboss. And it's a DOOZY.</div><p></p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG5BMya6RewUbP9JLwy7LLLPLOrvb3b_3wslEiaqwKdnHzDTdhUx_OXf0LVbMaUBCr03du2bBOkeVrFzKz4MNEeywckAX4NB-2d2yg7PJx-bicCutiT_qEODQgRrHAt2zFvdseLEE73rG/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252833%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQG5BMya6RewUbP9JLwy7LLLPLOrvb3b_3wslEiaqwKdnHzDTdhUx_OXf0LVbMaUBCr03du2bBOkeVrFzKz4MNEeywckAX4NB-2d2yg7PJx-bicCutiT_qEODQgRrHAt2zFvdseLEE73rG/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252833%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Why is Buddy looking through Tania's windows? It'd be okay if the cat was doing it, but he's not a cat, he's a man!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsiuNDMKYGxyd4gOjEGPIdjdkfvbmaIW6tU92FGantknkJcu-AMZ8prABM1HjBc_xDj5DWOrM6zPajsGXZaJblWp8rl0lYctxz5lMa55VpZ6jkItZc9xe3_mKh0r_k7PN8kxN-U8W_nx0/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252834%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHsiuNDMKYGxyd4gOjEGPIdjdkfvbmaIW6tU92FGantknkJcu-AMZ8prABM1HjBc_xDj5DWOrM6zPajsGXZaJblWp8rl0lYctxz5lMa55VpZ6jkItZc9xe3_mKh0r_k7PN8kxN-U8W_nx0/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252834%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">So you've decided to be an Orbiter and lurk around her until you can slide in during a moment of weakness?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Have you tried just asking her out?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMIb59B0FkjXKCFx_PTlOH2fG91NSYchTbsOgh0dUJZctInnOa51eN-2lkvUeV1msJpm6Gc0TrKY-2SHxVOB06BOF_URx55DE1hrdmZ1CUxx5GMEbb0SbW8pHYU3PDGp1qp8kY8Z4APG1/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252835%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUMIb59B0FkjXKCFx_PTlOH2fG91NSYchTbsOgh0dUJZctInnOa51eN-2lkvUeV1msJpm6Gc0TrKY-2SHxVOB06BOF_URx55DE1hrdmZ1CUxx5GMEbb0SbW8pHYU3PDGp1qp8kY8Z4APG1/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252835%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Uh, I don't know if you know this but some guy is looking in your windows.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj49c6zwUJZyMfCCw2Ss3wDFZm_380bzGsYDQN8jPymmQV5r2sxedrnxn0hyphenhyphenAqRonmKyF3Im-B_IdB0QTpVqidXtpSYY0gsmTH1Tg1yHHivdkK2K7DGaSKk_X0gUoPdtp5J09bp4dGpDwZG/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252836%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj49c6zwUJZyMfCCw2Ss3wDFZm_380bzGsYDQN8jPymmQV5r2sxedrnxn0hyphenhyphenAqRonmKyF3Im-B_IdB0QTpVqidXtpSYY0gsmTH1Tg1yHHivdkK2K7DGaSKk_X0gUoPdtp5J09bp4dGpDwZG/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252836%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxv803Uj0croAnPNGvLI85zEInMN8XwfZcosQjpCKRx0-LYA0BbYIv0RnIVyjq9lqrX_qzq25n6ggtn1FMrYGFlTroiQwi3QAuFiVDooRZ2PmOUK-i-N1SzFf-_NTTRg_vGMwLa65-PsUz/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252837%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxv803Uj0croAnPNGvLI85zEInMN8XwfZcosQjpCKRx0-LYA0BbYIv0RnIVyjq9lqrX_qzq25n6ggtn1FMrYGFlTroiQwi3QAuFiVDooRZ2PmOUK-i-N1SzFf-_NTTRg_vGMwLa65-PsUz/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252837%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cool. I still don't know if the game is going for a subtle romance angle with these two, with its constant notes that Spike is adopted, and Tania acting exactly like RPG girls act when they have a crush on the protagonist. If they are, they need to cut it out.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiza5FoUCxdMwwXGLs_EYmsJp2HCBS6ovGyP_bCZUf5izxz5qb5y1ravHXuyKo0kPFPeaY3ICiFSvoLJ1J6c3FKql0NmcBMp-NplZKecWLy9vbsrHAinafLEkV1WAgzX7LozCWbmnpZdwt8/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252839%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiza5FoUCxdMwwXGLs_EYmsJp2HCBS6ovGyP_bCZUf5izxz5qb5y1ravHXuyKo0kPFPeaY3ICiFSvoLJ1J6c3FKql0NmcBMp-NplZKecWLy9vbsrHAinafLEkV1WAgzX7LozCWbmnpZdwt8/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252839%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Milly is happy to be reunited with her own brother. Lots of sibling duos in this game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotg6E13hyphenhyphenYJuirgWCL077LuD18Dhz5r_ZoCyHmEjuTXM6KuKV2W58wHgywW5HDcaYuM9px2vU9JHhKteLIeVJWmLTYOk3cgwcdC77gKSDHQGsqjhmsAdXxoyfbwlg4ybimdLDe1lDi9Cv/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252840%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotg6E13hyphenhyphenYJuirgWCL077LuD18Dhz5r_ZoCyHmEjuTXM6KuKV2W58wHgywW5HDcaYuM9px2vU9JHhKteLIeVJWmLTYOk3cgwcdC77gKSDHQGsqjhmsAdXxoyfbwlg4ybimdLDe1lDi9Cv/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252840%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That pretty much leaves Spike and Ashlynn to head back to his hometown...only to find it empty.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3qdUL807MpKi67MgPBN8EJ56BsDVLvWxik0QmmKAQDwwp7mqMZKdXIImNu-Xw7GMfROEO_6LxnuTm0Rt7AwzzeB2Y9QhISeOFjOjGw9HFY01sXOMs6tgPVSn5ooAxzI1DVnWtimQ1p01/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252841%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA3qdUL807MpKi67MgPBN8EJ56BsDVLvWxik0QmmKAQDwwp7mqMZKdXIImNu-Xw7GMfROEO_6LxnuTm0Rt7AwzzeB2Y9QhISeOFjOjGw9HFY01sXOMs6tgPVSn5ooAxzI1DVnWtimQ1p01/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252841%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">No worries though, everyone is out partying. Meanwhile, Spike is an honest to God prince!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iA5TPwdAeBMkBdNeRWm57GQlKeQQrS3juHDdbaZMLnHliwpPDQU7zfMey07IKjK1Sj9SukhaU_2gUUIF2zmTflnrAVP0X07l5gYcf4xTfAJffYZJMz5OM3UZ1-Z41XKHhK97D3aHAyEP/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252842%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5iA5TPwdAeBMkBdNeRWm57GQlKeQQrS3juHDdbaZMLnHliwpPDQU7zfMey07IKjK1Sj9SukhaU_2gUUIF2zmTflnrAVP0X07l5gYcf4xTfAJffYZJMz5OM3UZ1-Z41XKHhK97D3aHAyEP/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252842%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"This includes several scantily-clad boys who will fan you at all times with large leaves" says Queen Apnea.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_liWFclNi9m8O5HG31DIT5AkNCx9MC58nUjMjMi41pBLkHCc-6ght2PNheSYWdvKBsfSOCH-LJ-hXbS8GDKRWahNPnPEq9CT1JIrDZZgVqLvPPAvlZT_bFQBPqyU5B3TadY-L1Tc8Zn1/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252843%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK_liWFclNi9m8O5HG31DIT5AkNCx9MC58nUjMjMi41pBLkHCc-6ght2PNheSYWdvKBsfSOCH-LJ-hXbS8GDKRWahNPnPEq9CT1JIrDZZgVqLvPPAvlZT_bFQBPqyU5B3TadY-L1Tc8Zn1/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252843%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">King Somnus is overjoyed that he might have pink-haired grandkids soon. However, he's mistaken, Spike and Ashlynn aren't together.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...are they?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvrPPcYT_ydmiMU-AzUQZvku2dLX7Akcy20tAThBIX1NTci-wFOqGsDgGCHFvEm2M5d-WWonFgyFTaCupKERmM4EF0LgWLYLU0oDuuPHQEIOFzalgvumejT1-0QGznRfbbXp3xc1Mt0NY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252844%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvrPPcYT_ydmiMU-AzUQZvku2dLX7Akcy20tAThBIX1NTci-wFOqGsDgGCHFvEm2M5d-WWonFgyFTaCupKERmM4EF0LgWLYLU0oDuuPHQEIOFzalgvumejT1-0QGznRfbbXp3xc1Mt0NY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252844%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now is the time on Sprockets when we dance! I see Buddy finally managed to slide into Tania's DMs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo_Pr_5xCAoB7QDp28cjD5lzN5KLVZjdvU4AtUj2V6Es2C52yDOkTAi_nWZa05VN5pu5Az0FyHoqPaVFQdXbSaGB3QTNlZdejuKE5vDOzebyYIArM38XFngp-n3SV2CdxSNlljQuEkHpA/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252845%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXo_Pr_5xCAoB7QDp28cjD5lzN5KLVZjdvU4AtUj2V6Es2C52yDOkTAi_nWZa05VN5pu5Az0FyHoqPaVFQdXbSaGB3QTNlZdejuKE5vDOzebyYIArM38XFngp-n3SV2CdxSNlljQuEkHpA/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252845%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry is the loner as usual, and wants no parts of the party. He's like an antisocial college student hiding in his room and "not feeling well" while his roommates party all evening in the living room.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEXc0WTT5SjNAmSHMM4VQXSzNFxFYIfEk924Kf7eXrR26OklTQVIEyYdpOJjwT4fZDXlPPIUy_NbJuh7vbTixjm4uNs90ooliIHzJI5-1ucjIQ3kjvh4ZTEi9EyBgCFcP4EReP-g8aMSd/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252846%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEXc0WTT5SjNAmSHMM4VQXSzNFxFYIfEk924Kf7eXrR26OklTQVIEyYdpOJjwT4fZDXlPPIUy_NbJuh7vbTixjm4uNs90ooliIHzJI5-1ucjIQ3kjvh4ZTEi9EyBgCFcP4EReP-g8aMSd/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252846%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Let her know I can't work a 9 to 5. I see her crying, but girl I can't stay. So I'll be gone till November."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eHU7Kui0ZJtpMGBSZtsn1Xqj6nd6p1TKCkPTg7cRQ5HdRiG8jo52-r1hzleUnNNI1Td8hIu4-GpWaIXCvArigL5ZlZ21ZaVF66G4153Dls-QItSQj_X6mB9tQHuas_TM1USVVykgXh_o/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252847%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7eHU7Kui0ZJtpMGBSZtsn1Xqj6nd6p1TKCkPTg7cRQ5HdRiG8jo52-r1hzleUnNNI1Td8hIu4-GpWaIXCvArigL5ZlZ21ZaVF66G4153Dls-QItSQj_X6mB9tQHuas_TM1USVVykgXh_o/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252847%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ashlynn and Spike are FINALLY alone, only to have Ashlynn start turning back into a shade.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJYn0JlUx0aWPEBe9AMyZ89Q8Fm23vuFy8SvpSsYe4QMx8ZR-HOe-Q4JI1ISyhLoIjwWQguqIzGcJZFZRdivN1tZLmcG-s7RIy2ww6B5PrcXZfcMZHN7Ixg07vi3X4HfYXwNI6eIyLXoD/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252848%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeJYn0JlUx0aWPEBe9AMyZ89Q8Fm23vuFy8SvpSsYe4QMx8ZR-HOe-Q4JI1ISyhLoIjwWQguqIzGcJZFZRdivN1tZLmcG-s7RIy2ww6B5PrcXZfcMZHN7Ixg07vi3X4HfYXwNI6eIyLXoD/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252848%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">So basically, since she was a ghost in this world to begin with, she's turning back into one. It's kinda like how Buu Saga Gokou had a limited amount of time on Earth as a dead guy. Which was poignant on a number of levels. Until they just sorta threw that out and trivialized death and brought everyone back repeatedly anyway but what can you do.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YmrK-k4-SRYN5c8BMPtVJP1ISAf6HEq4uaqMu2RMFDI_lIN-cFaPLudsdERQHkbrj0SjMYlnGVzaZzq_Ui93X2ilE9zfkXifzZDevGACFP6-NySCzQorwY1zb6iauXsNIlvFLeSBVcCc/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252850%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9YmrK-k4-SRYN5c8BMPtVJP1ISAf6HEq4uaqMu2RMFDI_lIN-cFaPLudsdERQHkbrj0SjMYlnGVzaZzq_Ui93X2ilE9zfkXifzZDevGACFP6-NySCzQorwY1zb6iauXsNIlvFLeSBVcCc/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252850%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Nice view here. That's about it for <i>DQVI</i>. Except...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgS67yRh7ciJzBZq8oWBG1ImVypqaSaViZeLwpt6OQuZsUXU3PsGx9od_RgKqwu-WFMBH2ud1JmcqzwLimnIpjeMfaCXQaoFR-NYfUumkHmzb-W6taSrSCl8pdxAcmyWa0q9mP4_BzAJP/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252852%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAgS67yRh7ciJzBZq8oWBG1ImVypqaSaViZeLwpt6OQuZsUXU3PsGx9od_RgKqwu-WFMBH2ud1JmcqzwLimnIpjeMfaCXQaoFR-NYfUumkHmzb-W6taSrSCl8pdxAcmyWa0q9mP4_BzAJP/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252852%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After this screen, you can reload the game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEW5tjCp_HOfWvlcyALwalEMpF4I_yazksYjzc1zLYHh1S3aLUmdxVzH13O8Kovp0wNaNFy784M96VczUoQqTqWl1lPYVa04ndM8ziSZDQztD81UjHG6ROy1U6_wrfdZAmG8yOh3xyE8zM/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252853%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEW5tjCp_HOfWvlcyALwalEMpF4I_yazksYjzc1zLYHh1S3aLUmdxVzH13O8Kovp0wNaNFy784M96VczUoQqTqWl1lPYVa04ndM8ziSZDQztD81UjHG6ROy1U6_wrfdZAmG8yOh3xyE8zM/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252853%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Head back to Alltrades Abbey and there's new stuff happening. Specifically an optional uber-dungeon with the strongest foes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfwVis9HneonSBe6mgN_9T3uCs4HmrF2gWFeijVFtz2xZ0jYefosvwfdiMrnpbpbqYQEKszIikeidsaJzHKsvZuZhfQgAgfTW1gM5ApSMGQ1u86xoKSRjapzX3ApkgJdBkRfR7-msvuxb/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252854%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGfwVis9HneonSBe6mgN_9T3uCs4HmrF2gWFeijVFtz2xZ0jYefosvwfdiMrnpbpbqYQEKszIikeidsaJzHKsvZuZhfQgAgfTW1gM5ApSMGQ1u86xoKSRjapzX3ApkgJdBkRfR7-msvuxb/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252854%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The uber-dungeon follows the same mold as other postgame dungeons in a lot of RPGs, in that it consists of a mishmash of areas from earlier in the game. After getting through several floors of difficult dungeon trekking, you arrive at a fake version of your hometown:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_2UPLiNUCHFoNc_0mvX9ehj6WZ-nQI1yVwjvBGHm1YcnGVXDPYmnVdyWDTugSmLZl2oHPV-XSohO5pJU9rZWgZqUY5exrQfyJ89qBaW6gPGz3c8plP-vuN_UiSFlTqUBNtozneSdb-Pk/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252855%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_2UPLiNUCHFoNc_0mvX9ehj6WZ-nQI1yVwjvBGHm1YcnGVXDPYmnVdyWDTugSmLZl2oHPV-XSohO5pJU9rZWgZqUY5exrQfyJ89qBaW6gPGz3c8plP-vuN_UiSFlTqUBNtozneSdb-Pk/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252855%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Too bad you're late, they've already moved to the orgy portion of the festival. Ashlynn is wearing an <i>Eyes Wide Shut</i> mask and pleasuring Carver."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BAeHZeWXj8aZmV78nSANumvdfiOzVzkHmCTRYfFSspJL7prAGg06fuvTwrwk8md_VG93SspH4kedxWR3jklqWEXoDngcFumwAqsM3u4hO8sH-3sS4YzWE5zRoOVVimRWr3clxjlgKOCv/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252856%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BAeHZeWXj8aZmV78nSANumvdfiOzVzkHmCTRYfFSspJL7prAGg06fuvTwrwk8md_VG93SspH4kedxWR3jklqWEXoDngcFumwAqsM3u4hO8sH-3sS4YzWE5zRoOVVimRWr3clxjlgKOCv/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252856%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Go to the house where Tania usually is and some random NPC is here. Presumably Tania is off helping Ashlynn double-team Carver. I hope they high-five while they're doing it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaMEcbcFFFi_Qx9_wogy7VXJ8m_igfR1KlKT1_sWXVxR4RuAb5I33hopuAtY1yHWYI8JX1qZsNIF8zGOC0jnsWiP0-TgtuVs0nzq3eDo0TpvDdqAEH1ijkFnoIB0Zw2gRwPbnzM7Cj6a81/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252857%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaMEcbcFFFi_Qx9_wogy7VXJ8m_igfR1KlKT1_sWXVxR4RuAb5I33hopuAtY1yHWYI8JX1qZsNIF8zGOC0jnsWiP0-TgtuVs0nzq3eDo0TpvDdqAEH1ijkFnoIB0Zw2gRwPbnzM7Cj6a81/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252857%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh, that explains a lot. Can I have a fiery-tempered Mediterranean wife with flowy hair who constantly challenges me and looks great in a black dress?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5K_TYNTwReur6oVtstyzbsqT7PTT0ozfO2oPhZw17Co6KVflVlFzySUrxSHDE_zBohTzq5IXybQICSMlrOZZf4Qtd8cT6bsXXYQ5RpH0mlZ-UmmlR1ZI3l06Qjj1THNBjAO8PNhQONTOs/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252858%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5K_TYNTwReur6oVtstyzbsqT7PTT0ozfO2oPhZw17Co6KVflVlFzySUrxSHDE_zBohTzq5IXybQICSMlrOZZf4Qtd8cT6bsXXYQ5RpH0mlZ-UmmlR1ZI3l06Qjj1THNBjAO8PNhQONTOs/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252858%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This part is interesting, because you actually get to choose what form the Fake Hometown takes. This change is permanent. "The near future" turns it into a <i>DQIV</i> town with <i>DQIV</i> characters, "the far future" turns it into a <i>DQV</i> town with <i>DQV</i> characters, and "monsters today" just populates it with monsters.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">It was a tough choice, but I chose <i>DQIV</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzoL3FF4fDygCcPiblK2eHmbIfBlZwzwB9_bPfucYMdEzWIM0_zzkrdG99xvNTd3-1Qq6bRoShmihkjpkUmYDKMnDMtffthH4EiFu77rhzlJV9KZ7CnwWdq-4X_2EoP49RYhJguZGyVNQ/s511/Torneko+Taloon+in+Reapers+Peak.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="511" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTzoL3FF4fDygCcPiblK2eHmbIfBlZwzwB9_bPfucYMdEzWIM0_zzkrdG99xvNTd3-1Qq6bRoShmihkjpkUmYDKMnDMtffthH4EiFu77rhzlJV9KZ7CnwWdq-4X_2EoP49RYhJguZGyVNQ/s320/Torneko+Taloon+in+Reapers+Peak.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This gets you Taloon and everyone else. Here's a random shot of the DS version for comparison.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7s_IiNWbwI0wGZw3e-3-iJACxEjNZ8sJlfoDr4Zt7HqBCDv92C_wipc2HTqK_eB4V6fxSJcUK0UV_TXvaJcd4vA5clGiS9k1QStGyKvKxlGWaMAmyXH_nANoVwYxcgqg0sF-mttzIAC8/s367/Taloon.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw7s_IiNWbwI0wGZw3e-3-iJACxEjNZ8sJlfoDr4Zt7HqBCDv92C_wipc2HTqK_eB4V6fxSJcUK0UV_TXvaJcd4vA5clGiS9k1QStGyKvKxlGWaMAmyXH_nANoVwYxcgqg0sF-mttzIAC8/s320/Taloon.gif" width="256" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Well...well...well. It is I, back for action one last time, with a round in the chamber and fully loaded. They want to talk about the past present and future? Well I had your mom, your sister, and your grandma last night. I am the one the ladies call Big Daddy, and the one who TRULY knows how to inspect her gadget, for I am the Quintessential Studmuffin and a goodness gracious <i>great balls of fire God-damn handsome man</i>, Torneko 'Just like a rubix cube, the more you play with me, the harder I get' Taloon."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJQfVuYkWrMjOKFnhY1zHiJKIzYVF3PP29nVD9OpKdbz3wSh6nM1irKnBe_L8KddbltiiuKLst7dynGb0R9TzE-RL7isCNod0mlF04Au_w5n_XIdepQ4FqRL1o94wJN7R9AQhF99vgvzX/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252859%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJQfVuYkWrMjOKFnhY1zHiJKIzYVF3PP29nVD9OpKdbz3wSh6nM1irKnBe_L8KddbltiiuKLst7dynGb0R9TzE-RL7isCNod0mlF04Au_w5n_XIdepQ4FqRL1o94wJN7R9AQhF99vgvzX/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252859%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Now let me tell you the tale of the time I had a personal bull" says Taloon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I gotta go. Godspeed Taloon. Godspeed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAzsDDOeO-yyFBJjjFT6jWjWgQ-2sEpiUisTk2Q_VsnrxYA0J0iKvHzr7BgAk5cXdlYfMtKJLulxhr9ZhO5MeOJ1kRn9UxNGdNM9hFo9L_XOXYH6v7gs-LGM8cAg0bVCvHXvr8jSGIq54/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252860%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFAzsDDOeO-yyFBJjjFT6jWjWgQ-2sEpiUisTk2Q_VsnrxYA0J0iKvHzr7BgAk5cXdlYfMtKJLulxhr9ZhO5MeOJ1kRn9UxNGdNM9hFo9L_XOXYH6v7gs-LGM8cAg0bVCvHXvr8jSGIq54/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252860%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Psaro and Rose are found in Spike's house. Psaro is his normal standoffish self, and who can blame him?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwKijP9u5MQgNBjJ-ErGrN8PhLdqI73lRZRbRmNV7xb94oKLsqO5RxLSkN2yTqiZfwjALIkiM2cBc3X_ceaK1wXKviyYV3M6TK46N-F9peuZdJiFfiHvEid9H4_iQ5mIvVrMz8COybtTU/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252861%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifwKijP9u5MQgNBjJ-ErGrN8PhLdqI73lRZRbRmNV7xb94oKLsqO5RxLSkN2yTqiZfwjALIkiM2cBc3X_ceaK1wXKviyYV3M6TK46N-F9peuZdJiFfiHvEid9H4_iQ5mIvVrMz8COybtTU/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252861%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The way forward is this well, which Alena is considering rappelling into on her own. Her lurking orbiter Cristo is shocked and appalled at her recklessness.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-pYc4vaEKqUGoNDANAB5SEEPcLHUOBxGhlIkEeoz_EXC0En8X00a_KiF01ZIUSslcoilT-zsWllU442i6UOhqIV_V2N0BvWvz5YtW9BK6_e-vQQNj3E_LXwF2ObM1ulhJ8nR7vKDopwD/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252862%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-pYc4vaEKqUGoNDANAB5SEEPcLHUOBxGhlIkEeoz_EXC0En8X00a_KiF01ZIUSslcoilT-zsWllU442i6UOhqIV_V2N0BvWvz5YtW9BK6_e-vQQNj3E_LXwF2ObM1ulhJ8nR7vKDopwD/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252862%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">If I could recruit any one <i>DQIV</i> character from this town it'd be her, hands-down. She's got BALLS. Unfortunately, there's no way to recruit anyone here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ikxyaIREjQNZmBlZb4fv-7HCfqH5Fhf-bUpM6HZPJcJa2cdwK-2cxGfqBa0IEQct32UcfbFOdACSYKN-mWHvfGMtLTxQ1XGwSz7OxAkq35amuLm25BxETkt2hAYFRwws5kPitxsk22Fa/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252863%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ikxyaIREjQNZmBlZb4fv-7HCfqH5Fhf-bUpM6HZPJcJa2cdwK-2cxGfqBa0IEQct32UcfbFOdACSYKN-mWHvfGMtLTxQ1XGwSz7OxAkq35amuLm25BxETkt2hAYFRwws5kPitxsk22Fa/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252863%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Bray from <i>DQIV</i>. He's old and likes Vodka.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTZk_vQC4CYYqOUqWEq4TzN7FM9yc1GAbhmt-Rcyj7JyTtZxNaEZVt-m4CQ5ChOhtSoMMzxGWJj3gjESWWgBXzPephO7iPQJVCe2qLE0StLegZSFDik4xgZvWnYu29-q5TCi61_FjvZgm/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252864%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTZk_vQC4CYYqOUqWEq4TzN7FM9yc1GAbhmt-Rcyj7JyTtZxNaEZVt-m4CQ5ChOhtSoMMzxGWJj3gjESWWgBXzPephO7iPQJVCe2qLE0StLegZSFDik4xgZvWnYu29-q5TCi61_FjvZgm/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252864%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And Ragnar! None of this really has a big impact on the game or anything but it's cool to get these last-minute cameos.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTkhhZ1W8FCt7g11KNbIkXhgMQrAYEHqGIKIZOo3Rr0EdgrJw8x_3ensAaZA3JR5hCrvmkQtGt-8wfoRPh9ldYEMRky59h6OGK-grAe4NyHDN59K0NJeg0KgTf7pIiAOpelYXLiT-Coep/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252865%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTkhhZ1W8FCt7g11KNbIkXhgMQrAYEHqGIKIZOo3Rr0EdgrJw8x_3ensAaZA3JR5hCrvmkQtGt-8wfoRPh9ldYEMRky59h6OGK-grAe4NyHDN59K0NJeg0KgTf7pIiAOpelYXLiT-Coep/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252865%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hold on, let's not bury the lede here. The shopkeeper is a CAT.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZ8SHzHCTcRlvDkYDmBRep7hM9Jk-xqHIiszt6_Cr9i1kQBUtPIVuy-akk9jE8OhB7yMBMkGzaGY0zmEWiPgdtEIEE6WKfAk4TzK_ntiu5ehstuSfmMTDC8eFVh_g0xdjJtRfktdJzIu5/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252866%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZ8SHzHCTcRlvDkYDmBRep7hM9Jk-xqHIiszt6_Cr9i1kQBUtPIVuy-akk9jE8OhB7yMBMkGzaGY0zmEWiPgdtEIEE6WKfAk4TzK_ntiu5ehstuSfmMTDC8eFVh_g0xdjJtRfktdJzIu5/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252866%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Maya, sitting on the world's luckiest barstool.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlXBi2R512eXkcwTWd1_qSnYXx3HWJ_WKY69SnYajn_kv0hmahFJL7ZvgcA7l_HS0Ku_uuDFvc1xcKY_ljGPkV-N3zYyHGE7LKWMioGZsTmvqN_z9eanlfsgQriau-g0kwlOX9QygxYqY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252867%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlXBi2R512eXkcwTWd1_qSnYXx3HWJ_WKY69SnYajn_kv0hmahFJL7ZvgcA7l_HS0Ku_uuDFvc1xcKY_ljGPkV-N3zYyHGE7LKWMioGZsTmvqN_z9eanlfsgQriau-g0kwlOX9QygxYqY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252867%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Eliza is alive here, and hanging out with The Hero, who we learn is named Solo.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFheUu0TFhBxukMC28y1NaBattizIWhyphenhyphenSmLVyvv7nl7lEyHAmwiTz-uVR7-1uoFnETrAd1m0mBxAEtwWYMjTpr1DGNS22Vip6GZXAKs0s9tPrzCPqSQDZ-5IPnslRUQx02jABg2rklGbZ_/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252868%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFheUu0TFhBxukMC28y1NaBattizIWhyphenhyphenSmLVyvv7nl7lEyHAmwiTz-uVR7-1uoFnETrAd1m0mBxAEtwWYMjTpr1DGNS22Vip6GZXAKs0s9tPrzCPqSQDZ-5IPnslRUQx02jABg2rklGbZ_/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252868%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This Bilderberg shrine to Moloch is where you can summon the secret uberboss of the game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUPH_7Aac2JO_IedqgPJvSbhAV8EOYWltWQVDtJfNftF2KHMF0yAfWAghlcV85mfHOBM5j0-H9A6VrDdIphncJbCBr_TdVaTePD-ZGeVg5VsPDhk_iptz8yJbwcl8ut3O7uWtYfxByerO/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252869%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBUPH_7Aac2JO_IedqgPJvSbhAV8EOYWltWQVDtJfNftF2KHMF0yAfWAghlcV85mfHOBM5j0-H9A6VrDdIphncJbCBr_TdVaTePD-ZGeVg5VsPDhk_iptz8yJbwcl8ut3O7uWtYfxByerO/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252869%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">T...Toad??</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGttTKUXyXDumNi3095sFixQM15funNouKie4_tuQlh88w7mmylZjq05NUQl9WoQlfQfwTvhfeiPm4b8i682hBHypgQme9OinjS9DUIUNUxF9GdF6nBZGhgBCwNcGmmYHL5a2HWQlGoJS/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252870%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGttTKUXyXDumNi3095sFixQM15funNouKie4_tuQlh88w7mmylZjq05NUQl9WoQlfQfwTvhfeiPm4b8i682hBHypgQme9OinjS9DUIUNUxF9GdF6nBZGhgBCwNcGmmYHL5a2HWQlGoJS/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252870%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Oh. Nokturnus, everyone! Please clap.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnVsoj_-anpl-4iKKqYoP3YqTCuvnqnlF-13d5_QQTHuZ_HsvlJ4IrdN_9GaTLTjFSJNRPC2QjXrxA7JtuwCJWd80XAJHTvMyVSem-bZPKV6n0pLfarQLp__zfhpqyPld461HzK5yfdU4/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252871%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnVsoj_-anpl-4iKKqYoP3YqTCuvnqnlF-13d5_QQTHuZ_HsvlJ4IrdN_9GaTLTjFSJNRPC2QjXrxA7JtuwCJWd80XAJHTvMyVSem-bZPKV6n0pLfarQLp__zfhpqyPld461HzK5yfdU4/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252871%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This guy... could demolish the final boss one-on-one. To make things worse, the party is underleveled (55-60 is recommended for this and we're averaging 50) AND we're weakened from fighting through the expansive uber-dungeon to get here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3G5nex1gtdWDWbVWwPxsv8dtt9XTEnNml2KKdC-8c3RRYfrj1Y-SwvrHDngIEcHRJ0bl9qBR5Z0BAx37KdDHxfYLtyciYtiLLONHGeVaHONN7rzTRfdwEzjeRYh6LpSgwGgXz85HOzga/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252873%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn3G5nex1gtdWDWbVWwPxsv8dtt9XTEnNml2KKdC-8c3RRYfrj1Y-SwvrHDngIEcHRJ0bl9qBR5Z0BAx37KdDHxfYLtyciYtiLLONHGeVaHONN7rzTRfdwEzjeRYh6LpSgwGgXz85HOzga/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252873%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He attacks up to THREE times per turn and his attacks are highly-damaging, almost all group attacks. This isn't going well. With him moving before anyone except Milly, it's very hard to recover from his attacks.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yraxQ6L4ba7vCCupEdTjV36nDYkveRNeH3Znrzz3v_UmfpuSyLhLjLr8GtDncrP_cAcNMrM5HhhaameClFLC2fDsXYNv_fgjRBUsQ8u_Glh5OLeNG4m2VabecaUbwGr52SGUCMOOBvdM/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252874%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9yraxQ6L4ba7vCCupEdTjV36nDYkveRNeH3Znrzz3v_UmfpuSyLhLjLr8GtDncrP_cAcNMrM5HhhaameClFLC2fDsXYNv_fgjRBUsQ8u_Glh5OLeNG4m2VabecaUbwGr52SGUCMOOBvdM/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252874%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yeah, this isn't working, I'm spending all my time trying to revive people.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrzIgL4KynLbtYKWRx6QiKhFXyymWtyqWRcAS8WOpPW-kadGU97BFYQjaO-DZx4WAeO5kCr2Vvqr3eL9Qi4yukvR-erH4CjFdLAHBzcmMHKiI10gVOxi5lTXLQFADHcvPnU1eQH_Q-eAN/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252875%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrzIgL4KynLbtYKWRx6QiKhFXyymWtyqWRcAS8WOpPW-kadGU97BFYQjaO-DZx4WAeO5kCr2Vvqr3eL9Qi4yukvR-erH4CjFdLAHBzcmMHKiI10gVOxi5lTXLQFADHcvPnU1eQH_Q-eAN/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252875%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I did the best I could but I got squashed. This is amazing because I was so OP for the final boss, yet this guy is on another level. He's way stronger than the uberbosses of the previous two games.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">THIS...is the uberboss of uberbosses in this series so far. How am I gonna down such a foe?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYViaKX-IyAWEWAYHfeakO7j3bhRe9hpRkpcKtKWojzIArxEOWzo_y3ldGH_4ZNSBxA21ky9zQdQAKAMaIeqJaVOq5e3SSC3kxXfB46F3T__hN9crd4wbIZ5tCflx3xwCgXjoYR_GN9wW/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252878%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYViaKX-IyAWEWAYHfeakO7j3bhRe9hpRkpcKtKWojzIArxEOWzo_y3ldGH_4ZNSBxA21ky9zQdQAKAMaIeqJaVOq5e3SSC3kxXfB46F3T__hN9crd4wbIZ5tCflx3xwCgXjoYR_GN9wW/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252878%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">At this point you can recruit a Liquid Metal Slime, Mercury. I wasn't able to find him, but I found something even better: This item allows a character to take on Liquid Metal as a class. It's the only one of its type in the game, but supposedly the final boss can drop more of them on a 1/8th of the time basis. That sounds kind of ridiculous. Farm the final boss over and over for a 1/8th drop? Naw I'm good.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">If one lucked out and got one on their normal win of the game, then they'd have two for this point and that'd help. One of these should suffice for my plan, though. Turns out that Liquid Metal is the perfect tank class for the uberboss.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsvXp9ZEWmkySDWxRW-ZKJgdxBcEYPKOTT8gCs4_EEfopryWE85_PDMtVr8p3umqSkS7NI9W2XYwrmaqHkjlpVaaFW4RezNHIXifLBKiHmavIziDRYRhN6HUmfQqftMLng-bVLqAeXNr2i/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252879%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsvXp9ZEWmkySDWxRW-ZKJgdxBcEYPKOTT8gCs4_EEfopryWE85_PDMtVr8p3umqSkS7NI9W2XYwrmaqHkjlpVaaFW4RezNHIXifLBKiHmavIziDRYRhN6HUmfQqftMLng-bVLqAeXNr2i/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252879%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Time to take a look at these optional classes. Dragon is of course extremely beefy. However their attacks are AOE-focused and they don't have anything majorly damaging for boss fights. They mostly function as tanks that can revive.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjah1Y3cwyJtD_Mtu2CBdvVJZccSvaWQ6JCrzJpj6QtYY9kCpun5ohxPrJeQCeT7mSqWkhRDG-LlFeWskL1WZzLYIbJu64EuRwvJgT37swqA249Y9cbRLgM9M3kLS-CJcr58HlVmnV3rHGe/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252880%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjah1Y3cwyJtD_Mtu2CBdvVJZccSvaWQ6JCrzJpj6QtYY9kCpun5ohxPrJeQCeT7mSqWkhRDG-LlFeWskL1WZzLYIbJu64EuRwvJgT37swqA249Y9cbRLgM9M3kLS-CJcr58HlVmnV3rHGe/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252880%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liquid Metal on the other hand...might be the best class in the game. Maybe. They get Magic Burst and other super-powerful spells. The only problem is that they start with 100 HP. However, being immune to breath/spell attacks and taking reduced damage from physical attacks goes a long way. As long as they aren't sustaining too many direct physical attacks at a time, their 100 HP is sufficient. Max the class out (which takes THREE HUNDRED FIGHTS) and their HP doubles which helps a lot. That's a requirement for the uberboss.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrT-e4Pbldcf3SwYKBC_6dSugStTFKWR0v8TjOEwvAb9ZMWxW__Cclb8iA-GpaCK1M1_wbX2Bk3qvjDhxS16J7jFrlB4xkvb5okPV5XoSbDaIp0A6f813DePckBa26CaLdBO7Pg4_hPll/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252881%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRrT-e4Pbldcf3SwYKBC_6dSugStTFKWR0v8TjOEwvAb9ZMWxW__Cclb8iA-GpaCK1M1_wbX2Bk3qvjDhxS16J7jFrlB4xkvb5okPV5XoSbDaIp0A6f813DePckBa26CaLdBO7Pg4_hPll/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252881%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Much like Terry became Dragon (just to help with revives), Carver is going to be our token Liquid Metal. He's the most solid tank out of the group, and I have a strategy for the uberboss.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Note: It appears that Dragon and Liquid Metal aren't required to be maxed to reach the uberboss, since I fought him without either maxed and without having LM at all. So that means you only need to max all of the base classes to reach him. However, maxing the two secret classes to prepare for fighting him is a good idea in general.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyi8Zk8qpvYSbqw0fc135zRQmLYL5t0zHaMxCP_D1IVhF4AfZ5fTCcES6zITu6NCQf7ggQtnWC1xiFzY13pUNYiS4AoHiQj4qllyVEge3KEf0Rh7n18HjOMlnJ-BtjjxN7xAPYBj_KO_Qk/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252882%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyi8Zk8qpvYSbqw0fc135zRQmLYL5t0zHaMxCP_D1IVhF4AfZ5fTCcES6zITu6NCQf7ggQtnWC1xiFzY13pUNYiS4AoHiQj4qllyVEge3KEf0Rh7n18HjOMlnJ-BtjjxN7xAPYBj_KO_Qk/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252882%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next up: Leveling. Lots of leveling. GOTTA GET ALL THE LEVELS. This is best accomplished right outside Mortamoor's castle. I might as well have done this before the final boss. Except for having to max out the LM, that is. You'll have to fight 300 battles after the final boss no matter what. Doing that at Spiegelspire would certainly be faster, but here we get massively more EXP.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0-8wlc8H9S8-w3CTM8EjEKngejvCLDl-T7pY0xHBINUcR6lIJ1H5UuImye91thGeMKttS1ZdiThSu2qgIo8fahoJywqiCyb8h6MoZ4IVgCX7SLMGORHiEq2nVVmFVo22mO3qCVhywagE/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252883%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0-8wlc8H9S8-w3CTM8EjEKngejvCLDl-T7pY0xHBINUcR6lIJ1H5UuImye91thGeMKttS1ZdiThSu2qgIo8fahoJywqiCyb8h6MoZ4IVgCX7SLMGORHiEq2nVVmFVo22mO3qCVhywagE/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252883%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Enemies that morph into the heroes are, sadly, the best time to really see what these people look like in this remake.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wait, why is Ashlynn making out with herself? NO! BAD!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghesirp_EJpaioKV-v0xezCmr20FzEIBNsvUabTouqVUjSW4VV27WbfxVHWsdAPCKO0bRLMk3OfiCt0Z85ETDRqV9hos6ryJfS1SOGBTIoP-IG5gX-PDIzjSrUWBPZVSigtidymWU7ECiR/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252884%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghesirp_EJpaioKV-v0xezCmr20FzEIBNsvUabTouqVUjSW4VV27WbfxVHWsdAPCKO0bRLMk3OfiCt0Z85ETDRqV9hos6ryJfS1SOGBTIoP-IG5gX-PDIzjSrUWBPZVSigtidymWU7ECiR/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252884%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After some Metal King Slime grinding I decided to go into the uber-dungeon and grind there for slightly more consistent exp. In here I faced a new nightmare, the war against the machines.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqliTxS6By39RiZblM6FPMpOPUH6im8hpyEJFG9JmXUQ7MTel0Zw3xhJGZsfccmlxi4Uq48An_EvhW2NPPKAznbP7uIpzgM-KzbWDWqvpGdhExyPu7Mm-X9XmW9h8f_Vv0z2fP5RgdjoAc/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252885%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqliTxS6By39RiZblM6FPMpOPUH6im8hpyEJFG9JmXUQ7MTel0Zw3xhJGZsfccmlxi4Uq48An_EvhW2NPPKAznbP7uIpzgM-KzbWDWqvpGdhExyPu7Mm-X9XmW9h8f_Vv0z2fP5RgdjoAc/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252885%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry maxes out Dragon. It took a while, but I got a bunch of much-needed levels in the process.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTAyg4JS010Ht-hEr0w5lk3zfIQz-VJBcN7H8cwmREUApsbzAvjbGDAXKvyyH89NtPcWnoiL1kNLyv_h-MRtRGtulQzDdqExd_VH_WQvPW2L5S7G_ZDGMgtKR6iBKVokJIPgPIqzkFPYa/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252886%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYTAyg4JS010Ht-hEr0w5lk3zfIQz-VJBcN7H8cwmREUApsbzAvjbGDAXKvyyH89NtPcWnoiL1kNLyv_h-MRtRGtulQzDdqExd_VH_WQvPW2L5S7G_ZDGMgtKR6iBKVokJIPgPIqzkFPYa/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252886%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liquid Metal Slime takes the longest to master. It's 100 fights just to go from 7 stars to 8 stars.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIIPbABIx30FGzeknAJjR-hm_W1NjrC_YbpQUXHRT3DQmL_3Dwyj3P18_pbW5G94sWGB9DixFvsHn_Ai0NHLPA5m3eMseF93CecerTBscX3brgLRuAkVpycDnphX9d5P9UHvcfxOPx1eo/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252887%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBIIPbABIx30FGzeknAJjR-hm_W1NjrC_YbpQUXHRT3DQmL_3Dwyj3P18_pbW5G94sWGB9DixFvsHn_Ai0NHLPA5m3eMseF93CecerTBscX3brgLRuAkVpycDnphX9d5P9UHvcfxOPx1eo/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252887%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Finally, a glorious moment. In addition to Magic Burst, the class also learns Big Banga which is a super-damaging attack. However, putting the class on Carver means he doesn't have the MP to make full use of these things the way, say, Ashlynn would have.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">There's a reason I went with Carver though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuOqSc3pDQzJO3na4PqZHXOeuyaOb9bfyy8JFlT2V8saKPVEfLYSzBl3FKk7pX9wS96Oj0eKdJNRxBU_g8PX6hiRJkFCET4V7I60WoSMVn76pLAyd9cTRbapwBlccHaND5KkIapv7KRCT/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252888%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQuOqSc3pDQzJO3na4PqZHXOeuyaOb9bfyy8JFlT2V8saKPVEfLYSzBl3FKk7pX9wS96Oj0eKdJNRxBU_g8PX6hiRJkFCET4V7I60WoSMVn76pLAyd9cTRbapwBlccHaND5KkIapv7KRCT/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252888%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">HP is doubled. Carver's defense is through the roof. He's ready to be the tankiest Liquid Metal Slime ever. You see, there's a Warrior class ability called Forebearance that draws enemy attacks onto the caster. Thing is, it also affects AOEs. So a character who uses it will get hit 4x by an AOE, saving the rest of the group.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Liquid Metal Slimes are immune to AOEs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This SHOULD work against the big boss.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuXXbwy0u14d3Rc5yBzwgXavLR3N23S2-v09fAvZNft3t1fgE-0peHc95Fy94-GHFESka9Uh-FTaGHDA5x_zge_TgXr2pxze7_q6Ccgbe8x0XLzAY0WaAWW64_zbG7FGOn9WzcigqWA6K/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252889%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuXXbwy0u14d3Rc5yBzwgXavLR3N23S2-v09fAvZNft3t1fgE-0peHc95Fy94-GHFESka9Uh-FTaGHDA5x_zge_TgXr2pxze7_q6Ccgbe8x0XLzAY0WaAWW64_zbG7FGOn9WzcigqWA6K/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252889%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Another key thing to do: After maxing Dragon and LMS, head back to Alltrades Abbey to finally get the class-mastering reward.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIb_EMZdIqyabxaXKDFTHEkcs9kEOTT4G-SkKMlbRQw3UgGYfNft-QOlkPepNDBrR1AfAm2J0UchSQIZp4qoxXnyHoHPbrAt2jRGE3B7n73ahyphenhyphenW7nz5JxKGn2kIvRcd6tACL6KYY0I-9E/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252890%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNIb_EMZdIqyabxaXKDFTHEkcs9kEOTT4G-SkKMlbRQw3UgGYfNft-QOlkPepNDBrR1AfAm2J0UchSQIZp4qoxXnyHoHPbrAt2jRGE3B7n73ahyphenhyphenW7nz5JxKGn2kIvRcd6tACL6KYY0I-9E/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252890%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This ring protects you from ALL random encounters. Course you can't get it until after the final boss. It is very useful for the postgame dungeon, at least, and lets you get to the uberboss at 100%.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5P9Q5IDwSknEtSCaN_G_-vvWoVYbgA4YgnxsKYsAs_WXchJZQ-Oihu4m0Y6Pt_G7kvUGmQRSDuSDZR1hZU34nYUr9cxstGe7ysWbHYyTLVYSjBJ9iKFZZNl6nlu-O4Knd2qLgRfZWbWyz/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252891%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5P9Q5IDwSknEtSCaN_G_-vvWoVYbgA4YgnxsKYsAs_WXchJZQ-Oihu4m0Y6Pt_G7kvUGmQRSDuSDZR1hZU34nYUr9cxstGe7ysWbHYyTLVYSjBJ9iKFZZNl6nlu-O4Knd2qLgRfZWbWyz/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252891%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now with 6-7 more levels and a LMS tank, our heroes return to the uberboss for a rematch.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MEbUEx2SyqRLiNP4-Yhr2-bY2WZ532mXl-7ahFFq30ppGwAaetZNAVXIg6Bn2HWwoZ_SB5U_e1RNJH0SA0ggc5CoTTaetxJYRvoZUcJKubO1QjGA-ybZguWcPKRYWiDOAXSi7NJhts3a/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252893%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3MEbUEx2SyqRLiNP4-Yhr2-bY2WZ532mXl-7ahFFq30ppGwAaetZNAVXIg6Bn2HWwoZ_SB5U_e1RNJH0SA0ggc5CoTTaetxJYRvoZUcJKubO1QjGA-ybZguWcPKRYWiDOAXSi7NJhts3a/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252893%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Going to use Forebearance to draw his AOEs. Will it be enough?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_0L5c-rSSLyMdlDbNEMknKnNVwb6h1gZGbpPjtfvMPCG4D7drnRrvKyQOLcaRi1HYh_9J83aclXxvetJu6ITXRMZmDAehI0UixGeKH_Oh1ZgFCEDP8xjDUBwsv6LqzOLJ-MRqReyc1FUx/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252894%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_0L5c-rSSLyMdlDbNEMknKnNVwb6h1gZGbpPjtfvMPCG4D7drnRrvKyQOLcaRi1HYh_9J83aclXxvetJu6ITXRMZmDAehI0UixGeKH_Oh1ZgFCEDP8xjDUBwsv6LqzOLJ-MRqReyc1FUx/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252894%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Yes and no. His AOEs are now useless, but he can still incapacitate Carver with physical attacks if he does a few in succession. It's imperative to cast Buff on the tank multiple times and keep it there after dispels.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJ-RCBUsgAMVTZtJoeJkMXduglGBe59KiZzDLICW6EjtlE19-KjwZSHMKpCyCRTEq5hwaZP_gItwsOAbjbZJAshW13NDSR9v0hVReilIdonRTC9fEX1paggK93oEkIuttAru0-td09CDe/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252895%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJ-RCBUsgAMVTZtJoeJkMXduglGBe59KiZzDLICW6EjtlE19-KjwZSHMKpCyCRTEq5hwaZP_gItwsOAbjbZJAshW13NDSR9v0hVReilIdonRTC9fEX1paggK93oEkIuttAru0-td09CDe/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252895%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Every time Carver falls, that's several turns of trying to rebuild the wall, as it were, by getting him revived and rebuffed to resume tanking. Ideally, level 60 is probably when you're supposed to do this fight. Considering the final boss comes with a recommended level of 45, it's quite a jump to be 60 for this fight.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hard to believe I didn't get 60 from all that high-EXP grinding. Glad I didn't do it at Spiegelspire, I'd be like level 53.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInpM9wtWDDq6RatD9DzANaLn1cMwamczaudu6SrqvYiE916bINqIOu69iJ449TquvuQH528rU94dCfepE-wpKpAPOrLfssAiGuI5kL5U1Qx7jMuFjK2LgI8Od2pFd_7bypo40d31ocXws/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252896%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInpM9wtWDDq6RatD9DzANaLn1cMwamczaudu6SrqvYiE916bINqIOu69iJ449TquvuQH528rU94dCfepE-wpKpAPOrLfssAiGuI5kL5U1Qx7jMuFjK2LgI8Od2pFd_7bypo40d31ocXws/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252896%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Man, this is STILL not going well. He's got me on the ropes! This calls for every desperate manuever I have...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kTgqznMt4JBMYljWVrfFaDZV_ErYtwWvwWWK-Tn7oIFWbHumxFmZEbY4FrjDR4dFvgbfL0mMHHpfY7ixTw1wg0FsZvXY1mJhL4VaGd2-7dEgkbz4LvgUpEVnxEwAzUIpPZd59buxmpK5/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252897%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kTgqznMt4JBMYljWVrfFaDZV_ErYtwWvwWWK-Tn7oIFWbHumxFmZEbY4FrjDR4dFvgbfL0mMHHpfY7ixTw1wg0FsZvXY1mJhL4VaGd2-7dEgkbz4LvgUpEVnxEwAzUIpPZd59buxmpK5/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252897%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Holy light shines down as Ashlynn finally charges herself up and administers Magic Burst.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-a3AUaWQWGnBkCdHR7phPxeCKgs-xe9grx4J8aVLBtPzMcyG_iLDODIv8CdYnaX3jWu8IeAI6J2-2j8clo8qaHlyohCk0k6NlkLEAfo4NH2bTvaYmxQCItgpqRI0KSBQndcjSNyWmMHYR/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252898%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-a3AUaWQWGnBkCdHR7phPxeCKgs-xe9grx4J8aVLBtPzMcyG_iLDODIv8CdYnaX3jWu8IeAI6J2-2j8clo8qaHlyohCk0k6NlkLEAfo4NH2bTvaYmxQCItgpqRI0KSBQndcjSNyWmMHYR/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252898%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ashlynn BURSTS ALL OVER EVERYTHING.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">She's been storing that up all game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My God.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I need a cigarette.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HuNRG9HAew_j2PmZko4M3TeSuDCqp0UU8agCn2TB9MFk2QR1qJOqGa7RTE1gGMc8d8-GScTRO8zYI3dArZixuX6Q4BhtEVHfSyrPmaPBKzK_UoPI1p__KaH80nssbQgpEjhvlbFBhzmw/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%2528100%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_HuNRG9HAew_j2PmZko4M3TeSuDCqp0UU8agCn2TB9MFk2QR1qJOqGa7RTE1gGMc8d8-GScTRO8zYI3dArZixuX6Q4BhtEVHfSyrPmaPBKzK_UoPI1p__KaH80nssbQgpEjhvlbFBhzmw/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%2528100%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Somehow, I won. That was one of the hardest fights in DQ history, and definitely the hardest of the first six. We'll see what later games have to offer. <i>DQXI</i> had a few pretty ludicrous fights at the end of the postgame that would chew you up even with all level 99s. At least this one still has plenty of room to level if absolutely needed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYSTU2RaVkPxqEnEv1zZIyR7zgE9YFGfPtScuZSzd-H4nsSHNZCQvT2uMu85ctP-QLQ_g9kV213OL_KV1JPmUeNFqlcmsOcRR4Drth5Dqre5y630EGX7dB7MY-tsGdkI9eENI-EHToZOg/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%2528101%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcYSTU2RaVkPxqEnEv1zZIyR7zgE9YFGfPtScuZSzd-H4nsSHNZCQvT2uMu85ctP-QLQ_g9kV213OL_KV1JPmUeNFqlcmsOcRR4Drth5Dqre5y630EGX7dB7MY-tsGdkI9eENI-EHToZOg/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%2528101%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After winning, the game is all "lol you didn't do it fast enough"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whatever. <i>DQVI</i> is going on WELL past its sell-by date already. Interested to see if <i>DQVII</i>'s noted super-boss is stronger than this one.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest" target="_blank">Other Dragon Quest Posts</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2020/03/dragon-quest-master-post.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">The Dragon Quest Master Post</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-10932952570584455492024-01-30T23:30:00.001-05:002024-01-30T23:30:00.121-05:00Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, Chapter 11 - Finale, Part Two<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip426hvOu8ORb_0Spf0wLc2lSEmh6uLlviRfd-_O-qhxZ9HIVUg5AtgeBeEAmp0o5YdKctWZrrOn_GKcJZBUQbIHR4ICH17GT4KLpwkPAbDGWWkBVd9dSHVZcqi6nMfgelFrmGuRHhGWko/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252857%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip426hvOu8ORb_0Spf0wLc2lSEmh6uLlviRfd-_O-qhxZ9HIVUg5AtgeBeEAmp0o5YdKctWZrrOn_GKcJZBUQbIHR4ICH17GT4KLpwkPAbDGWWkBVd9dSHVZcqi6nMfgelFrmGuRHhGWko/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252857%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></p><div style="text-align: center;">Casa Del Mortamor descends.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><span><a name="more"></a></span><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cb518Dw9gatbHn0zamMuHsh6y65Np6nSUWNxNA93ioZ3oOu_YJZ-_s47Lg8Mij9JR3DmxgeIcuEuRFwGRN1JYL332aVnfWXG0cDqBSPs6uvwp2_8vQljwgjdQ7SwCnPwOqoUx8MC6Jhv/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252858%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4cb518Dw9gatbHn0zamMuHsh6y65Np6nSUWNxNA93ioZ3oOu_YJZ-_s47Lg8Mij9JR3DmxgeIcuEuRFwGRN1JYL332aVnfWXG0cDqBSPs6uvwp2_8vQljwgjdQ7SwCnPwOqoUx8MC6Jhv/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252858%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here we are, facing down the final dungeon. No idea what to expect. Let's gooooo.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSIhvYbvGm_8FyDEQ560XF_8KEz9D4UZHj61Poa6d-bZ1bcVoBYwcmff8QAYFLPAtVSYUKjOdacOJsXsningivqHBJdNaxrFABiPdo__bGV73HQItYSat5P649t64-J57VwoZ_wRa0RyO/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252859%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSIhvYbvGm_8FyDEQ560XF_8KEz9D4UZHj61Poa6d-bZ1bcVoBYwcmff8QAYFLPAtVSYUKjOdacOJsXsningivqHBJdNaxrFABiPdo__bGV73HQItYSat5P649t64-J57VwoZ_wRa0RyO/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252859%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But first! I hit up the final shop of the game to get a few Hela's Hammers for Metal King Slime farming. This works just like the previous game. Always criticals when it hits, misses half the time.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Against normal enemies, the Great Bow is actually a lot better. However, all I'm looking at right now are MKSes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9qCV1eurpAhVHs9QLHRsSI6bGLi1oEcLlttkorADI9JRvPW5nJeKV47nq_XEmKCgLsRxt6JMQg3W12DYAanspbqR8GyIa_eKUOTzXagZPQJA6SYzRCwrpnfca6df9Eoyxx8QuSF47Tie/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252860%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB9qCV1eurpAhVHs9QLHRsSI6bGLi1oEcLlttkorADI9JRvPW5nJeKV47nq_XEmKCgLsRxt6JMQg3W12DYAanspbqR8GyIa_eKUOTzXagZPQJA6SYzRCwrpnfca6df9Eoyxx8QuSF47Tie/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252860%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lots of characters can equip the hammer, giving me an efficient slime-bonking group. Spike can't use it, but he can use Hatchet Man instead to try for a lucky crit. It seems to work less than the hammer does, but it's something.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpP7Ej_5z5LQV1Cat8IvTROCaZTiUA1JJnJDIn-g2tGHOqoQKbrMrBSeFm69raS5i5RYzcJ0xHZJNely4xXyGS7t17yoEt-146g2z3CRAETJ9Q5sdlGM3ePUqvnvzbnQAyaGMfJ-MqVJeg/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252861%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpP7Ej_5z5LQV1Cat8IvTROCaZTiUA1JJnJDIn-g2tGHOqoQKbrMrBSeFm69raS5i5RYzcJ0xHZJNely4xXyGS7t17yoEt-146g2z3CRAETJ9Q5sdlGM3ePUqvnvzbnQAyaGMfJ-MqVJeg/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252861%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now we can farm. These things spawn right outside of Mortamor's Castle. They don't spawn super-often but it's often enough to make this the best grind spot in the game (for EXP... Spiegelspire is still best for class levels).</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxTYIzTR6dATNdmqBP6LudtiruIBaXGBsLSmH1qTykkviy695rE_f-vF5J3xydkXnwf0Il7vvXykl2zU8txnuNxyQvakq2p5FsKbEQSrPTkCISk67ePDSJ7o9syG3vwy7InduZbd4A1VP/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252862%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxTYIzTR6dATNdmqBP6LudtiruIBaXGBsLSmH1qTykkviy695rE_f-vF5J3xydkXnwf0Il7vvXykl2zU8txnuNxyQvakq2p5FsKbEQSrPTkCISk67ePDSJ7o9syG3vwy7InduZbd4A1VP/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252862%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">OH YEAHHHH. This will help Terry and Lizzie catch up on levels. While Lizzie certainly has a place, with Kazing and survivability, Terry is a bit more iffy. He's a great character and a formidable ally, but he's way behind at the point he joins in both level and classes. It's like Psaro but worse. I'm still making an effort to make him useful.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'd say the key to victory in <i>DQVI</i> is doing two big grinds: One at Spiegelspire and one outside the final castle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18ekDsohNrfC4L2wagPNoTLTQm_uRvn03So7sXepyMpYJXrd01FmDtekzq_Ece9O3V2RK5T4eaz-BLfTzOT4l_vVCN_gzIDYyL7WSxFbcgX2RY1_XoeHW9qKEyMEwDyCWNODQNXCh6eMQ/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18ekDsohNrfC4L2wagPNoTLTQm_uRvn03So7sXepyMpYJXrd01FmDtekzq_Ece9O3V2RK5T4eaz-BLfTzOT4l_vVCN_gzIDYyL7WSxFbcgX2RY1_XoeHW9qKEyMEwDyCWNODQNXCh6eMQ/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25281%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The castle isn't much to talk about. There are a few simple floor puzzles.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTwh9CFkKY1GFzpJidEtC9HEf1OM3NYxKAi-eZVdZc-iG_4Z8yBAhGoARTD9epvvk52xOspuw2WfxoPAuHtB60zGcL601V026pe8gSYXnoksgWZ7kCOAWakf30AbSzmqf4pobqQ3jXJz0/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTwh9CFkKY1GFzpJidEtC9HEf1OM3NYxKAi-eZVdZc-iG_4Z8yBAhGoARTD9epvvk52xOspuw2WfxoPAuHtB60zGcL601V026pe8gSYXnoksgWZ7kCOAWakf30AbSzmqf4pobqQ3jXJz0/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25283%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I also made heavy use of Holy Protection in here to get through without getting sassed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmYtrtzSh6Ho0ru8oaqsSyPXxApOJtrmQf2I7Dec_lZEaiRA28SVLHUVrgaXXKanW2YxOOtCugwz5gqomE1fars5iJqqSsjG7oH4wadNvfcC4X6Xyw5HEBTO1nVpDxNSGbjRFpURCCYE3/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25285%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmYtrtzSh6Ho0ru8oaqsSyPXxApOJtrmQf2I7Dec_lZEaiRA28SVLHUVrgaXXKanW2YxOOtCugwz5gqomE1fars5iJqqSsjG7oH4wadNvfcC4X6Xyw5HEBTO1nVpDxNSGbjRFpURCCYE3/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25285%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's a single-use item that gives a character access to the Dragon class. I ended up giving it to Terry. He may not have all of the classes that the others have, but at least he can train up one of the better ones.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdywBavroGXXbd7020POCScxBawuGa-cxgq80kOvP5hfbobsvP9kkMjnj4XK_bddeMugO9mbzXWbeao2-WQ6HisLGoiJZ0YC3jDkGCfbpygQ-xa9OTJe3n5mhsOBapAHYsbn0foOVRveH/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25286%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWdywBavroGXXbd7020POCScxBawuGa-cxgq80kOvP5hfbobsvP9kkMjnj4XK_bddeMugO9mbzXWbeao2-WQ6HisLGoiJZ0YC3jDkGCfbpygQ-xa9OTJe3n5mhsOBapAHYsbn0foOVRveH/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25286%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Also, the best sword. The hero sword is about 99% as strong as this, but obviously this can be used by non-hero characters. So it should definitely go to someone else.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemHKANEDy8kcfXLC-GtXLz-yIn73argbB5_4bOUf4pLn9L1lcdWlZGoEVIRSfy9V_OSULeEu9eSxKmfIMH5tFoiAjthyphenhyphenTkEMWNxTjuHz3JZg1wd9xSD6LPAk-fwrtHIiHsmKdvawFPlL3/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25287%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiemHKANEDy8kcfXLC-GtXLz-yIn73argbB5_4bOUf4pLn9L1lcdWlZGoEVIRSfy9V_OSULeEu9eSxKmfIMH5tFoiAjthyphenhyphenTkEMWNxTjuHz3JZg1wd9xSD6LPAk-fwrtHIiHsmKdvawFPlL3/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25287%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Even healers can use it. I love finding the Metal equipment at the end of any given DQ game.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LxtCiED5KLa2MAm-KgmTFK8Bua1VO13erKTisBR6ntJ14dXRl1XlrUNUqZ-dQV_-JP_Zxufk_U6XN8-2ezCKHUelpNbkv2QfsoL1DcmeBETR62EvKqMmLUxKyr-feZ9hidVqfd0ail1K/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25288%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4LxtCiED5KLa2MAm-KgmTFK8Bua1VO13erKTisBR6ntJ14dXRl1XlrUNUqZ-dQV_-JP_Zxufk_U6XN8-2ezCKHUelpNbkv2QfsoL1DcmeBETR62EvKqMmLUxKyr-feZ9hidVqfd0ail1K/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25288%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We get a dramatically nice visual background at the top of the castle. This is it, the final battle.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbnV7JIta-YU0DluTD-Er3-wRl5EUOxQupSepbuiyKgWWtTbSw1gsGHXZQ-s5Ytn7ZGaRdwFGegFxZUUHeLrdR5xxROwuULkqAU5WjT4uOUCfgAlIpgdOOqFXAKaz_jpWeUDZGb9OQefE/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25289%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDbnV7JIta-YU0DluTD-Er3-wRl5EUOxQupSepbuiyKgWWtTbSw1gsGHXZQ-s5Ytn7ZGaRdwFGegFxZUUHeLrdR5xxROwuULkqAU5WjT4uOUCfgAlIpgdOOqFXAKaz_jpWeUDZGb9OQefE/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%25289%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But first...we must go through space. This is treading on Final Fantasy endgame territory.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEsjP7aUxOEnNh3VTk27B1a2BbhnGwt3Gl-QviaIa4nnSC65yUCVg4g5vNarJ7B8Yp1VD0nzGo7kJk5R7XnjiUjlb4LuG1xbRDRsMPHrsZZ_X8P38REDY5pchc_PU_bZuz7JeRGlkcPNbQ/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252810%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEsjP7aUxOEnNh3VTk27B1a2BbhnGwt3Gl-QviaIa4nnSC65yUCVg4g5vNarJ7B8Yp1VD0nzGo7kJk5R7XnjiUjlb4LuG1xbRDRsMPHrsZZ_X8P38REDY5pchc_PU_bZuz7JeRGlkcPNbQ/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252810%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">He was waiting here for the entire game, twiddling his thumbs and wondering if Ashlynn has a glandular disorder to be so horny all the time. No, it's some sort of redhead thing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQUmN3hV30uhZzAv2OcUs_a_lMpZZgeTRFJb746KAXaxA0ouIlVie2xU6TeBKjBbk_zISYjtWSys_f779eFEkRid7xQM5EcqmUhl5mJ6VEEYYBpjb9cjWZItaO0TWd1K5NfX89FhoqRlu/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252811%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVQUmN3hV30uhZzAv2OcUs_a_lMpZZgeTRFJb746KAXaxA0ouIlVie2xU6TeBKjBbk_zISYjtWSys_f779eFEkRid7xQM5EcqmUhl5mJ6VEEYYBpjb9cjWZItaO0TWd1K5NfX89FhoqRlu/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252811%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here he is, just sort of meditating on a rock. He thought about dropping a meteor on us from a safe distance but didn't. I think he's bluffing.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtdrnpjY9Px1nbmwPi4MqKvyVY5HufynJs1NlDy2hTeZypKnqxwB1yDvLmLozykpdVHzjWMyW8lvWizZfcj1a-13ZFVay7ZmYDEylcfYgEKMlUDkEJWPxHXsWsjaebYx8iTvC0QefJ8zO/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252813%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtdrnpjY9Px1nbmwPi4MqKvyVY5HufynJs1NlDy2hTeZypKnqxwB1yDvLmLozykpdVHzjWMyW8lvWizZfcj1a-13ZFVay7ZmYDEylcfYgEKMlUDkEJWPxHXsWsjaebYx8iTvC0QefJ8zO/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252813%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Like the final boss of the previous game, he's got a weak first form to lull you into a false sense of security.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NO2APUQRAaYJbKPxWdjt0RPbLdLByuslkw2dZPK1RN9n8p46Fxjf2KyqpYvk0mWe8WkL2FYFYm7aw2IXFq81V7oSrb5C7IrvGW0fx-jId2pu5tDRpvTpDX8y2W4yUgTRd2Hovm7cdfqL/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252815%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NO2APUQRAaYJbKPxWdjt0RPbLdLByuslkw2dZPK1RN9n8p46Fxjf2KyqpYvk0mWe8WkL2FYFYm7aw2IXFq81V7oSrb5C7IrvGW0fx-jId2pu5tDRpvTpDX8y2W4yUgTRd2Hovm7cdfqL/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252815%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">PERHAPS THIS WILL BE MORE TO OUR LIKING.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTC6gsJVXJ_SayJQ_iRSG_fCFGZFsmW5s6MBSLD_cEG2yE_SYh2MkS1aWg53zEw5ISl_WcQdEnnUN5_Lpf8szFZxq4AXCKAyWTRsTZYbsRZPnAqgCLBQzqcqLJNykUzsqFVLrHEa04WKJ2/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252816%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTC6gsJVXJ_SayJQ_iRSG_fCFGZFsmW5s6MBSLD_cEG2yE_SYh2MkS1aWg53zEw5ISl_WcQdEnnUN5_Lpf8szFZxq4AXCKAyWTRsTZYbsRZPnAqgCLBQzqcqLJNykUzsqFVLrHEa04WKJ2/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252816%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This freakish monstrosity is more like it, and the most dangerous fight up to this point even if it's over fairly quickly. But wait, there's even more!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6q_DzMwai9CxlVOuxh0kofAPnJ_eLeLENQZ9OlzJ-5rN58P3Mn_n8HL2IYtHH4aTzKKyAHLSkrz1pOl6KLWW4mjXexoJv8ZcKxF-ftXWRqB0d0vmgJma5pCO7f-rAVHDh-rkM15UzYOh/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252817%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc6q_DzMwai9CxlVOuxh0kofAPnJ_eLeLENQZ9OlzJ-5rN58P3Mn_n8HL2IYtHH4aTzKKyAHLSkrz1pOl6KLWW4mjXexoJv8ZcKxF-ftXWRqB0d0vmgJma5pCO7f-rAVHDh-rkM15UzYOh/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252817%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Get past that very-Toriyama second form, and you reach the third and final form:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsTRs2t-BuMqdNKOV8Z71ZgeSmblMe1ldg9xkgLGZJ4eMSqehVKnoL3VlG_Y2KsVNKnn4hERu_ao8lvzNuLvZXNdPdZ53I_S6-u8CuoV0HODcxSOF4epmi7pSq8_eGq2sgVrgXpPanvB5/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252819%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsTRs2t-BuMqdNKOV8Z71ZgeSmblMe1ldg9xkgLGZJ4eMSqehVKnoL3VlG_Y2KsVNKnn4hERu_ao8lvzNuLvZXNdPdZ53I_S6-u8CuoV0HODcxSOF4epmi7pSq8_eGq2sgVrgXpPanvB5/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252819%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This Queen Zeal esque fight is the hardest in the game by a good margin. It has two hands and a central head, and all of them can revive each other with full health. So you basically need to get all of them down at about the same time, and it can be difficult.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The key is to spread out the attacks and try to keep a similar amount of damage on all 3 mobs. <i>DQVI</i> has a lot of <i>Chrono Trigger</i> DNA and it's something I like about it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIcc-NE-au_uSNmcinu7Elb1apTsKGOvyYIqyNufTyAAQ4w3p_qpdLm5QG0Pl5LNGXAxEfNVFfH1Mzlo-W8zgtG7XHyPPmsUsjaR4dFOHD9q2sB2CGQdTn1XWmZs19mVJdthIco44K29u/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252821%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZIcc-NE-au_uSNmcinu7Elb1apTsKGOvyYIqyNufTyAAQ4w3p_qpdLm5QG0Pl5LNGXAxEfNVFfH1Mzlo-W8zgtG7XHyPPmsUsjaR4dFOHD9q2sB2CGQdTn1XWmZs19mVJdthIco44K29u/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252821%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Even with advanced levels, this fight dishes out a beating.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7JOmbmL0p1ikD2_cLzgGX3uHS1nZ0XUOI4AO57vGiEwFqopO-RWkLTSIokjDo4W9yCBhMiwzue1vKdBWRNikjNWSf_VV9mLWwXhqA3MXC9wZG45Kvk0a3bfw-A8WPtCxqM6mdT6E3ZAT/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252823%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7JOmbmL0p1ikD2_cLzgGX3uHS1nZ0XUOI4AO57vGiEwFqopO-RWkLTSIokjDo4W9yCBhMiwzue1vKdBWRNikjNWSf_VV9mLWwXhqA3MXC9wZG45Kvk0a3bfw-A8WPtCxqM6mdT6E3ZAT/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252823%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mortamor finally makes good on his earlier threat, summoning a meteor swarm before he dies. So basically he pulled The Tellah.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizG_SSD37fyoo0XCD4wy3VkyE-GQt3GPFECSMXcHIHN4PiWZRCK2f4YgeQP1dTCFV7Rlc9HwLBvXq8C9V60p_cykXuKP9kgJxJICdMnv8QE0qQJYcXAFwqxgMHEz3PJXk-YFOGB6dODY7f/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252824%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizG_SSD37fyoo0XCD4wy3VkyE-GQt3GPFECSMXcHIHN4PiWZRCK2f4YgeQP1dTCFV7Rlc9HwLBvXq8C9V60p_cykXuKP9kgJxJICdMnv8QE0qQJYcXAFwqxgMHEz3PJXk-YFOGB6dODY7f/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252824%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The flying horse finally puts the bong down and gets off his lazy ass, just in time to rescue our heroes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9F41886b1S8pdnyMtynIdwREbc9sAaeHLFMrYMhg4CrzsD66HaVzvJ147-q6MzPqelXDNBsj2sDRLCiB_XT8jVCEwXoIuIph7APmiYqXYKSUdyoOmUEDVxpGTPjbdYdj3FEZ0lwMIGOB4/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252825%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9F41886b1S8pdnyMtynIdwREbc9sAaeHLFMrYMhg4CrzsD66HaVzvJ147-q6MzPqelXDNBsj2sDRLCiB_XT8jVCEwXoIuIph7APmiYqXYKSUdyoOmUEDVxpGTPjbdYdj3FEZ0lwMIGOB4/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252825%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I guess it speaks to how jaded I am nowadays that I expected this guy to turn evil at the end here and be some sort of new uberboss threat. Nope, there's no sleight of hand, the world's saved.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rSf5NWIszC9rlbxoGZhn2NrXJJEhrRxQ1rd23G0fqkTLY6R3ivmsNoaXn_gEtjwtQyA6LK4rRAtfyUno_5cFPrXvIoMMGXXFyrlAIFsAA611oEyNKGiacuneSFptYAHx7_iHAV8whDAY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252826%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0rSf5NWIszC9rlbxoGZhn2NrXJJEhrRxQ1rd23G0fqkTLY6R3ivmsNoaXn_gEtjwtQyA6LK4rRAtfyUno_5cFPrXvIoMMGXXFyrlAIFsAA611oEyNKGiacuneSFptYAHx7_iHAV8whDAY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252826%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"And it's good to see YOU in one piece" says Ashlynn while twirling her hair. We need to put one of those cone-collars for dogs on her.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IS1lXc0yh218xFxIT2MFXbDEVFlDYOW-HGDRmF-AGpdUmGkHL_APUL2Gxz4BCr3trgBIVVDr5WqdRN_2zlehzaoi3njzjdLv243eEHczEy-BPPR4ZM4uAeRYiznGexWDhJbZH_6toSzq/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252828%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9IS1lXc0yh218xFxIT2MFXbDEVFlDYOW-HGDRmF-AGpdUmGkHL_APUL2Gxz4BCr3trgBIVVDr5WqdRN_2zlehzaoi3njzjdLv243eEHczEy-BPPR4ZM4uAeRYiznGexWDhJbZH_6toSzq/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252828%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I mean...the other heroes also helped. Though Ashlynn has the Magic Burst of Doom, I never used it on the final boss. Probably would have been a big assist, but it has such a high cost. All of her MP, and a total mess to clean up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYUVQ8cSuYBuZEfe0L0UyJlYoAPHCGlaocbAkW9viElSH79JNb_9HXyNLpnc_qfiKbwGkpaY2tIhPCaO-_mvR199wQW3iaO2ykIBffbOFsdv1T_rsF3vdfvjdp1h-Aq6uCnstb3fiRS_c/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252831%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRYUVQ8cSuYBuZEfe0L0UyJlYoAPHCGlaocbAkW9viElSH79JNb_9HXyNLpnc_qfiKbwGkpaY2tIhPCaO-_mvR199wQW3iaO2ykIBffbOFsdv1T_rsF3vdfvjdp1h-Aq6uCnstb3fiRS_c/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252831%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The irony is, all she did for half the adventure was get to know herself.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sorry, ANYWAY</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzY_2h_zgPE268S1n4rQG9OFstg55grfiC48VXF5pbjyjrTjNmKGRKW-cAxiVGIPEjcylB3qrtj7u8xkTSkIma4Hs9niTxy8nH24QAnVVdzu7WPP1zBNCLwyTNP1bVbFAL9lMikJYtEhVr/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252829%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzY_2h_zgPE268S1n4rQG9OFstg55grfiC48VXF5pbjyjrTjNmKGRKW-cAxiVGIPEjcylB3qrtj7u8xkTSkIma4Hs9niTxy8nH24QAnVVdzu7WPP1zBNCLwyTNP1bVbFAL9lMikJYtEhVr/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252829%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ashlynn is now... The Sorceress. She celebrates by kicking everyone out and bedding Spike right there on the table.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We've got one episode left. That's right, this wasn't the end. There's still postgame to do. Now that Ashlynn has finally gotten laid, she's all fresh and ready to fight. Spike meanwhile now has his pipes clean and mean. Whatever the postgame brings us, we've got this.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SoNEHhd8Ik8" width="320" youtube-src-id="SoNEHhd8Ik8"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Here's the final boss fight in all its glory. This went a LOT better than the <i>DQV</i> final boss fight.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest" target="_blank">Other Dragon Quest Posts</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2020/03/dragon-quest-master-post.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">The Dragon Quest Master Post</a></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-9122430465283311042024-01-29T23:30:00.001-05:002024-01-29T23:30:00.127-05:00Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, Chapter 10 - Finale, Part One<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxhh_9M4UMfvsRLna5F8v-NPGJeLmRihmTVHVxPXKRhxGoohre2agR4kZSFjSksmQPZsixQb008CNt94uxsYzq4PxCdNlK3d53VmjvlnTZQA_-LCqHNKxDuACS_Ur7YnNe1_OKL583XyD/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252832%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigxhh_9M4UMfvsRLna5F8v-NPGJeLmRihmTVHVxPXKRhxGoohre2agR4kZSFjSksmQPZsixQb008CNt94uxsYzq4PxCdNlK3d53VmjvlnTZQA_-LCqHNKxDuACS_Ur7YnNe1_OKL583XyD/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252832%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></p><div>After getting the flying Pegasus, you still need to talk to this guy to advance the story. I spent a few minutes bumbling about trying to go to the underworld until I found this out. Time to invade the realm of Mortamor.</div><div><br /></div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJuhviVrgH2k8XaHlBkY_7XNPqPH4fe5pNIfq7DXAOzQ6ow9qzuaEddDPynHNbu9GEeJnUiyW2c6HS-ivxADsuf2gd8y3_Tor6ra4HO2RWJtUzCZe65ff7sxc0N2X_l-aw8YHQto6X-wT/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252833%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYJuhviVrgH2k8XaHlBkY_7XNPqPH4fe5pNIfq7DXAOzQ6ow9qzuaEddDPynHNbu9GEeJnUiyW2c6HS-ivxADsuf2gd8y3_Tor6ra4HO2RWJtUzCZe65ff7sxc0N2X_l-aw8YHQto6X-wT/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252833%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Once you have the power of flight and have met with King Zenith, the pegasus gains the power to warp down to the underworld. No flying here, and the party is completely neutered to 1/1 HP.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmywhJ7sd0wmuWavc3GbvCqYGp329jlc95CZtovs8WAJm513fyrpzZQkIN6PEO1UAiaqejLZPh5XaoT8ghqjcGe9T8dWL-VWaOtY37n8kugfUQjLf1GwaIZyp-zWv6qH4kLDwCBHaHaZ7h/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252834%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmywhJ7sd0wmuWavc3GbvCqYGp329jlc95CZtovs8WAJm513fyrpzZQkIN6PEO1UAiaqejLZPh5XaoT8ghqjcGe9T8dWL-VWaOtY37n8kugfUQjLf1GwaIZyp-zWv6qH4kLDwCBHaHaZ7h/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252834%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Some weird stuff follows where you gotta stumble around in a marsh. Man, even when this game gets intense and things are happening, it's still slow as molasses.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMw8hhppV7sBSIZQxwe9szySAotN_9V5fBVWsUBct43mqbG3eoGBdWyuQ4q_FOxuLmcxrjeT4LpBAOIUl8NLnQ9ezxAc7ZXY-3ILmC5dR0b8b5nd_7N05Gfky9Rs2TdpEGuTMhZA19bxOt/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252835%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMw8hhppV7sBSIZQxwe9szySAotN_9V5fBVWsUBct43mqbG3eoGBdWyuQ4q_FOxuLmcxrjeT4LpBAOIUl8NLnQ9ezxAc7ZXY-3ILmC5dR0b8b5nd_7N05Gfky9Rs2TdpEGuTMhZA19bxOt/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252835%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This guy can forge you a particularly potent item, but only one.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSjnPmH2oExfQac6E8M4FYCkDJ1FEe2MU61OH0cGMhOzd7cgTVnx-e97c9NNJHT0HxRsd81MR_ZIBK_TVR57cMmaF9Y6dbXMc3XWg8QNPx9y-ckXHInUNC_Gu6wo-YgNQ_ZthvvSYZYxV/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252836%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQSjnPmH2oExfQac6E8M4FYCkDJ1FEe2MU61OH0cGMhOzd7cgTVnx-e97c9NNJHT0HxRsd81MR_ZIBK_TVR57cMmaF9Y6dbXMc3XWg8QNPx9y-ckXHInUNC_Gu6wo-YgNQ_ZthvvSYZYxV/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252836%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I went with the shield, which is second-only to the Zenithian equivalent.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1xhjOjvUZkJXUr_OgS4W-tvDJ2Z1vKXM_vkSN1z6QAW5BbqlcnIGI33RWwcWWVEwboq-vOVzQUjbdpz3a_fqrDqu9q8Dce-yxrY45UIFCqQdZUrpLyGtTQ906aWMZshS03ksj0vQmQen/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252837%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu1xhjOjvUZkJXUr_OgS4W-tvDJ2Z1vKXM_vkSN1z6QAW5BbqlcnIGI33RWwcWWVEwboq-vOVzQUjbdpz3a_fqrDqu9q8Dce-yxrY45UIFCqQdZUrpLyGtTQ906aWMZshS03ksj0vQmQen/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252837%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After futzing about in the ramshackle towns of the underworld, our heroes regain their powers.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhsa6_uFUwfns-kNOOgwzSKS1p0aVkHZPfTzXZD8dpHJgW2039NhRhOeHjegrKxqQuGJOQoUO1nmWXxODY0-EUh_sw6iodkieX6WAhOpk56zA2_AXKP4jLccJ47wt_gDbX4i2oG_DTmWI/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252838%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhsa6_uFUwfns-kNOOgwzSKS1p0aVkHZPfTzXZD8dpHJgW2039NhRhOeHjegrKxqQuGJOQoUO1nmWXxODY0-EUh_sw6iodkieX6WAhOpk56zA2_AXKP4jLccJ47wt_gDbX4i2oG_DTmWI/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252838%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And just in time, as the enemies down here DO NOT mess around.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiozGzD0E9BIDwpZp_qPwZjjHFgH5uGCxdPSJzQCoDyH2-lhIsOKxhrrbFBJ_ouy0xxNXGazq8WoHMQQpJmLTNox39FUfrrdbXfW7VH1X58nbRVuBJ3Rq9iMmnKr6CwgTjOFF6UDI59bBZ1/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252839%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiozGzD0E9BIDwpZp_qPwZjjHFgH5uGCxdPSJzQCoDyH2-lhIsOKxhrrbFBJ_ouy0xxNXGazq8WoHMQQpJmLTNox39FUfrrdbXfW7VH1X58nbRVuBJ3Rq9iMmnKr6CwgTjOFF6UDI59bBZ1/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252839%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Travel north a bit to find a town full of greedy people. This is reminding me a bit of the Dark World from <i>A Link to the Past.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIsLYmwsXw2vjB8MY9z6kngT8tlCWcOikuJx9USfyKUh0GwAghSk3b_H03J7mOYgLtPwf0HggEVYiAdn7MKS_-VG9903Jg1p2jVIo6JjK2HySbRRwRDALfQSakNtu7jkG3Vc1aRZ3_8LM/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252840%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIsLYmwsXw2vjB8MY9z6kngT8tlCWcOikuJx9USfyKUh0GwAghSk3b_H03J7mOYgLtPwf0HggEVYiAdn7MKS_-VG9903Jg1p2jVIo6JjK2HySbRRwRDALfQSakNtu7jkG3Vc1aRZ3_8LM/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252840%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They're all rushing into this mud pit to be the first to get an empty treasure chest. Of course no one knew this, which is why they were all tussling and rolling around in the mud like maniacs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Wait for me!" yells Ashlynn as she throws off all her clothes and leaps into the pile of muddy people.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjHpp5lBuxnNQ3m1twFG6XW0VLOFW-cL-uE4gYqo0n_rS3K2milDhl6jAtXAm8XJlgWchrYOUfJ7dGotDcD6B9bnorZISKB1vHgadkDHI-eXZTJhwc7wbJgMlmS0wX7vBgiVSAI4jpM9S/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252841%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdjHpp5lBuxnNQ3m1twFG6XW0VLOFW-cL-uE4gYqo0n_rS3K2milDhl6jAtXAm8XJlgWchrYOUfJ7dGotDcD6B9bnorZISKB1vHgadkDHI-eXZTJhwc7wbJgMlmS0wX7vBgiVSAI4jpM9S/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252841%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Ya know, I've learned something today" says everybody.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alright, now get outta here so I can find the real treasure!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEAORwDQ16HRce1ZNtb4h3vtkZVzOcAMG0fazMtAj4Ilr51MxlhPdTe0N-Nlnh_K2tWilxLiFNDwlOPf2aNvj6ZxklsMCyGo1Vr97Ba_p12FCBu11IEu5iNI-Jv0OFcVDcXXuR7LLswGz/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252842%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdEAORwDQ16HRce1ZNtb4h3vtkZVzOcAMG0fazMtAj4Ilr51MxlhPdTe0N-Nlnh_K2tWilxLiFNDwlOPf2aNvj6ZxklsMCyGo1Vr97Ba_p12FCBu11IEu5iNI-Jv0OFcVDcXXuR7LLswGz/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252842%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Lo and behold, here we go. Where does it lead?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd8FHmleTuaEJgDDQZp-fTTV8vUbzKtUpENn9H5GN-XvEfK53NvqZL4uzS1KNWMkHp75PmBjWlH8R5qk4xcoz4zmP8kwrqd3uGq-t9r7b8QI_QWJ8Go1QjDPThXmWrkRXYPv6kmQRXdm4/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252843%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd8FHmleTuaEJgDDQZp-fTTV8vUbzKtUpENn9H5GN-XvEfK53NvqZL4uzS1KNWMkHp75PmBjWlH8R5qk4xcoz4zmP8kwrqd3uGq-t9r7b8QI_QWJ8Go1QjDPThXmWrkRXYPv6kmQRXdm4/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252843%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Onward, that's where. Here we have Captain Blade, turning up for the first time in a while. Before we can fight Mortamor in his fortress, we have to defeat this Blackmar guy in a prison dungeon. Yep, <i>DQVI</i> just won't end. Every time the story gets moving, it drops another dungeon in the way. You're all ready to take on the final dungeon/boss? NEWP first you gotta do a prison dungeon</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxwB-XPBkFqZoLb4hg1g199UsVDDfxFVikA64bIFTwNpODX91vKvOzO_A1cfUv5LQNdPVgentP0LjNvbxtrS38bUPcN8wh0FmNkaqx_Y6FAwWaXa8G6FylKM45xMvHTtt7gfkiuaiLXMc/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252844%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxwB-XPBkFqZoLb4hg1g199UsVDDfxFVikA64bIFTwNpODX91vKvOzO_A1cfUv5LQNdPVgentP0LjNvbxtrS38bUPcN8wh0FmNkaqx_Y6FAwWaXa8G6FylKM45xMvHTtt7gfkiuaiLXMc/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252844%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is one of the several particularly tedious missions, because you have to suit up as guards just to get through the area.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfxaHv0hmaJd6tXs2vpC8_pH4RVs1kbry9qlZYk5HfbOWonh4YXdPnXiLtX91TjeWB7hWEYK-4iZ-4YC4Nd9L9WhEeYvoshRLpLwlqB1Ou9ub-7tTNUDdRuMeocKrnG6xARWIMdSKI6uN/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252845%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfxaHv0hmaJd6tXs2vpC8_pH4RVs1kbry9qlZYk5HfbOWonh4YXdPnXiLtX91TjeWB7hWEYK-4iZ-4YC4Nd9L9WhEeYvoshRLpLwlqB1Ou9ub-7tTNUDdRuMeocKrnG6xARWIMdSKI6uN/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252845%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Reach the end and there's a battle with Blackmar's goons. The fight is unwinnable. This party is so tough that the goons can't seem to win either though, so after a while the battle just automatically ends.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbUjQM1nj5emLanSFAgpLfJotIn6D0wAOH28Uod1zt6QFUufShyphenhyphenaj9E9bqLiXGwIdXoAHXPLEQRPWUo9MnUY3TiZQdv1q6PJbQcHCaIQhYQOodtBBpDzW2TGLZrCvV3gKllaXB7tR3QdHC/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252847%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbUjQM1nj5emLanSFAgpLfJotIn6D0wAOH28Uod1zt6QFUufShyphenhyphenaj9E9bqLiXGwIdXoAHXPLEQRPWUo9MnUY3TiZQdv1q6PJbQcHCaIQhYQOodtBBpDzW2TGLZrCvV3gKllaXB7tR3QdHC/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252847%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Ashlynn: "Are you going to torture us? Oh boy! I want to be tied up and blindfolded while you do whatever you want to my body!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Guards: ".............................."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">What these guys didn't expect was that my team contains a super-freak.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgKJntgTMA-sB_yRuPOxm_-OSc7bn0eBy0wpbE7vzds5Upzm_dsY8_zeNLjhcxOU4mWPqOcTDIxPItBkXg1fBluseQJTR28knYPiYmSywZqMtafRhs4zi3pnFuxEtEwcT10dvRyloRbUB/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252848%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgKJntgTMA-sB_yRuPOxm_-OSc7bn0eBy0wpbE7vzds5Upzm_dsY8_zeNLjhcxOU4mWPqOcTDIxPItBkXg1fBluseQJTR28knYPiYmSywZqMtafRhs4zi3pnFuxEtEwcT10dvRyloRbUB/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252848%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After we freak them out enough that they just let us out, we run into... Erdrick! It's just a name cameo and doesn't mean anything though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4acp4BQg5-xlAORPxDYs2OsRvVZOgc9ddvtwZddA9zB8vzMisrVzHAt2caB9lUOiWDdHBY3KDMlx3L7id13FPe8GDuiEAhyphenhyphenEelHOrNj6AfMKGkHRJTQHXFubLcUPpO2srQ_z0a4IRr7J/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252849%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS4acp4BQg5-xlAORPxDYs2OsRvVZOgc9ddvtwZddA9zB8vzMisrVzHAt2caB9lUOiWDdHBY3KDMlx3L7id13FPe8GDuiEAhyphenhyphenEelHOrNj6AfMKGkHRJTQHXFubLcUPpO2srQ_z0a4IRr7J/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252849%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After the prisoners revolt, it looks like Blackmar's goons get slain off-camera. Which means you can never get your win back against them. Might as well have just had Blackmar himself subdue the heroes then. I don't even know what the point of these goons was.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNee69aGgfFI9_zMpCVYBUeYT7E9Fc9EBaBxhhVYqhPRiqLngZbvMLRnhVFWOVmsE9L7juzbvlqZ3A18XU7Y4Sg7fkxB11FpOJg6i0g9STujnlSexcqAWhfFlkt03-zK1sLxpTbsvmat8/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252850%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjNee69aGgfFI9_zMpCVYBUeYT7E9Fc9EBaBxhhVYqhPRiqLngZbvMLRnhVFWOVmsE9L7juzbvlqZ3A18XU7Y4Sg7fkxB11FpOJg6i0g9STujnlSexcqAWhfFlkt03-zK1sLxpTbsvmat8/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252850%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Blackmar is the latest (and last) of the Maous. Mudo, Jamiras, Graco, Dhuran, now this guy. Not sure how he falls in the rankings. So the four archfiends were actually five? Or is this guy their boss? Or is he just the latest replacement Maou as each one falls?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJfWvo3_2OKtDHnCt1Zlbk_bVNnG-PSfpmW6jLEhO5MxBWWRpWu7x5VBb2xkAS15t0DyClVnXXWs4kGPosP9T5-Z_1-WxK3NyhBrDlitaG-sCliD6EeKwuz0K3wjEz2iEpuCtfdWa3if_/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252851%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLJfWvo3_2OKtDHnCt1Zlbk_bVNnG-PSfpmW6jLEhO5MxBWWRpWu7x5VBb2xkAS15t0DyClVnXXWs4kGPosP9T5-Z_1-WxK3NyhBrDlitaG-sCliD6EeKwuz0K3wjEz2iEpuCtfdWa3if_/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252851%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Blackmar doesn't put up much of a fight at this point. The only potential issue here is that he revives the adds if you take them out, and the adds can summon Cureslimes that Fullheal the boss. Showing up with full MP and lighting him up with "Show No Mercy" pretty much weathered any threat of Cureslime-ference though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwa5IB8H6dJ0D7Q9iTvumv-wldOss3U0mMXAdXJwu3iMb29XZ6GNpenpWBtG_MoW5b7NVaDVEeIV-SoxyrhqBo8fBVLvqfAg57Z33aybx0dRVG71C9v75M9FFFMyxkNVwVZ2GH91Hhdr-M/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252852%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwa5IB8H6dJ0D7Q9iTvumv-wldOss3U0mMXAdXJwu3iMb29XZ6GNpenpWBtG_MoW5b7NVaDVEeIV-SoxyrhqBo8fBVLvqfAg57Z33aybx0dRVG71C9v75M9FFFMyxkNVwVZ2GH91Hhdr-M/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252852%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Defeating Blackmar comes with a cost, as his boss Mortamor turns the entire town to stone as revenge. Mortamor is the higher power who stands above the five Maous we've taken out to this point. I think he's kinda like their deity.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2LvYHnacV47hq89DaxtsXU1R6LwHfN78y0Dlv_blCbm-jVCnQ7AGzio39lk23BiFSvvVKN9NDE7CuuwmTDsSMsKN6sOd-8qop6hDkmrCAB7steqnvLsMo3achg3vcX-k36thI9wuuDGT/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252876%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO2LvYHnacV47hq89DaxtsXU1R6LwHfN78y0Dlv_blCbm-jVCnQ7AGzio39lk23BiFSvvVKN9NDE7CuuwmTDsSMsKN6sOd-8qop6hDkmrCAB7steqnvLsMo3achg3vcX-k36thI9wuuDGT/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252876%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div>Side note: Here's an optional area, the Slime Arena. A place where you can send any recruited slime characters to compete in battles for fun and profit.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIAQZhW6-In8-mAFxId4Wr3ZUflQ_o3gwsWJL4qfUIW0eLK4zKAmhhR0za27h4DF-MgJBn3HW8wr4WBEvaEiKNM2J-jxSa0ZvsegouuLtclvYQx8rBzzygtxI7U_1fjyltojvKZ8WwB_W/s2542/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252877%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIAQZhW6-In8-mAFxId4Wr3ZUflQ_o3gwsWJL4qfUIW0eLK4zKAmhhR0za27h4DF-MgJBn3HW8wr4WBEvaEiKNM2J-jxSa0ZvsegouuLtclvYQx8rBzzygtxI7U_1fjyltojvKZ8WwB_W/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+VI+Remake+%252877%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div>I pretty much skipped all of this, but I did like the giant gold King Slime.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVRFYORdSFKf9Prqst5UAB1CSabBFG0mCsIjAh_WZxNYo3x0VwQa1mjhGJ0mQmj9xJLYuunI_Hjp0AaCDYQnuFsHbOYbuA60KeuC3sIxBpi9fLj-6vSW2BWlyjS3iGaQKQTveL8pJxPLa/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252853%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVRFYORdSFKf9Prqst5UAB1CSabBFG0mCsIjAh_WZxNYo3x0VwQa1mjhGJ0mQmj9xJLYuunI_Hjp0AaCDYQnuFsHbOYbuA60KeuC3sIxBpi9fLj-6vSW2BWlyjS3iGaQKQTveL8pJxPLa/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252853%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Moving onward, this is pretty cool. You have to use the orb to make your own way through The Nothing to reach Mortamor's lair.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65bswsPhEk-VZLBQgBAr2fgHJjPTASQC1OG774nfV_gS0vYuyp0bXu-iPAt8lrLEiU843yXo-9q1LiqI2FbRTRpKvuRZV-1Dy9qlGGkVBOaAn-zvzGlMGjBQAE8ucG7YGCdWND5NO4jfj/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252854%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg65bswsPhEk-VZLBQgBAr2fgHJjPTASQC1OG774nfV_gS0vYuyp0bXu-iPAt8lrLEiU843yXo-9q1LiqI2FbRTRpKvuRZV-1Dy9qlGGkVBOaAn-zvzGlMGjBQAE8ucG7YGCdWND5NO4jfj/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252854%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">We get a boss fight in the Sea of Nothingness. I've been fighting these guys since like <i>DQ2</i>!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqmnMnLS8WwN0BhXWFEogbHd3vbbEcvDrVBFzJfUSfW1BFFvMlDYjeSkV7nKbAFO2yMX8wmaZIP59uATM4_Qyg7T1B-oT_xLM1YmPWXDkI9jt6UxXx5bcvLIipY1ViW04KL-219tZxazmd/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252855%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqmnMnLS8WwN0BhXWFEogbHd3vbbEcvDrVBFzJfUSfW1BFFvMlDYjeSkV7nKbAFO2yMX8wmaZIP59uATM4_Qyg7T1B-oT_xLM1YmPWXDkI9jt6UxXx5bcvLIipY1ViW04KL-219tZxazmd/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252855%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This looks like an <i>Earthbound</i> fight. Don't know who these jobbers are but I wish it were the two goons from before so we could get our win back. You're damn right I'm mad about that.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYR3hlAdQY_5o2360EJu8yGFqtGsYxo7GMCkzDA9bQ854qIUGt8RyNkgeIfQ8UKeiCnYWdi9BHFMYybzjGjnnfCGgvtJFZYJE4iv4MM99M4iVYqqZK9qj5zBjz-ZTBRXKY5iiO96DzsS_9/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252856%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYR3hlAdQY_5o2360EJu8yGFqtGsYxo7GMCkzDA9bQ854qIUGt8RyNkgeIfQ8UKeiCnYWdi9BHFMYybzjGjnnfCGgvtJFZYJE4iv4MM99M4iVYqqZK9qj5zBjz-ZTBRXKY5iiO96DzsS_9/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252856%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This leads to a laser beam blasting out the cliff that Mortamor's Lair is on top of, making it reachable. That or we could have just flown up there if our lazy horse would stop smoking weed and get off his ass!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest" target="_blank">Other Dragon Quest Posts</a></p><p><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2020/03/dragon-quest-master-post.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">The Dragon Quest Master Post</a></p></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-66076183404423415872024-01-28T12:44:00.003-05:002024-01-28T12:44:39.235-05:00Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation, Part 9 - The Lost Post<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcep5lBA3Wj6BxF2SoQ5KJ_eYhLujiIWHoKeQMa5xEe3F8eBKQ4unrJV15wYAmLpFwFG2n_N219n_yhSyfi4lITiTnkpUF5Gm_gdk6oBzAr3StXrP85QLHstxr6-2WKG7f_KXzuypkbVC9K2fb4CiBpVmqVKZOiwGAiU9VVtQEeheoPr3Ecy4Wb5TnRd0i/s1188/Dragon%20Quest%206%20Banner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="1188" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcep5lBA3Wj6BxF2SoQ5KJ_eYhLujiIWHoKeQMa5xEe3F8eBKQ4unrJV15wYAmLpFwFG2n_N219n_yhSyfi4lITiTnkpUF5Gm_gdk6oBzAr3StXrP85QLHstxr6-2WKG7f_KXzuypkbVC9K2fb4CiBpVmqVKZOiwGAiU9VVtQEeheoPr3Ecy4Wb5TnRd0i/w630-h262/Dragon%20Quest%206%20Banner.jpg" width="630" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">So this is super weird. After "Part 8 - The Legend of Welda" something bizarre happened and one post just fell through the world geometry and got lost. So today I put up that lost post. Going to repost the several after this as well to get them back in the proper order, before I go onto finishing the Super Famicom version (finally).</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">For catch-up purposes, previous <i>DQVI</i> posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest%206" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJcLYAxd0fuu3ohgx4VMJSmU29-tvYk8x4XqAB2oQAS4luWRUT3LQrsJvErqhMeZd7rvDqouOq04gkb4ZtUyubRtf0y8isFEGDWIqu8F_SFs5ElJB_68KbNHrWnK1729tQ1NHTVzsZXqi_/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJcLYAxd0fuu3ohgx4VMJSmU29-tvYk8x4XqAB2oQAS4luWRUT3LQrsJvErqhMeZd7rvDqouOq04gkb4ZtUyubRtf0y8isFEGDWIqu8F_SFs5ElJB_68KbNHrWnK1729tQ1NHTVzsZXqi_/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25282%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Arriving in the real world version of Weaver's Peak (the hero's hometown), Spike has to deal with people thinking he's Alternate Spike. Buddy in particular is very jealous that he's staying with Tania, and thinks something might happen since Spike is adopted.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Buddy should stop talking since he's basically cheating on his GF in the first place.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQoA55fW0GmU1ws5zvbUJqzRH0FglXlMW1ac13x6iLMhhaT2pYMsoCcX64IA9k8MqopxVzFlvymvBRidjwKOVEBxhJaDV81CcQ4YiJu1_R_ra7gxrSzzCR_qYj5roHBb4EYaVaUgNNF0o/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkQoA55fW0GmU1ws5zvbUJqzRH0FglXlMW1ac13x6iLMhhaT2pYMsoCcX64IA9k8MqopxVzFlvymvBRidjwKOVEBxhJaDV81CcQ4YiJu1_R_ra7gxrSzzCR_qYj5roHBb4EYaVaUgNNF0o/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25283%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Wow, this guy is <i>really</i> jealous.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghq-GjCWUsqHapHYM9iG9dcyPByvFK2WG6cYdqK1M3J1wbF8LRSV2aOP8hg-2ZJfUKEtKOXRrX_UrRDCa3udj9eBxga1QLoxHYuU0oxtC09UTn-gOQmjpCqfoB3mGzUg8v4GaL6oJh2cDu/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghq-GjCWUsqHapHYM9iG9dcyPByvFK2WG6cYdqK1M3J1wbF8LRSV2aOP8hg-2ZJfUKEtKOXRrX_UrRDCa3udj9eBxga1QLoxHYuU0oxtC09UTn-gOQmjpCqfoB3mGzUg8v4GaL6oJh2cDu/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25284%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They really make a point of how Spike and Tania aren't related, and when you combine that with Buddy being jealous... I'm not sure what they're getting at here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfdSx8qwGOQ-drestXpX-9qtF-AqRIjXdgy8aDXtQEzQ6hyphenhyphenMQMbWXT69UXob7nS6Lt9k9MbhoiVD0VC0psGo7MwEcUYzHMqlrfz9nBs5HR5DCXgJKPkOc11Qu50-2CNQaWuyVrDca6potG/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25285%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfdSx8qwGOQ-drestXpX-9qtF-AqRIjXdgy8aDXtQEzQ6hyphenhyphenMQMbWXT69UXob7nS6Lt9k9MbhoiVD0VC0psGo7MwEcUYzHMqlrfz9nBs5HR5DCXgJKPkOc11Qu50-2CNQaWuyVrDca6potG/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25285%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Who knows? Who cares?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tania then leaves to go get stuck in a washing machine or something. "Adopted bro! Help me!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfzSm_Zdju1ChPf9RVhWbIJzxDSrCWV3-rBO0EP48oskrThvjOmuWbCp5gk9Tfb9SzC5p76qk23_f0cRNqu30CXlYfp4r-C6CW3yOO0J1tFdeDi5zx33nSjgVZLVHhmCDnBdO3cjIbMGE/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25286%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfzSm_Zdju1ChPf9RVhWbIJzxDSrCWV3-rBO0EP48oskrThvjOmuWbCp5gk9Tfb9SzC5p76qk23_f0cRNqu30CXlYfp4r-C6CW3yOO0J1tFdeDi5zx33nSjgVZLVHhmCDnBdO3cjIbMGE/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25286%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Live it up while you can!" says the Mayor. "When I was your age, I didn't have a stepsister. All I had was my hand."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The fuck</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xWZkXypjwz4qPxD-M5kCZ0oPweaLAZO6iVXyEYC755gcLlrDvtC76u2vgw9CPO1HW35DT5ybdZ_0C6gWgbwvO6g8hH_0CuiiuoSQkPonUkdHGCo02Tm3QUDvwv8jQwU0rI3E_Kc4hNxt/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25287%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1xWZkXypjwz4qPxD-M5kCZ0oPweaLAZO6iVXyEYC755gcLlrDvtC76u2vgw9CPO1HW35DT5ybdZ_0C6gWgbwvO6g8hH_0CuiiuoSQkPonUkdHGCo02Tm3QUDvwv8jQwU0rI3E_Kc4hNxt/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25287%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">What are we doing? What are we doing here? Why is alt-world Tania so weird?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm just gonna leave.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomuHKLvfwycUdCqFNcUL-bsokzhPE38VQq6PsUioTTUqaA4jPhp7iXgWGlcHR_zgGdOSmgDl_VafR_ESDnQ5r-gkkH1TqE2KeuJ4cAjDN7CKjW5QcTdVdZ6t29OhHWBPY2iKLoxlqUiv1/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25288%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjomuHKLvfwycUdCqFNcUL-bsokzhPE38VQq6PsUioTTUqaA4jPhp7iXgWGlcHR_zgGdOSmgDl_VafR_ESDnQ5r-gkkH1TqE2KeuJ4cAjDN7CKjW5QcTdVdZ6t29OhHWBPY2iKLoxlqUiv1/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25288%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">With the two Spikes in the same place at the same time, the Mayor immediately softens his tone when he realizes the implications of this. "Wait... a double-team for Tania? Supreme!"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'M OUT.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNceaTmO-_tHXBuzChu3_E_7WTmy_5X19VA7z3DVslULuvsNSuNhlLHJB_PStxEAb3PbL_a1rPPn2k3EpTKTuq8GtNJde54j6Ui-PEtJVWzWCAsPz0zQncQtcOVw-MijZngNzsSc9qInT9/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25289%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNceaTmO-_tHXBuzChu3_E_7WTmy_5X19VA7z3DVslULuvsNSuNhlLHJB_PStxEAb3PbL_a1rPPn2k3EpTKTuq8GtNJde54j6Ui-PEtJVWzWCAsPz0zQncQtcOVw-MijZngNzsSc9qInT9/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25289%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Supreeeeeme!" he says as he slides into bed.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlM78pohl-XRHlxvoy2Kcx4VQuD5muwOVZ5ZLrTJN31znygmuQ4HYH6WMlQtLS7P2iDAQGsadSOIbcYBMdbZBsibg9rSvqk0xQOaSc7rjuv3aaea72PfBeqo9YFqJ-sgjvhNgha5wt3U0/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252810%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlM78pohl-XRHlxvoy2Kcx4VQuD5muwOVZ5ZLrTJN31znygmuQ4HYH6WMlQtLS7P2iDAQGsadSOIbcYBMdbZBsibg9rSvqk0xQOaSc7rjuv3aaea72PfBeqo9YFqJ-sgjvhNgha5wt3U0/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252810%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Real-World Spike is NOT happy to see his alternate self stumbling in here. They need to re-combine like Carver did to create a new Super-Namek, but Real-World Spike (correctly?) realizes this might mean he ceases to exist.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdHvRfLVNFbVlwO_0FK5K5uschZd5UEtzS7AmswpptP6gI44-NophRF7Y5WG6iXUjRbi_ZIxdxdb51KhVOMz9CwvVBfQ9oRxfBlVr62Mw1tBV_ijblFuQau-tMfxFPk1vJ-kdFi8Rogb0/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252811%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdHvRfLVNFbVlwO_0FK5K5uschZd5UEtzS7AmswpptP6gI44-NophRF7Y5WG6iXUjRbi_ZIxdxdb51KhVOMz9CwvVBfQ9oRxfBlVr62Mw1tBV_ijblFuQau-tMfxFPk1vJ-kdFi8Rogb0/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252811%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Upon further discussion, they figure out the nexus point that divided the worlds. The fight with Murdaw. In one world, Murdaw won. In the other version of events, Murdaw didn't win.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...except wasn't there a difference between the worlds pre-Murdaw?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcVFsWcm6TMbb_xAxcvrsrbLDzwIHj1VIpwiUzn7beuUQIoz7yyxIGsqy9_KicavE0G_M8IrQR-jxMGbTrDKK0AW2-C8a2hPvbNLslXQU7muwK5nz8zI2HnLmSRHAFo8L2b1grGzg766Z/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxcVFsWcm6TMbb_xAxcvrsrbLDzwIHj1VIpwiUzn7beuUQIoz7yyxIGsqy9_KicavE0G_M8IrQR-jxMGbTrDKK0AW2-C8a2hPvbNLslXQU7muwK5nz8zI2HnLmSRHAFo8L2b1grGzg766Z/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25281%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>We meet a strangely familiar merchant here.</div><div><br /></div><div>"I was a studly studmuffin. It was I, the hard drive with the highest RAM and the banana in your fruit bowl of love."</div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p>Wait a minute...Taloon? COULD IT BE?</p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKL2XwH4FjFZf642jnTBfYIZJEVR6kfO1OQ4RiQDo7cG4UPt_mGGxVp3SOeMwi1Ff2Vg6FfA4Do3bOOUBtCXTYBgOeH-9uhFctpRKxvErmKlRXhE80cwhej5jSAmRKW7n91FbowHfo64EZ/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252812%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKL2XwH4FjFZf642jnTBfYIZJEVR6kfO1OQ4RiQDo7cG4UPt_mGGxVp3SOeMwi1Ff2Vg6FfA4Do3bOOUBtCXTYBgOeH-9uhFctpRKxvErmKlRXhE80cwhej5jSAmRKW7n91FbowHfo64EZ/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252812%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hold that thought, as the village is under attack by demonic hordes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-A7efhZa5aKYAZkgtsSguxiTTcs42L3uLzdHAuXPhYt14grwqio4rsUesxK5A-TwAuaOZEO5TGa1_TZz8Gj88FPYJgw7u4IkanEqCtR8qL82K5W1pPF3Av_5C7MSnih58fVZxQqajlYZ/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252813%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjq-A7efhZa5aKYAZkgtsSguxiTTcs42L3uLzdHAuXPhYt14grwqio4rsUesxK5A-TwAuaOZEO5TGa1_TZz8Gj88FPYJgw7u4IkanEqCtR8qL82K5W1pPF3Av_5C7MSnih58fVZxQqajlYZ/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252813%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Don't worry Buddy, I wasn't gonna help you anyway.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Guy is over here like "man, F my own girlfriend, someone save TANIA"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0G6F0wbtoRsmvFj2N4LatNOMXLxnOL107RhXOUFjcWLDcGls-lfUpfoOcnM-6pjHqlN_e_5HaWEbCRc18psYYp_wXK_7VQ_BaTSNfgqo2QwZcnEifUzfO8hqcBiImXCUMPKMvg3IHaup/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252814%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm0G6F0wbtoRsmvFj2N4LatNOMXLxnOL107RhXOUFjcWLDcGls-lfUpfoOcnM-6pjHqlN_e_5HaWEbCRc18psYYp_wXK_7VQ_BaTSNfgqo2QwZcnEifUzfO8hqcBiImXCUMPKMvg3IHaup/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252814%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">You know you can just jump over the counter, right? I know not every bartender is as cool as Tifa is, but come on.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRXCyXhUNlcDiMC-smdRpczrFPfDB89d11okvzhazpPQmLUr4l3hl0S2PEi51-crrQmvTCFCWZXYH8U27Iq4_1rtRcrB5I2h9t5Tz3QOALMX6WqCWwPrgxz_PsejyT69YOc74ihKWU723/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252815%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjRXCyXhUNlcDiMC-smdRpczrFPfDB89d11okvzhazpPQmLUr4l3hl0S2PEi51-crrQmvTCFCWZXYH8U27Iq4_1rtRcrB5I2h9t5Tz3QOALMX6WqCWwPrgxz_PsejyT69YOc74ihKWU723/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252815%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The other Spike is fighting a boss, but he can't quite win by himself. It's like when Bolo crushed one of the Jean-Claudes in <i>Double Impact</i>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhC6ql8r8BaCNMSnQGvzyvJsNVNzoPXU_V50QsDzIWatU-_lXO4mv5xSZPqo3JzjUbyPA_W7NuOzUXALl7LycFb4UwE3bJvd3M_A_-UAzoJkghDWnX-vpq6wjBBkqti7oad8CfzKG5zE7/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252816%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBhC6ql8r8BaCNMSnQGvzyvJsNVNzoPXU_V50QsDzIWatU-_lXO4mv5xSZPqo3JzjUbyPA_W7NuOzUXALl7LycFb4UwE3bJvd3M_A_-UAzoJkghDWnX-vpq6wjBBkqti7oad8CfzKG5zE7/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252816%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's right. We must do as the Nameks do.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpUDbv8cuKuRsHqnHVbQ9HU0MtVC3XAcP8GJGTtiu-Drx1lGAYqN7J154SEuuU1FkIpX_PI0f5RDy0xg9I-0-p_doj6d-YxzRuCqBAkfsJbCzCSq0AAHaWb9GA6Rwn1RabfvzTEYaNtpS/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252817%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfpUDbv8cuKuRsHqnHVbQ9HU0MtVC3XAcP8GJGTtiu-Drx1lGAYqN7J154SEuuU1FkIpX_PI0f5RDy0xg9I-0-p_doj6d-YxzRuCqBAkfsJbCzCSq0AAHaWb9GA6Rwn1RabfvzTEYaNtpS/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252817%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">"I'm an honest to God prince!" says the other Spike. That's all well and good, but we have to hurry.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJiAs7T4qRLHn5KQwoZathKJ3oWL6tQwo9Cs6ShxrCek4nclGMP05OrX-61i-Qw966SyLFh3jhob1rnuD5bs_jekDdc6cB4Ax7Cy8SOKodgWGuqc-MAoDliWCE1GdLoPoLcDnPHVQ4ayx/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252818%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzJiAs7T4qRLHn5KQwoZathKJ3oWL6tQwo9Cs6ShxrCek4nclGMP05OrX-61i-Qw966SyLFh3jhob1rnuD5bs_jekDdc6cB4Ax7Cy8SOKodgWGuqc-MAoDliWCE1GdLoPoLcDnPHVQ4ayx/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252818%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">They combine and become one single person, now supposedly much more powerful than before.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczBNjKxPk0CKif28ASlhyphenhyphenhjxTl5oH7uUqc2rzk79dg0LjqdjM9tGExff-mVVrISYlFwV27Hm5o-HH6-VzF9n4Ap6Fm7ee7VFArAbwjZVlLIA172DZcaSzQGeOXbPDCiRucqGXEFgJ0Ec_/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252819%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczBNjKxPk0CKif28ASlhyphenhyphenhjxTl5oH7uUqc2rzk79dg0LjqdjM9tGExff-mVVrISYlFwV27Hm5o-HH6-VzF9n4Ap6Fm7ee7VFArAbwjZVlLIA172DZcaSzQGeOXbPDCiRucqGXEFgJ0Ec_/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252819%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">In practice, there's really no difference in stats, you just learn Zap.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...which you already have if you acquired the Hero class in advance, which to be fair most players probably don't.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Either way, a pretty anemic powerup. At the very least it could have given you a unique ability not found in any classes, like HealUsAll or something else.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJD47Zo6dxq9Gjfm91Jn4VGQPxhMuTALJDv1yPEJ_MWtiiTdtejBmtA2sEs7DasYDWy6vx3UNBn6eBdTQkru-1VBtQYQumcSoZ-J-oF6D6Q8EJfsIxv-urFfEhY_mukOwBsfW9qzUpFcX3/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252820%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJD47Zo6dxq9Gjfm91Jn4VGQPxhMuTALJDv1yPEJ_MWtiiTdtejBmtA2sEs7DasYDWy6vx3UNBn6eBdTQkru-1VBtQYQumcSoZ-J-oF6D6Q8EJfsIxv-urFfEhY_mukOwBsfW9qzUpFcX3/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252820%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">As she says this, Ashlynn nonchalantly reaches over and begins unbuttoning his shirt while he quietly tries to swat her hands away without making a scene.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBxcbncQmfKoe8sDv8w1xu3yrhrPNrLvAj_cqY6Ys7ZDNYkfj1VRUDd4Df9d5FZjWjubuifTLk6zF5pIsPCK33AzdXg-zB7CA_Fu15mKNsU3j4c681Z5W4RQtSIr3Fk3xUn-m4KAPkJsY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252821%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtBxcbncQmfKoe8sDv8w1xu3yrhrPNrLvAj_cqY6Ys7ZDNYkfj1VRUDd4Df9d5FZjWjubuifTLk6zF5pIsPCK33AzdXg-zB7CA_Fu15mKNsU3j4c681Z5W4RQtSIr3Fk3xUn-m4KAPkJsY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252821%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That thought is interrupted by a BOSS FIGHT. Well, it isn't much of a boss fight, and keels over quickly.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXb-tmSq-ZO3cJNS4rVoZazFpu4oRXnIy7CVNw1f16KTbmNZec1rrVzN0sNprk9y8JrKcEZZY2k2aDhe5eqEZqpkxmc1KLhS3xKwYto2OuMaYWdbautWvxIqLaHseT29AizBk2SEuhYzYh/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252822%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXb-tmSq-ZO3cJNS4rVoZazFpu4oRXnIy7CVNw1f16KTbmNZec1rrVzN0sNprk9y8JrKcEZZY2k2aDhe5eqEZqpkxmc1KLhS3xKwYto2OuMaYWdbautWvxIqLaHseT29AizBk2SEuhYzYh/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252822%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Tania doesn't recognize Spike's new, combined personality as being the guy she's known all this time. Or maybe that guy really is gone, fully absorbed by the main Spike. Either way, she doesn't want us around.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Just GO, adopted bro!" she says before leaving in a sexually-frustrated huff.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg47XIrEXRWmsbrjDCxs3ayjoqVbc2rHSlDxuyVh75Klkm4yS0CNB51OetPQbOQ3RroP0PIf3PbnVs7-UeX1h7_u4cIaPtTcOBrel7J4lfUhmh5F8eBxaEdBnmOG8WPRLYKMTAHY2YyxBPK/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252823%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg47XIrEXRWmsbrjDCxs3ayjoqVbc2rHSlDxuyVh75Klkm4yS0CNB51OetPQbOQ3RroP0PIf3PbnVs7-UeX1h7_u4cIaPtTcOBrel7J4lfUhmh5F8eBxaEdBnmOG8WPRLYKMTAHY2YyxBPK/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252823%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Where were you during all the fighting? Hiding under a bush? Bone spurs my ass!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In other news I've realized lately that scythes are my new favorite weapon in games. I wish more games had them! <i>Bloodborne</i> has a great scythe but I don't think I've ever used or specced for it.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOB45rc8f33qyBwWYMflDyNSu1mndN0XX-M_Ry5U6u5d_9ZKqbtcy7nZtgasJVa7jYy7CCM_8HL4jo5_Si2tbRVUg9g_i-i4uCzmSrX7gNCHMOlWqWSRGjHY5yMsRiieg9iDMwUq6-LG8h/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252824%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOB45rc8f33qyBwWYMflDyNSu1mndN0XX-M_Ry5U6u5d_9ZKqbtcy7nZtgasJVa7jYy7CCM_8HL4jo5_Si2tbRVUg9g_i-i4uCzmSrX7gNCHMOlWqWSRGjHY5yMsRiieg9iDMwUq6-LG8h/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252824%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">O_O >_> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3ZfC1-fFZEHskAdsMpSorcLVCc3NC64YkXOyv-5F5zqAYMukyRKc4m_r7PhEbRmnhzm2ZEnjL-ZxmThwL6-q5blb9OPqWHGwUwqqu7SK_jgVuzgCCjXweTmzs15RrlecfGXTgLgf1zez/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD3ZfC1-fFZEHskAdsMpSorcLVCc3NC64YkXOyv-5F5zqAYMukyRKc4m_r7PhEbRmnhzm2ZEnjL-ZxmThwL6-q5blb9OPqWHGwUwqqu7SK_jgVuzgCCjXweTmzs15RrlecfGXTgLgf1zez/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25281%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">King Somnus now tells us what the deal is with Spike in the world where he lost the Murdaw fight. I'm just confused at this point. Is any of this backed by any real-world science?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisaQ54GAqI7zT1ud6PKOPNyqLR_35ZLGdUuqLAu6-kQonkC6qulqfgGAmijQKpEuu9kUM8u1EHED0PcuCaHcGjWqiGVT6L4utGPyM5s9ilX4sqvi9yH3RkunxuF6E0W9BTmM7cgPonaFl/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25283%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgisaQ54GAqI7zT1ud6PKOPNyqLR_35ZLGdUuqLAu6-kQonkC6qulqfgGAmijQKpEuu9kUM8u1EHED0PcuCaHcGjWqiGVT6L4utGPyM5s9ilX4sqvi9yH3RkunxuF6E0W9BTmM7cgPonaFl/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25283%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sounds like Fusion Spike only kept the memories of one of them. So the other one basically just ceased to exist?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT24C1c8RKLv4oZ-IyP3cZDySjmdBIB0GLT3-lcg1FoVnI4OQXorD5F_G73uLlZWtayiRsZ5WOm3Is6toXxalxwpDQOf-voG0UEcds-qqWlS76ewjQzDwapTA_2COjgihY2geNr0BKBxh/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixT24C1c8RKLv4oZ-IyP3cZDySjmdBIB0GLT3-lcg1FoVnI4OQXorD5F_G73uLlZWtayiRsZ5WOm3Is6toXxalxwpDQOf-voG0UEcds-qqWlS76ewjQzDwapTA_2COjgihY2geNr0BKBxh/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25284%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">That gets us the next legendary equipment. Now that we've gotten all three armors, it's time to get the sword.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNjcAssWMBcqY5sP5XuOQU40c2xk0vKfR91rbs9eIupSqvdX2GDDa9_pLbOfyQsvBnU9Szz0DsdT2hMoz4fz9aGqflWIetwBSh12qePamGyCLUPegsdnwFkidsXAzYGZvJ6Gp9qTXfcdl/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25285%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNjcAssWMBcqY5sP5XuOQU40c2xk0vKfR91rbs9eIupSqvdX2GDDa9_pLbOfyQsvBnU9Szz0DsdT2hMoz4fz9aGqflWIetwBSh12qePamGyCLUPegsdnwFkidsXAzYGZvJ6Gp9qTXfcdl/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25285%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Welda has been toiling long and hard over the forge, shedding clothes to stay cool as she hammers away, all sweaty and glistening.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">...I don't know why we don't see more female blacksmiths in things. They're so hot.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuzDMX9v9IcHPCFfLCd43ejyVXyKEu8Dhw9edRBzzRKsf8wC3KyqhrGNeXXGmFE0Esur-R8RqRLNGiNl54c8xUzg3vHvUun_b0swfcTMoAarfXQtgbA3UcL2fScs6AQkhzujjrXqH2PTY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25286%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPuzDMX9v9IcHPCFfLCd43ejyVXyKEu8Dhw9edRBzzRKsf8wC3KyqhrGNeXXGmFE0Esur-R8RqRLNGiNl54c8xUzg3vHvUun_b0swfcTMoAarfXQtgbA3UcL2fScs6AQkhzujjrXqH2PTY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25286%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The ultimate sword, rivaled only by the ultra-rare Metal King Sword as usual.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFMfydWpzGy3QniDAMQXBlNq9PeX1wC8kHvuX2yVws7S32vQjytH6C8XlLWegvBvctMkVKktdV0IgvFhtlO1JnFaKtKGMo2Jr1dZi13Abybl9lBFRwOiPgr5bV3AFkD-Rp1JEfUYPsjZY/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25287%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBFMfydWpzGy3QniDAMQXBlNq9PeX1wC8kHvuX2yVws7S32vQjytH6C8XlLWegvBvctMkVKktdV0IgvFhtlO1JnFaKtKGMo2Jr1dZi13Abybl9lBFRwOiPgr5bV3AFkD-Rp1JEfUYPsjZY/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25287%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is a HUGE upgrade for the hero over store-bought equipment.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5G1tQyofppGj2CeXGP0RLhYo4BU0zKPk4Ruue-KEUb5xGoQ0JAvRDMpFXy-OxOSW_My6RIGPfJbrepjzaG7IRUJmHOK0QH3D48fhUeDQeT1un9SMhNkGMeEiGpUuARu5aQXTDC0mHU8Gs/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25288%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5G1tQyofppGj2CeXGP0RLhYo4BU0zKPk4Ruue-KEUb5xGoQ0JAvRDMpFXy-OxOSW_My6RIGPfJbrepjzaG7IRUJmHOK0QH3D48fhUeDQeT1un9SMhNkGMeEiGpUuARu5aQXTDC0mHU8Gs/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25288%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our next step? Raising Stormsgate Citadel. I think this is actually Zenithia Palace, and like the Zenithian equipment, it has a different name here.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELAXuFSppqytLYtnoS47uTVHK_dBn9C8HG18TY2R2hZM5S5pHAxE7QZqbVQ-HBZvs5CGGzcikDpiW26-Gc0_0T5EKLMFncEPT59MRNPX00LKCb5ZvNaP9pgiD4oo6GW4Y1HbtYqFkvovN/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%25289%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELAXuFSppqytLYtnoS47uTVHK_dBn9C8HG18TY2R2hZM5S5pHAxE7QZqbVQ-HBZvs5CGGzcikDpiW26-Gc0_0T5EKLMFncEPT59MRNPX00LKCb5ZvNaP9pgiD4oo6GW4Y1HbtYqFkvovN/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%25289%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Before you can infiltrate the palace and clear it of bad guys, you have to actually FIGHT THE CITADEL.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1z9UcihiHcKbhNOp5zW8tzpzdhwRE1b5rCoe7UJzep21SMxtDldnNvMfzg6gbhytBOuVIVf3GaUEUYqHmJTNywfyQkXGSVZZtYHlzYIZFuPaJNXu6LpJxeIggv0o_7O9LFNvd3reZwMj/s509/Stormsgate+Citadel+Boss+Fight.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="509" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1z9UcihiHcKbhNOp5zW8tzpzdhwRE1b5rCoe7UJzep21SMxtDldnNvMfzg6gbhytBOuVIVf3GaUEUYqHmJTNywfyQkXGSVZZtYHlzYIZFuPaJNXu6LpJxeIggv0o_7O9LFNvd3reZwMj/w320-h240/Stormsgate+Citadel+Boss+Fight.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's the DS version. As you can see, the enemy model resolution isn't that different between it and the phone version. And I really like how the DS version shows your character portraits onscreen (well, in a way you can actually see them). The phone version sure is convenient though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3AuGHhxwUCYKNlBUzSe6YL8VYMTyvk3b1zX32tc4CpNT1kL9sTG4JMdLyZsdsqVtOGahXPhyMq0NsNjzM6QLNLVS53fTTmxj88U7Ebfg5W1tVnGlhT9rnGh3WjtIsGZXp5_OTfUBPqYH/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252810%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3AuGHhxwUCYKNlBUzSe6YL8VYMTyvk3b1zX32tc4CpNT1kL9sTG4JMdLyZsdsqVtOGahXPhyMq0NsNjzM6QLNLVS53fTTmxj88U7Ebfg5W1tVnGlhT9rnGh3WjtIsGZXp5_OTfUBPqYH/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252810%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After that, you can board the flying citadel. There are monster minions here, but no one attacks you. They're on a strict stand down order.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80oGpDOfBgQUaZrnQwbvuXgl5MQ8lOqPK5-LnNq3yAtWLHwLo2iBzzSZ8kMCqVH7IWrVCAFu4SF0K04k_UYsTk6R4nGxy7g0ZorekL3S1hX_IN7mrc_EJTmTkZ2eTWVv56Z2ytiZ7EPGP/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252811%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80oGpDOfBgQUaZrnQwbvuXgl5MQ8lOqPK5-LnNq3yAtWLHwLo2iBzzSZ8kMCqVH7IWrVCAFu4SF0K04k_UYsTk6R4nGxy7g0ZorekL3S1hX_IN7mrc_EJTmTkZ2eTWVv56Z2ytiZ7EPGP/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252811%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">The issuer of that order? Dhuran, the strongest of the four archfiends in this game. By far. He makes Maou Mudo, Jamirus, and Graco look like a bunch of buffoons.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvkxQ9yBn5HP3GsEB4l8M6Wtse_9ldTRtnBPif8972a7EeDnSMB9G-PJn9YYIDRFGR5Bv-AG_KW39Z6ot7oirRKF9e-eKQZx9L7ebsIg8qXDZ0hAoosez-X54YyzhUQbLiPJ1ASizHAE8/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252814%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZvkxQ9yBn5HP3GsEB4l8M6Wtse_9ldTRtnBPif8972a7EeDnSMB9G-PJn9YYIDRFGR5Bv-AG_KW39Z6ot7oirRKF9e-eKQZx9L7ebsIg8qXDZ0hAoosez-X54YyzhUQbLiPJ1ASizHAE8/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252814%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Before we battle him, we must first battle...Terry? And he gave his soul up seeking more power? Wat?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvhtp4U0gssbmgVtEkk3LBnmJqRCdDd5GTaWuCxRU5IIyMqtx5QbPMaWEYAbqDqjk8jgROstiLzl304yj_dKCZxvmouDwZdUUe8MsdG6_N8-MLYuupxXVP0ia6v6BfksrfJWOovDQd0gG/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252815%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvhtp4U0gssbmgVtEkk3LBnmJqRCdDd5GTaWuCxRU5IIyMqtx5QbPMaWEYAbqDqjk8jgROstiLzl304yj_dKCZxvmouDwZdUUe8MsdG6_N8-MLYuupxXVP0ia6v6BfksrfJWOovDQd0gG/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252815%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry is a formidable opponent, as strong as any boss up to this point. Which makes it very good that...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1O4t3WJcngOwDhiFotfAVy9Q2VpegCqlOVuIUUOWKMGGYc4uEs8dkzw55i-6CBUbZdmHbj-GsB31RCth9aqYsLUl1EVywO8K2Oq_w21_v3HZiPvkJb54B9x84FI3Pogq-dPl9Wn4GWJDM/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252816%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1O4t3WJcngOwDhiFotfAVy9Q2VpegCqlOVuIUUOWKMGGYc4uEs8dkzw55i-6CBUbZdmHbj-GsB31RCth9aqYsLUl1EVywO8K2Oq_w21_v3HZiPvkJb54B9x84FI3Pogq-dPl9Wn4GWJDM/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252816%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...Dhuran heals you right before the next fight, which is of course with him. Yeah, just like Rubicante, who happens to be the leader of his own gang of four archfiends. Interesting. It might even be on purpose, since Dhuran is fire-elemental and the other 3 archfiends each relied on a different element - Gracos water, Jamiras air, Mudo earth. It isn't as pronounced as it is in <i>FFIV</i> though.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcp0O9UfRHSH55jlqygk2xndsWGyZTW2tn5j_R0nPZe_xzqyYYAdBtzthS2esP8wT1fCf5_dezu04_zHP1WevQqoTbf7WzKvNUjuer2TsvLgyTf_8XSELKaGXtZ9OEkhDzq_0PJHIev4gd/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252817%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcp0O9UfRHSH55jlqygk2xndsWGyZTW2tn5j_R0nPZe_xzqyYYAdBtzthS2esP8wT1fCf5_dezu04_zHP1WevQqoTbf7WzKvNUjuer2TsvLgyTf_8XSELKaGXtZ9OEkhDzq_0PJHIev4gd/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252817%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Dhuran is a total badass, and easily the strongest boss to this point. However, again, I'm well over-prepared for this in terms of levels and classes.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAAfk7r9NMtnG97hMIHNL0PZLtJp9zmBGzslLceyJTFANGapQf_gpwneZTf-UpgtgKDLzMQJVgSK_V4ivapiZhp1_mOfrWeN443kYLHsOqkbPiDqtNW-RP9VpP-dOOR8K7hm8E1Tz_LeE/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252818%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAAfk7r9NMtnG97hMIHNL0PZLtJp9zmBGzslLceyJTFANGapQf_gpwneZTf-UpgtgKDLzMQJVgSK_V4ivapiZhp1_mOfrWeN443kYLHsOqkbPiDqtNW-RP9VpP-dOOR8K7hm8E1Tz_LeE/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252818%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">But wait! He now reveals that the four archfiends answer to a Higher Power.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9rVC_X-byT8QDRxK8a5CYwKOtNP4guFKXLvYtR7k5IG8SzPuZ2oNQt6kCub_steLhs7DrmtbMBFrtz6Fh-4RtkbSfulSnXIPJnSqUD1qI_VGcGSSVdOQlsvqBzQkI35OM-uNqGt0lHHX/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252819%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9rVC_X-byT8QDRxK8a5CYwKOtNP4guFKXLvYtR7k5IG8SzPuZ2oNQt6kCub_steLhs7DrmtbMBFrtz6Fh-4RtkbSfulSnXIPJnSqUD1qI_VGcGSSVdOQlsvqBzQkI35OM-uNqGt0lHHX/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252819%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Mortamor, known in the Super Famicom version as Deathtamoor...which is a much cooler name</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybGZLm7OhLDbYvWxIG9XEkuv1sUhOAvzUyG6UcioLd0CiAa4J7-5k-nA2vWxDY-cEyOQ7w40N75fdNbIRiHjnH8nPY8WzXtp9GB1dlNyvkZ6L-dNXATpbARkPSHNdev9NFtVlZz253Pys/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252820%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjybGZLm7OhLDbYvWxIG9XEkuv1sUhOAvzUyG6UcioLd0CiAa4J7-5k-nA2vWxDY-cEyOQ7w40N75fdNbIRiHjnH8nPY8WzXtp9GB1dlNyvkZ6L-dNXATpbARkPSHNdev9NFtVlZz253Pys/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252820%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Terry now joins the party, and it turns out he's Milly's brother. Ashlynn immediately starts trying to take his shoes off and the other heroes have to intervene again.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhurOYI64oS2QUqbd0RgoCmNYkQ6ZAnWtNdy4Vft8xQ3sCZR0fpBxVN-FHTaVohCB5KIFc5VIClxujNKj3R5j-tQFnejXIRJ_5BgSg8hQhHFV8W99N2UTKAs8284KjLGGYryTAAv1e2slWm/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252821%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhurOYI64oS2QUqbd0RgoCmNYkQ6ZAnWtNdy4Vft8xQ3sCZR0fpBxVN-FHTaVohCB5KIFc5VIClxujNKj3R5j-tQFnejXIRJ_5BgSg8hQhHFV8W99N2UTKAs8284KjLGGYryTAAv1e2slWm/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252821%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next we recruit the game's strongest character, noted dragon Lizzie. Well, strongest is relative, and at this point she'll never catch up to a class-maxed Carver. Either way, Lizzie is a worthy addition to the group. She has the Dragon class, aka one of the two secret classes, and can dish out pretty decent damage. She also gets the all-important Kazing (Life 2) and combined with her high HP she's good for recovering if a fight goes south.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh293DykQeIZeuG5KmJiGczoDd96fEQP11MzoQEH2azPlMbuMKOflqkswSiLysbhgvI09mQwGF-VMoCgkgdDOEmPDkkYzcC_7lC-f2ZjDhQ4HTM-jf2pvhvYRNMlpwkSUQpGHgTjQ7satBx/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252823%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh293DykQeIZeuG5KmJiGczoDd96fEQP11MzoQEH2azPlMbuMKOflqkswSiLysbhgvI09mQwGF-VMoCgkgdDOEmPDkkYzcC_7lC-f2ZjDhQ4HTM-jf2pvhvYRNMlpwkSUQpGHgTjQ7satBx/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252823%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Next up, the citadel in the other world is grounded so we can go on in.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhcsrq0UQJlmGXw61-yQ5A-aWl46apwl-FS2Nz0eoSrfx1Ysq0wesgZS4h9p_cZYUk3L9rFFPL3qPJjw9cMgt2cfj59NKORYz3L1y422561EMTHUS9eWGgycvPKFmnvEmaGULGyDdNGEs/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252824%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhcsrq0UQJlmGXw61-yQ5A-aWl46apwl-FS2Nz0eoSrfx1Ysq0wesgZS4h9p_cZYUk3L9rFFPL3qPJjw9cMgt2cfj59NKORYz3L1y422561EMTHUS9eWGgycvPKFmnvEmaGULGyDdNGEs/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252824%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">This gets us to the next real dungeon, a tower on an island. This is a major dungeon, probably the biggest in a while.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkukhLQrghXNyjm9eAi046QAggsnCoc-EqvmS3p6kwPE49UCAgZ1UyhpfZkcau09b_9t0hM2-8KJz-Z8z7YwWRa3vi2uzpVEpd2ekC-AHP9-Y9Re1WMq3RuyLUJPqwqpdEQTbM6RH8_Fpt/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252826%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkukhLQrghXNyjm9eAi046QAggsnCoc-EqvmS3p6kwPE49UCAgZ1UyhpfZkcau09b_9t0hM2-8KJz-Z8z7YwWRa3vi2uzpVEpd2ekC-AHP9-Y9Re1WMq3RuyLUJPqwqpdEQTbM6RH8_Fpt/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252826%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Not much to this one except that it's full of damaging floor tiles.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEa3xIrhx0ytrR8oOl_gelRaZdU1xRM0Te9MW0czgnkczHft9FJHQ2Tzynp8k6FI-kmmlH0CadjRtR4apceEDZ4_SpDV9rL3H_4oSCWiU4otIyRccA7yZPhUABocQb2bCQucPOyS4LYoKH/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252827%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEa3xIrhx0ytrR8oOl_gelRaZdU1xRM0Te9MW0czgnkczHft9FJHQ2Tzynp8k6FI-kmmlH0CadjRtR4apceEDZ4_SpDV9rL3H_4oSCWiU4otIyRccA7yZPhUABocQb2bCQucPOyS4LYoKH/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252827%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">At the top is this easy boss. Some of the bosses in this game are absolute jokes, while others get pretty intense.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFrJVrZnrVGoG77ZtepTUt1ASnfYFqFQQYsZPeXm7PV2QHrM4Gn7jjPKM8DmeTnIXmxj-IWYqMHJUbPw3_qB09vSaHC5ZZBtocBLHU0PlRXxF2D8HtROUZpp_f9ePXBo2z1bIdHTWN-dgx/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252829%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFrJVrZnrVGoG77ZtepTUt1ASnfYFqFQQYsZPeXm7PV2QHrM4Gn7jjPKM8DmeTnIXmxj-IWYqMHJUbPw3_qB09vSaHC5ZZBtocBLHU0PlRXxF2D8HtROUZpp_f9ePXBo2z1bIdHTWN-dgx/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252829%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Holy light shines down from the heavens, and we finally obtain...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeipBRUQZ8dSOAY7A27FgMdjTsT-cLfUMnuJ-PHZBvu-v4silhG1dEVI26SW74l7iuVnAr__SN9WhlRmz1ynsn1C8PguOMfkcsYJre03z-Uzh9lIiNRsiGJ4x29_NRWABSvhoSSoZgr561/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252830%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeipBRUQZ8dSOAY7A27FgMdjTsT-cLfUMnuJ-PHZBvu-v4silhG1dEVI26SW74l7iuVnAr__SN9WhlRmz1ynsn1C8PguOMfkcsYJre03z-Uzh9lIiNRsiGJ4x29_NRWABSvhoSSoZgr561/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252830%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...pegasus, the flying horse. Now we can travel ANYWHERE in either world, regardless of terrain or obstacles. This is such a magical moment in this game because the overworld is a bit of a nightmare for easy traveling.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-uY4l-u7NAYJxCKTB4FReIpLqIReWpg11ANknBR__0L_HvV15NiwZ39CxaqmKiYQMfBVeMrmNJjDfCW_2afqyH_tBPgGVGLaxJNmqAAKPWPLsPT9syqc_APyckQLfsgJhFsTMW3u_cEW/s2542/Dragon+Quest+6+%252831%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2542" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-uY4l-u7NAYJxCKTB4FReIpLqIReWpg11ANknBR__0L_HvV15NiwZ39CxaqmKiYQMfBVeMrmNJjDfCW_2afqyH_tBPgGVGLaxJNmqAAKPWPLsPT9syqc_APyckQLfsgJhFsTMW3u_cEW/w312-h640/Dragon+Quest+6+%252831%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">It also looks super-cool. I might actually prefer this over Lamia. Almost there.</div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest" target="_blank">Other Dragon Quest Posts</a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2020/03/dragon-quest-master-post.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">The Dragon Quest Master Post</a></p><p><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8346508933381337699.post-15215367791855019952024-01-25T18:08:00.005-05:002024-02-16T16:03:30.447-05:00The 1000 Games I've Beaten (#169 - 181)<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlb3psXwkoh1H3ZQZT7YYzbYUC5BFU8vHhdw0Fvx2wnu5Z68yykjO_HT0ukWmjUWBLWtXDjWMzks2Fv9y0MRlec-29idriRoBuRwPiJfsMwVBgvwGnkicf0UDZLj8val9e2IOQlkm48Xu2Pwk6HlVEIyGlffED_FxI3w4p3-drdZ4uh4S-Xz_sJHhBDA-/s256/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlb3psXwkoh1H3ZQZT7YYzbYUC5BFU8vHhdw0Fvx2wnu5Z68yykjO_HT0ukWmjUWBLWtXDjWMzks2Fv9y0MRlec-29idriRoBuRwPiJfsMwVBgvwGnkicf0UDZLj8val9e2IOQlkm48Xu2Pwk6HlVEIyGlffED_FxI3w4p3-drdZ4uh4S-Xz_sJHhBDA-/w400-h350/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">#169 Dragon Warrior 4 (NES) – Winter 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">Today's post is going to cover the entirety of 2001, a year where I finished 13 games. So that fits nicely inside of the year. <i>DQ4</i> is one I was looking forward to for a while. I emulated the first three over the previous several years so of course I was going to continue the series. This was the first thing I played in 2001 and it was a fantastic time. </p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggP98DoP1MsnOJNXpSd4sCMJD2hZfd_CUtHd8t2VknXa8A34XVXrLeWowyiUmcZaxkiIGk4RiAppyHAYZsTeZr98tWgPdYa2W9ZPDNpcViKW-GrOuiRHwhtQwT7GmQnRr0JVcWszYH3y4E1HmbhyphenhyphenTWmpvpOtYq9sHhhwANowo4nKfveB5q3pLiqwn0aXpf/s256/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20301.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggP98DoP1MsnOJNXpSd4sCMJD2hZfd_CUtHd8t2VknXa8A34XVXrLeWowyiUmcZaxkiIGk4RiAppyHAYZsTeZr98tWgPdYa2W9ZPDNpcViKW-GrOuiRHwhtQwT7GmQnRr0JVcWszYH3y4E1HmbhyphenhyphenTWmpvpOtYq9sHhhwANowo4nKfveB5q3pLiqwn0aXpf/w400-h350/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20301.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Personally I might even put this and <i>DQ3</i> as the best games on the NES (tied). While I prefer the classes of the third game now, for a long time <i>DQ4</i> was where it was at. It's so smooth around the edges and the characters are very memorable. If you're not gonna do class choices, the least you can do is have good characters, and this game delivers. I also like the villain, Saro, who might well be the best villain the series has ever delivered. You can sort of feel his pain as he deals with shitty people and becomes disillusioned into villainhood.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6oAKzh9U-ABD7Maudgj5QWQVhbM9VdScZM4JGDFK3fqcrJnIkoRzCR2_Vgl4yAu9SV9ysfp2NoqyIjLO2Xd1DZrazMt_8rxS7no7ph_soSfvrxTgWCRNfx7G7bma90IQu2gN3GhpCBRhwE2g-PJ5RdvoMxW7Gz-453eR5JePWIHtL5efT7W-DiKrVz9A/s256/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20286.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6oAKzh9U-ABD7Maudgj5QWQVhbM9VdScZM4JGDFK3fqcrJnIkoRzCR2_Vgl4yAu9SV9ysfp2NoqyIjLO2Xd1DZrazMt_8rxS7no7ph_soSfvrxTgWCRNfx7G7bma90IQu2gN3GhpCBRhwE2g-PJ5RdvoMxW7Gz-453eR5JePWIHtL5efT7W-DiKrVz9A/w400-h350/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20286.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The one downside to this game is that most of the party members are CPU-controlled and you only get to directly pilot the main hero. This can be a real issue at times when characters just totally stop doing their jobs.</div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Character: Taloon. The man died as he lived: Waist-deep in poon.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNlCRaSU3FSY8sj3YcvySL-TU6I4BL1Otd2RH1chX65emrRhAZAVB7GqasXDlwejnbQ3TduH4eVnyqP2p8TuxQXV2HNkVgTBmk_2mVBy-_Ukwbqz9lCRTMjrWPzSRU6EopjmBhnCoNz02Xp-ywDbiBQ7fT5xRfP6axDq_q27Mq3byHtvX1Fv8IIuBDyDx/s256/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20030.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNlCRaSU3FSY8sj3YcvySL-TU6I4BL1Otd2RH1chX65emrRhAZAVB7GqasXDlwejnbQ3TduH4eVnyqP2p8TuxQXV2HNkVgTBmk_2mVBy-_Ukwbqz9lCRTMjrWPzSRU6EopjmBhnCoNz02Xp-ywDbiBQ7fT5xRfP6axDq_q27Mq3byHtvX1Fv8IIuBDyDx/w400-h350/RAW%20is%20Dragon%20Warrior%204%20030.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Chapter: Chapter 2. Even though Chapter 5 is the majority of the game, and where most of the action is, I really like the party you have for Chapter 2 and the whole premise of Alena kicking everyone's ass.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party of Choice: Ragnar, Hero, Alena, Nara. This covers all my usual DQ party bases. I think Cristo is a better healer than Nara, but his AI is worse which cancels it out. Most <i>DQ4 </i>players probably remember Cristo spamming Beat on boss fights where it had no effect.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Warrior%204" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXa82UoO0c8Fg24fwYhbdm9UGEEX5Y35gLt5_qo5duOmbTyrfSx7aPzuTilv8GYFQ6JYF_TPwbZpn2Xm48UvgZnKGlrPak6lTZa2H6jKo104AlHBpUdk20qJwBU4HHa6PP4rqAqhLiD__v2NRdhz-0CYqf5tcT2C11YkZjZ8taLb52HIUQX_-VTgdfWEpD/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2010.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXa82UoO0c8Fg24fwYhbdm9UGEEX5Y35gLt5_qo5duOmbTyrfSx7aPzuTilv8GYFQ6JYF_TPwbZpn2Xm48UvgZnKGlrPak6lTZa2H6jKo104AlHBpUdk20qJwBU4HHa6PP4rqAqhLiD__v2NRdhz-0CYqf5tcT2C11YkZjZ8taLb52HIUQX_-VTgdfWEpD/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2010.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#170 Mega Man X5 (Playstation) – Spring 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is a game that I'd rate much more highly than most people. I think the level design is about on par with <i>Mega Man X4</i>, and it's just as fun to control/play. Considering the level design nosedives in the next game and the controls get slow and clunky at the</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4g8xoGsWwplVSsA-Anlw4PRXEvi3vFQRA2iUNt4Qqo2V9wbb7dnj3VQ2nQPNTC-ByfHyRA9RKTAfUApfvtVtFqOnSl7SEEkKtKBquI10_BPTeS3ay1bbIPoWNNUPTuWNFMouB8eir4Gnr78053jUCmeKjA5Wng7ronveD2jRAuJ04WGldYdKKpQicSFG0/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2007.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4g8xoGsWwplVSsA-Anlw4PRXEvi3vFQRA2iUNt4Qqo2V9wbb7dnj3VQ2nQPNTC-ByfHyRA9RKTAfUApfvtVtFqOnSl7SEEkKtKBquI10_BPTeS3ay1bbIPoWNNUPTuWNFMouB8eir4Gnr78053jUCmeKjA5Wng7ronveD2jRAuJ04WGldYdKKpQicSFG0/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2007.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">same time, <i>Mega Man X5</i> in a way is the last gasp of the X series being really enjoyable for me (<i>X8</i> is okay but it looks and plays so different from the earlier games, while the first five are all very clearly "the X series").</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhru0A7bzrxQPUjvITchtJ5z-UzY47i6qyWjJfdzeJiRC8NIm_K06LDgvJfddNOQ0rObfmMza_o1t_4UV1Z23UwhNbvDYjsMAGHAIeQCb7tKpDEwKh0iu6JkrXzCIKhqmcVWVfbWQd_XyIaG3kb-QB0Yyc_GV5Jr3REXAMX2PumtSy8pf2aZjphVUV5_g0s/s640/Mega%20Man%20X5%2061.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhru0A7bzrxQPUjvITchtJ5z-UzY47i6qyWjJfdzeJiRC8NIm_K06LDgvJfddNOQ0rObfmMza_o1t_4UV1Z23UwhNbvDYjsMAGHAIeQCb7tKpDEwKh0iu6JkrXzCIKhqmcVWVfbWQd_XyIaG3kb-QB0Yyc_GV5Jr3REXAMX2PumtSy8pf2aZjphVUV5_g0s/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2061.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">So if this game is as good as <i>Mega Man X4</i>, why doesn't anyone ever rate it at that level? Usually it's more likely to be lumped down with the "bad tier" with <i>X6 </i>and <i>X7</i>, just above them anyway. The main reason for this is... Alia. Freaking Alia. She interrupts the action constantly with </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0LNVCgpXHzIJarnr9iUfRhhMYU0YjC-5SoitzsFkTnNbK8jalzM-9-qyuBJTUCkGSVLrnpVOT3RC8K-dtAa6c5Zu8rlzALoC4FD9lm74PAO17B-uWEcpo0P_PUNJCvfUNbnxt96Ip7-osOeNIJ6cO7n6_ODmoC7yt_70VfRr_0JyNtWQ2YU0hcT_6-yS/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2027.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0LNVCgpXHzIJarnr9iUfRhhMYU0YjC-5SoitzsFkTnNbK8jalzM-9-qyuBJTUCkGSVLrnpVOT3RC8K-dtAa6c5Zu8rlzALoC4FD9lm74PAO17B-uWEcpo0P_PUNJCvfUNbnxt96Ip7-osOeNIJ6cO7n6_ODmoC7yt_70VfRr_0JyNtWQ2YU0hcT_6-yS/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2027.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">unskippable text boxes, and completely tanks this game. Factoring her in, it really is in the "bad half" of the X series. However, each text</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKWnoNw8KYjWiBkNOupumy02WpdhTfFUlLLfnu17W_pYkGkNcSRV4yEGP0XzYYG69g7_1FB60C7X682kiCivYKRqhIAVEMQyze7-MCIdyOwO7rdDffEfQcd7Kp59YsmLcc_ex_W49RzN8nzfoL_dd6KRJyYyFRETDU153MvPSQ-Zg7UebfsFnduj554a3a/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2028.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKWnoNw8KYjWiBkNOupumy02WpdhTfFUlLLfnu17W_pYkGkNcSRV4yEGP0XzYYG69g7_1FB60C7X682kiCivYKRqhIAVEMQyze7-MCIdyOwO7rdDffEfQcd7Kp59YsmLcc_ex_W49RzN8nzfoL_dd6KRJyYyFRETDU153MvPSQ-Zg7UebfsFnduj554a3a/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2028.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">box pop-up of hers only appears one time, and they cease entirely very early in the first fortress level. So back in the day I went through all eight stages, triggering all of Alia's pop-ups and then dying to the boss. It was a bit of a chore and a general PITA, but after a bit I had</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KI7o-i5GKQOzk6Oa9vvfnapVHTovijGVRFwNWHKKh_zm6Sg7q7-dTJxgkfVAWKaH0JWsZqGpMHq6fHz5wVayDE8rC3imM4-aX6m1K4-da-vbRKg50PwbrXj84qdUXaxoDWWmUJt76IFeI4NOUnTCiEBHKnpNAsoXnVxohygIYHpO99h5llOjDJrG5PqG/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2032.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4KI7o-i5GKQOzk6Oa9vvfnapVHTovijGVRFwNWHKKh_zm6Sg7q7-dTJxgkfVAWKaH0JWsZqGpMHq6fHz5wVayDE8rC3imM4-aX6m1K4-da-vbRKg50PwbrXj84qdUXaxoDWWmUJt76IFeI4NOUnTCiEBHKnpNAsoXnVxohygIYHpO99h5llOjDJrG5PqG/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2032.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">a save file at the beginning of the eight stages with NO ALIA in any of the stages. Not a single pop-up anywhere! And from there I was amazed at how good the game actually was. Take it from me, it's up there with <i>X4</i> if it could just get out of its own way.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQ3CtiQrgtc2TxB_B7kRJJhZbf-722SFsNFF2sxxK1ZYjvpwAtw4x0u5nE8CF22W5Rr5b4UsubiLTZSufT22oQ_J_0iasjUYd_-RBQI5Wm2l_B05haTZrjraF_YqA-d_ZvXcsIOKbf2fUo6JYn4a8BVvSAvxIQ0NrP2uaZPvQNXrct31jICQ_oxMaY_YX/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2026.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWQ3CtiQrgtc2TxB_B7kRJJhZbf-722SFsNFF2sxxK1ZYjvpwAtw4x0u5nE8CF22W5Rr5b4UsubiLTZSufT22oQ_J_0iasjUYd_-RBQI5Wm2l_B05haTZrjraF_YqA-d_ZvXcsIOKbf2fUo6JYn4a8BVvSAvxIQ0NrP2uaZPvQNXrct31jICQ_oxMaY_YX/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2026.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">There was also this weird timer mechanism with each stage you played counting down towards the launching of a space cannon or something, that if</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvRJQJS4JYrLdKLsFF8w3gV0JectZoqsNbb21kTf6qGx206mZL__5rVbMR-JJPviQ0rfGsRd3OFkTolTR11mZk1QNzdDfcKif0rZJ0BqVFGaQ38abBxVqM9a6IERVjNSStLFYmZ3dCfUZHeKlgISOCKd808K0bQXroGrlCkd4UNRy3S9ZHwnXSrOlabTL/s400/Mega%20Man%20X5%2006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvRJQJS4JYrLdKLsFF8w3gV0JectZoqsNbb21kTf6qGx206mZL__5rVbMR-JJPviQ0rfGsRd3OFkTolTR11mZk1QNzdDfcKif0rZJ0BqVFGaQ38abBxVqM9a6IERVjNSStLFYmZ3dCfUZHeKlgISOCKd808K0bQXroGrlCkd4UNRy3S9ZHwnXSrOlabTL/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2006.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">successful basically just allowed you to skip a bunch of levels. I usually just let it fail regardless and played all the levels. You get an awesome X vs Zero fight if you do this, as well, plus it feels like the canon way to do things.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSbQZ1fQjrykqIjrNbZ8czXXe3_LLIuqEO2_bJ4V3hf9QxGBK5UPG-hJmqV2EAiz25joa4r1zrfxZ8je1jE2MNxguDqxzsacYabOkdW3WmxAixkPpRv_-7P1O_zei22D0Dhx-lgzvVP85nrWElqwBRmd9G9YSz70oQA-EWqGrJlhPqsVvmo7HXukidgnd/s640/Mega%20Man%20X5%2066.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioSbQZ1fQjrykqIjrNbZ8czXXe3_LLIuqEO2_bJ4V3hf9QxGBK5UPG-hJmqV2EAiz25joa4r1zrfxZ8je1jE2MNxguDqxzsacYabOkdW3WmxAixkPpRv_-7P1O_zei22D0Dhx-lgzvVP85nrWElqwBRmd9G9YSz70oQA-EWqGrJlhPqsVvmo7HXukidgnd/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2066.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Speaking of X vs Zero, I've talked about this many times over, but it really bugs me that Dr. Wily didn't show up in this game. They had everything built up for him to make an appearance at the end as the master manipulator of events, only to have...nothing. Well, at least Sigma bellowed forth that "the old man" had made him a new battle body, before attacking you with an advanced version of Gamma from <i>Mega Man 3</i>. Wait a minute...Gamma...Sigma...huh.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sMg057v9EAA" width="320" youtube-src-id="sMg057v9EAA"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Track: Mattrex Stage. Spring 2001 was kinda the last gasp of my first run at <i>Everquest</i>, so a few things on this list I associate with it. <i>MMX5</i> is first and foremost, and I listened to a lot of tunes from this game while playing that game. This theme in particular got quite a bit of play while raiding Velious and Sleeper's Tomb, so I associate it with the biggest <i>EQ</i> events like the Sleeper awakening and so forth.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Stage: The completely frenetic final stage. That stage is totally balls-to-the-wall, with rad music and nonstop visual stimulii from the constant light show in the background.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Quick Ranking of the X Series From Worst To Best, If Playing X5 Normally: <i>X7, X6, X8, X5, X3, X4, X2, X</i></p><p style="text-align: center;">Quick Ranking of the X Series From Worst To Best, If Playing X5 Without Alia: <i>X7, X6, X8, X3, X4, X5, X2, X</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZvgFF_Cfm2M9-wnB8fTCOrj2e-Q1RX2qw9jF27bGBvGg90ai4b_MjqUGingni6YL8DHwf_nIOGRHqiOhbjaG_9sG-iS38a7caFpt9_fJ-R_rTQvyLPoYDfSTkmVxwPujWRUyUK-oPvpFdS1ap-KPjVxZ4MvaVzWM62zYIS9HapbQbRM_4lHMH5BLGa1I/s640/Mega%20Man%20X5%2040.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7ZvgFF_Cfm2M9-wnB8fTCOrj2e-Q1RX2qw9jF27bGBvGg90ai4b_MjqUGingni6YL8DHwf_nIOGRHqiOhbjaG_9sG-iS38a7caFpt9_fJ-R_rTQvyLPoYDfSTkmVxwPujWRUyUK-oPvpFdS1ap-KPjVxZ4MvaVzWM62zYIS9HapbQbRM_4lHMH5BLGa1I/w400-h300/Mega%20Man%20X5%2040.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2017/09/mega-man-x5-playstation-2000.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzRzlnHHII0y2HgPiqqX6XJtfIkvGsL4iLMWjARerRWYOCu0rmVvLT28C4BILWFT_zu62jdrUGzLPAzhW7OMAbXgNQ_PdgIh-aPgK5e8L6MIkrv0wvPcT2BuNqBfJfdMQOIlp5EFLkM5eyM3vLyfxE2V3sMtKswxJJLVngqbuZgVoku9nsrjW3yYmPbw1g/s263/conker.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="263" height="487" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzRzlnHHII0y2HgPiqqX6XJtfIkvGsL4iLMWjARerRWYOCu0rmVvLT28C4BILWFT_zu62jdrUGzLPAzhW7OMAbXgNQ_PdgIh-aPgK5e8L6MIkrv0wvPcT2BuNqBfJfdMQOIlp5EFLkM5eyM3vLyfxE2V3sMtKswxJJLVngqbuZgVoku9nsrjW3yYmPbw1g/w640-h487/conker.gif" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#171 Conker's Bad Fur Day (Nintendo 64) – Spring 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">This game was way ahead of its time, and skewered all kinds of pop culture. Was also hilarious to see a Nintendo game be this foul. Was super memorable. Unfortunately I tried to replay it 15 years or so later on the XBox 360 and it didn't go too well, found the lava jet sled level to be almost impossible for some reason.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xtqd1xsDk17inGiMWGD_moZOnMVyx3xt_Ewd3Jc22CKcalLrtlqGsa7DsI-jT-lrc1ExIzc9FPWbUMpdY6Svhl7yek2ZwOiUfo5aOoI8vMI0FMCtp2FzC5OYKcQ0t63F34dq2o2e53O_-N8PORshd4lo_vzMBt-936yaDiA4UpIscgXRhDHqD1vwtwTR/s1148/conker%20n64%20box.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1148" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8xtqd1xsDk17inGiMWGD_moZOnMVyx3xt_Ewd3Jc22CKcalLrtlqGsa7DsI-jT-lrc1ExIzc9FPWbUMpdY6Svhl7yek2ZwOiUfo5aOoI8vMI0FMCtp2FzC5OYKcQ0t63F34dq2o2e53O_-N8PORshd4lo_vzMBt-936yaDiA4UpIscgXRhDHqD1vwtwTR/w466-h325/conker%20n64%20box.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Probably the part where you feed prune juice to cows and they get explosive diarrhea. Honorable Mention goes to the part where Conker goes to a club and runs around peeing on everybody.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: The lava jet sled level. I don't remember it being an issue on the N64 but I was probably just more dedicated back then to beating the game. It was a total impasse on later replays.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Best Boss: The Xenomorph Queen that you fight with a power loader and then swing around by its tail to hurl it into space, like Bowser in <i>Mario 64</i>. .....no, not Great Mighty Poo. Teh fook. Make your own list.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4V_GBqXBSw2VjFWRHVYxJGCILdyHzxRR7HHelCjyAQfTRcU1Fq-AErZqH2AbsvytucruTHEHlaU3pD6OJoAS7m11OagOkWSY7y5aqGBRIrL83rV1mabGqjuzr_ThIqrcktu1KbO1pFryI2iOgxhHRcTceTVkmElsTEd5PS-SIQOMsX2gRVsdNEbGCYrmH/s640/conker%20matrix.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4V_GBqXBSw2VjFWRHVYxJGCILdyHzxRR7HHelCjyAQfTRcU1Fq-AErZqH2AbsvytucruTHEHlaU3pD6OJoAS7m11OagOkWSY7y5aqGBRIrL83rV1mabGqjuzr_ThIqrcktu1KbO1pFryI2iOgxhHRcTceTVkmElsTEd5PS-SIQOMsX2gRVsdNEbGCYrmH/w400-h300/conker%20matrix.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Best Level: The Vault, which is an homage to <i>The Matrix</i> with your heroes leaping around in slow-mo firing weapons in a marble hallway.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLIR50deyZ6jb3fbYwkjNKQhQAveQDP8_BHcUDCxlKl-VfWLvK6bCorAfiQwUd6m0HOkU8uyxYaNfOuHoxgnNh93I7k0EKTtThqmFE2qc_qZCg2SgPuDvpF56Ur0ROxl_N6Y1oLh1DoC50my-NOrCwJPvTFHvgTctGJYTeEUTJpacwAIlKhPBbvd2EvWd/s864/Final%20Fantasyll.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="864" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBLIR50deyZ6jb3fbYwkjNKQhQAveQDP8_BHcUDCxlKl-VfWLvK6bCorAfiQwUd6m0HOkU8uyxYaNfOuHoxgnNh93I7k0EKTtThqmFE2qc_qZCg2SgPuDvpF56Ur0ROxl_N6Y1oLh1DoC50my-NOrCwJPvTFHvgTctGJYTeEUTJpacwAIlKhPBbvd2EvWd/w400-h311/Final%20Fantasyll.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#172 Final Fantasy II (Famicom) – Summer 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">At this point translation patches were around for all three of the FF games that were Japan-only, so I got started. I'd tried to play this several times over the previous couple years and couldn't get too far with all of the text being unreadable. So it was pretty cool to finally know what was going on.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTyatuPOl99klNglsJWtinD1fzNUaSwohgH5WCdOj78lhFOd1U3Z2Vg1NnW3-_SqKvIzj6aEhgj4c9A9esNdTmCqIAmy5ndTxw6KxCB6s8r8AKxxmUiaB7xAsPBJx5NLjRw-AitOMbXFQuJJxTzqYmZnUt4N1rr5L1nm-vcDs1lE9XJSLbaaJmsIhz57Hq/s512/Final%20Fantasy%20II_006.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="512" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTyatuPOl99klNglsJWtinD1fzNUaSwohgH5WCdOj78lhFOd1U3Z2Vg1NnW3-_SqKvIzj6aEhgj4c9A9esNdTmCqIAmy5ndTxw6KxCB6s8r8AKxxmUiaB7xAsPBJx5NLjRw-AitOMbXFQuJJxTzqYmZnUt4N1rr5L1nm-vcDs1lE9XJSLbaaJmsIhz57Hq/w400-h375/Final%20Fantasy%20II_006.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I remember the weather getting extremely hot during the month or so that I was playing this and <i>FFIII</i>, which made their tougher dungeons even more miserable as I didn't have AC.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv6SZPOI_2NBzA0DpW_N7TV8Nk-gcxBMrRueVCdGC5ofXVqqIk9qOI8S-Orl_EptYb4wnDAXc02eMvGsQsxRKe97BxF7hQ2Fbm2ePJ3rjZaXeYXphlEz5VvIuFDLLiSk6cuxx8COl1efShBMIgl6UPuY84OfXsdVhfvDFUuZ4Rl-4IGhY-rcVqH5frImnB/s480/final%20fantasy%20II%20final%20boss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv6SZPOI_2NBzA0DpW_N7TV8Nk-gcxBMrRueVCdGC5ofXVqqIk9qOI8S-Orl_EptYb4wnDAXc02eMvGsQsxRKe97BxF7hQ2Fbm2ePJ3rjZaXeYXphlEz5VvIuFDLLiSk6cuxx8COl1efShBMIgl6UPuY84OfXsdVhfvDFUuZ4Rl-4IGhY-rcVqH5frImnB/w400-h300/final%20fantasy%20II%20final%20boss.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: The final dungeon Pandaemonium, with four big bosses in different wings of the dungeon en route to the final battle with the Emperor. There's also a fifth big boss, Iron Giant, that can appear as a random encounter WarMech style. I don't think you actually have to fight any of the four area bosses, though. They're all in treasure chests and guard powerful items, but I don't think it matters if you just run past them and straight to the Emperor. Which should make the final dungeon significantly easier. Even if the Emperor is powered-up if the four bosses aren't down (which I wouldn't be surprised if he was), the Blood Sword makes quick work of him regardless. Course, someone like me who wants to beat all of the bosses is gonna have to do it the hard way, no skipping for me.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Protip: The Blood Sword isn't just super-OP against the final boss, it also dishes out massive damage against Astaroth. He's the toughest of the four area bosses before the final boss, and nearly as strong as the Emperor, so his Blood Sword weakness is a big deal.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3ExNhE1xYz_HbduDs1T1EOtgpx4Ez4_r3KVeio_HuPGlbjHwZCwtubJprlqURYClQTEe6ngXjo9-OgEoLrO9655OFfZVstLTcV1akszSTzVDNjBU2At4KC3Lb_9bBFXCxCQLw5Qnnt5saZ5-KhvzXTyE900ul160FO2fdXkXmNZgBJeC3eXbUViIP-GV/s1234/ff3%20onion%20kids.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1234" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3ExNhE1xYz_HbduDs1T1EOtgpx4Ez4_r3KVeio_HuPGlbjHwZCwtubJprlqURYClQTEe6ngXjo9-OgEoLrO9655OFfZVstLTcV1akszSTzVDNjBU2At4KC3Lb_9bBFXCxCQLw5Qnnt5saZ5-KhvzXTyE900ul160FO2fdXkXmNZgBJeC3eXbUViIP-GV/w400-h350/ff3%20onion%20kids.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#173 Final Fantasy III (Famicom) – Summer 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">This one is a significant improvement on the previous game. The thing I liked most about it was how the four Onion Knights were such a blank slate at the beginning of the game. Feels like as much of a "start from scratch" as possible in this series. This is a really fun one to play through, even on the extremely unforgiving NES version.</p><p style="text-align: center;">One major issue with this game is how often the class choices are funneled in a way the game dictates. <i>FFV</i> is much better about this and generally gets out of your way to let you play whichever classes tickle your pickle. <i>FFIII</i> on the other hand frequently makes you switch classes over to specific things to get past the latest dungeon or challenge, and while this is a cool idea, it's disruptive to my micromanaged party setups. Early on you have to go all-casters for a dungeon where everyone's shrunk, then later you need all-dragoons for a boss, and worst of all, there are dungeons that require all Dark Knights to kill anything and I think the first one is before DK weapons are even on sale in shops.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWTSTe1uC-o-dFABPDJWa7aUc1ZqQQO6U9v9Pkn_oWmh5ujGe6VwgrdJFuNzCzXQJKsbrxysv1s7sqKIL6tRA9bTHK6CP7-grljzdxr6b0KZUbfVcOGw7oiZFr47Cjt7HjKavYv_hE7BEyfFpdiNT5B0ZmBO71pgIOKmzhI3xo-FxDSCe8aaOpMutRrlO/s256/ff3%20hyne.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWTSTe1uC-o-dFABPDJWa7aUc1ZqQQO6U9v9Pkn_oWmh5ujGe6VwgrdJFuNzCzXQJKsbrxysv1s7sqKIL6tRA9bTHK6CP7-grljzdxr6b0KZUbfVcOGw7oiZFr47Cjt7HjKavYv_hE7BEyfFpdiNT5B0ZmBO71pgIOKmzhI3xo-FxDSCe8aaOpMutRrlO/w400-h350/ff3%20hyne.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The endgame is also kind of a forced class choice, with Ninja and Sage pretty much being the only endgame classes worth a damn in this version. That said, the Devout has some slight advantages over the Sage in the healing department (its heals restore more HP than Sage, while it has far fewer spells). So while Ninja/Ninja/Sage/Sage is the best endgame party in general, switching a Sage out for a Devout is a good way to keep healing covered with one character and free the other Sage up for attacking.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Class: Dark Knight, probably. It was the first Dark Knight in the series and had the cool dark-blades (katanas, IIRC).</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party of Choice: Changes throughout the game, but for endgame it's Ninja/Ninja/Sage/Devout usually.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkC9-W6mDmQjGkv26YIxLPWlaQyV1Htir5dofZJNeiPntwy-wM_P-nRRR02BerZ7mNlTO4v8AS4cM79dBbi0-rJBFWSQMhuwdfDrdzmMB6ypKevoMQiLuqZiQU3eU6I-pJX_Vy3_goYyEWuImJ8nMXULv1R7WKPo9DVFWhfE1mEtHT6NDT9eg3SDCyGjV/s480/ff3%20final%20boss.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkC9-W6mDmQjGkv26YIxLPWlaQyV1Htir5dofZJNeiPntwy-wM_P-nRRR02BerZ7mNlTO4v8AS4cM79dBbi0-rJBFWSQMhuwdfDrdzmMB6ypKevoMQiLuqZiQU3eU6I-pJX_Vy3_goYyEWuImJ8nMXULv1R7WKPo9DVFWhfE1mEtHT6NDT9eg3SDCyGjV/w400-h300/ff3%20final%20boss.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: The final dungeons. There are two of them back-to-back, then it repeats the previous game's idea of having four area bosses before the final boss. The difference is that this time you HAVE to beat all four of them or the final boss is unkillable, plus these area bosses are considerably nastier than the four in the previous game. Oh yeah, and you can't leave in the NES version, so you have to go in there, clear two dungeons, and beat all of these very strong foes in one sitting. Then you have one of the toughest final bosses in the series on top of all of that. Well, it isn't really that tough of a fight in the grand scheme of things, and spams the same move every round. Thing is, that one move is an HP check that can decimate your party. At that point it just becomes "your HP must be this high to win".</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWtKayoTg-MXOTZDorKGGmgwYxTnIsMmiqNisUHgsCkGAfn7u_-b34uq6xL4DpwYY1RPHZapWAEMYha6r2juj775PAyH4bwqzdHeWwIe1Kt2eGDmFSMMZb42eLOI17DxNbohpTKkuU0-g82Q-9lN3rqfpp4MWr1y5DSUFeur5-aAMhPK8GSF0de2N0g3W/s1024/ff5%20final%20boss.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1024" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRWtKayoTg-MXOTZDorKGGmgwYxTnIsMmiqNisUHgsCkGAfn7u_-b34uq6xL4DpwYY1RPHZapWAEMYha6r2juj775PAyH4bwqzdHeWwIe1Kt2eGDmFSMMZb42eLOI17DxNbohpTKkuU0-g82Q-9lN3rqfpp4MWr1y5DSUFeur5-aAMhPK8GSF0de2N0g3W/w400-h350/ff5%20final%20boss.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#174 Final Fantasy V (Super Famicom) – Summer 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">Unfortunately I don't remember as much about the classes and my choices of classes for this one. Or the game in general. It's probably the deepest and most challenging of the first 9 or so FFs in terms of the gameplay, and a really fantastic game. It transpires in 3 acts over 3 different worlds, which I found interesting. The third world is a fusion of the other two, so you'll find the same areas returning but sometimes in different forms. It's a bit like <i>FFVI</i> and its two worlds, just...longer.</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is probably the longest of the first six FF games. The characters and story are very Mid though and that might be why it doesn't get discussed much. The only real memorable character is, ironically, Mid. And I guess Gilgamesh, who has great music but is some sort of bumbling idiot.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Just thought of something I really liked about this game. It was cool to see the predecessor to <i>FFVI</i>, as well as the bridge between that and <i>FFIV</i>. The meat in the sandwich of two of my favorite games. A lot of enemies from <i>FFVI</i>, and even Esper summons, turn up in this game. Either in proto forms, or straight-up the same sprites. Got to see the origins of quite a few things I recognized from <i>FFVI</i> while playing this and it was a pretty cool feeling.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAbAzwE1xoA2k-_P3yg9opbowTZGIapcLX6oC8DpYG7noRxxAulDRZ5Z97oyYJJBRpEAtQPbg9sAeK1a9fVDOpOl3GORfeaDuZrUo06bPR8Hu6c13EA4bhwE9S817ZNuZS0mHzWDjpXqlnGXYyDG0kNpEk01_HrTV0LkiXCrl2KWo2wUZmRuPcO6BS35G/s1024/final-fantasy-5-snes-034.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1024" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAbAzwE1xoA2k-_P3yg9opbowTZGIapcLX6oC8DpYG7noRxxAulDRZ5Z97oyYJJBRpEAtQPbg9sAeK1a9fVDOpOl3GORfeaDuZrUo06bPR8Hu6c13EA4bhwE9S817ZNuZS0mHzWDjpXqlnGXYyDG0kNpEk01_HrTV0LkiXCrl2KWo2wUZmRuPcO6BS35G/w400-h350/final-fantasy-5-snes-034.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Back in the day I remember seeing a magazine that had a preview of this game. I don't remember what magazine it was, maybe EGM, maybe something else. Was at the store. It said the game was on the way to the U.S. as "FF3" and was a direct sequel to the previous game. A descendant of Cecil was the main character and had to stop Zeromus all over again. So basically they had the idea for <i>After Years</i> before Square did. None of this was true though and I can't find any record that this magazine existed. I saw this before I ever played any of the FF series, but between this and the Culex stuff, it's no wonder I thought the FF games were connected back in the 90's.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Can I just take a moment here to point out how awesome it was to have three translated "lost Final Fantasy games" to play back-to-back in Summer '01? They were all pretty much a mystery to me and I didn't even know what to expect, but I loved all of them. I'd say overall I liked <i>FFV</i> the most, then <i>III, </i>then <i>II</i>. Thanks, <strike>Squaresoft</strike> hard-working ROM translation crews. You guys brought a ton of joy to a young me, and I imagine a ton of other people, back then.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88PhbCJsnL264PjNtRxvqX4Ba4p6OJlWRU8fuiSIcYtk899EHXRgLXZQ15ZnIQNTZt0dI_r_34qOTOYM-na1QsTyzdYUyhkokOp-nSDkKXspypqDk1-59c5vHTa9eDcOac09vgpWu1WlIoC746wTJPCC71Alo1kT6RI0d2m_cCpyede0x4w9bHJ-3xQ0s/s480/ff5%20exdeath.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj88PhbCJsnL264PjNtRxvqX4Ba4p6OJlWRU8fuiSIcYtk899EHXRgLXZQ15ZnIQNTZt0dI_r_34qOTOYM-na1QsTyzdYUyhkokOp-nSDkKXspypqDk1-59c5vHTa9eDcOac09vgpWu1WlIoC746wTJPCC71Alo1kT6RI0d2m_cCpyede0x4w9bHJ-3xQ0s/w400-h300/ff5%20exdeath.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Toughest Part: The Exdeath fight about 75% of the way through the game was a huge challenge the first time I played the game. It was back and forth and I had to be on the ball with rebuffing everyone. Probably the best fight I ever had in an FF game up to this point.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNGSmAjAARvQ6KJt0ot-jMctXobdA6E7L4EDFksHv8ek5ZRInKvm2qwTO2Li29mUUcbu6O3f_LWvfEncCr4Y5IRDpAJYzH58py494nvD9SLJtLa92NahoxpZqZ7b1T9GSalLEoL67wAew7brqWLa5egx25_y8LzYvyNHE5X26alMGdBaKrVsbwZ7Ny9vs/s640/Dragonball%20Z%20Ultimate%20Battle%2022%2015.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbNGSmAjAARvQ6KJt0ot-jMctXobdA6E7L4EDFksHv8ek5ZRInKvm2qwTO2Li29mUUcbu6O3f_LWvfEncCr4Y5IRDpAJYzH58py494nvD9SLJtLa92NahoxpZqZ7b1T9GSalLEoL67wAew7brqWLa5egx25_y8LzYvyNHE5X26alMGdBaKrVsbwZ7Ny9vs/w470-h352/Dragonball%20Z%20Ultimate%20Battle%2022%2015.jpg" width="470" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#175 Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 (Playstation) – Summer 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">Pretty terrible game here but I was into it back in the day. Considering it's a PS1 game from late in that system's life cycle, it doesn't look particularly impressive and doesn't do anything new for the series outside of being in pseudo-3D. I'd even say <i>Final Bout</i> is probably a better game than this for the 3D DBZ games of this era, and <i>Hyper Dimension</i> pretty much annihilates both of them.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKjoNTzn8K53YhfZPunDNqDQncJ-Eyu2q_xo5_7Y-7RPu3kBPKHk5W76lA4rW3iulTeUkv3BSCjrP2BOzPOPPTPvKMqLIFjx45_WgX6nS5ZmS5s09IQ5SNLFpEVqwYbqL11CKXxaFifhopQEIjnOPfprIuiLy9q8CD6fmtwhLluIz0l9akuog5NoTlWTh/s640/Dragonball%20Z%20Ultimate%20Battle%2022%2017.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKjoNTzn8K53YhfZPunDNqDQncJ-Eyu2q_xo5_7Y-7RPu3kBPKHk5W76lA4rW3iulTeUkv3BSCjrP2BOzPOPPTPvKMqLIFjx45_WgX6nS5ZmS5s09IQ5SNLFpEVqwYbqL11CKXxaFifhopQEIjnOPfprIuiLy9q8CD6fmtwhLluIz0l9akuog5NoTlWTh/w400-h300/Dragonball%20Z%20Ultimate%20Battle%2022%2017.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The only real claim to fame this game has is that SSJ3 Gokou was playable. You didn't really see SSJ3 Gokou in any of the games back then. It also had Gogeta (erroneously called Vegeto) which was kind of cool (and also something you didn't really see in DBZ games yet). Zarbon, Ginyu, and Recoome were all playable, just like <i>Retsuden</i> for Genesis. Interesting how those 3 are the only Freeza Force members to make it into these games. Dodoria and the other 3 members of the Ginyu squad were basically screwed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpUk6lWyFv-lrORKl5vaxIj8BEcSCXCDw3p-xTVOn7Y36Ko6GQE10GeCGpWgjKzmeQ0NZRXLwsRwMzYKDgXOph4BMmYX4z0Uf1iuP1-JC4YBGkkdKBxrKqheNQkjHDJPorOQQgBIt_eiTMOUAyQc_aJqkdrKHZxgjGDuhUf7qlgzulIudckelNY3l7tu0/s640/Dragonball%20Z%20Ultimate%20Battle%2022%2038.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGpUk6lWyFv-lrORKl5vaxIj8BEcSCXCDw3p-xTVOn7Y36Ko6GQE10GeCGpWgjKzmeQ0NZRXLwsRwMzYKDgXOph4BMmYX4z0Uf1iuP1-JC4YBGkkdKBxrKqheNQkjHDJPorOQQgBIt_eiTMOUAyQc_aJqkdrKHZxgjGDuhUf7qlgzulIudckelNY3l7tu0/w400-h300/Dragonball%20Z%20Ultimate%20Battle%2022%2038.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Maybe they didn't have games written into their contracts or something. Or maybe the devs thought those characters weren't as popular. Which is probably true, but how would they figure that out? Or maybe this game reused assets from <i>Retsuden</i>. I don't know...and I'm not gonna spend any time figuring it out.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Post <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/2014/04/dragonball-z-ultimate-battle-22.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wTDtiQiszoBo64fOGe9lq3LvYjCKiWZc9wnoW4XKmSYcXW5sG-LDYwxGyuFot11s2sCYJZXNckCKx7iOR3eFFu7OEqVeqvfRtiy98nu1dJw8-OAczRWzo_Blc70h9-kPt176GD5jTdYtVzEll3Q9aU7T8UgU4wkNgIBjZUgaMZfZ79W0WeUOPPHObetE/s640/extreme%20g%20n64.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1wTDtiQiszoBo64fOGe9lq3LvYjCKiWZc9wnoW4XKmSYcXW5sG-LDYwxGyuFot11s2sCYJZXNckCKx7iOR3eFFu7OEqVeqvfRtiy98nu1dJw8-OAczRWzo_Blc70h9-kPt176GD5jTdYtVzEll3Q9aU7T8UgU4wkNgIBjZUgaMZfZ79W0WeUOPPHObetE/w400-h300/extreme%20g%20n64.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#176 Extreme-G (Nintendo 64) – Fall 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">Super fast racing game with rad techno soundtrack. Around this time Eminem said nobody listens to techno. Well I did. So f*** him, and the Backstreet Boys too. This game was a ton of fun and unlike most racing games I was actually pretty good at it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmIYIm3Vq3lwt5QX3YH3yovc3QaPXWH6wj4BLdHPH5xvjg_qEC1df1Dm-V5CWOydC29OjsJAtlNTA9OMJqAqM3_Nb5-a7oSwwbIASqhvSaLoxYsWcSdlkLH5butlQsKN-_N3J7oQn54nvtsrbQfxNobu7CGQjH2FcsiOoOdt8ohKDLjGQGLPBXpOakBUz/s640/extreme-g-nintendo-64-i-see-opponents.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtmIYIm3Vq3lwt5QX3YH3yovc3QaPXWH6wj4BLdHPH5xvjg_qEC1df1Dm-V5CWOydC29OjsJAtlNTA9OMJqAqM3_Nb5-a7oSwwbIASqhvSaLoxYsWcSdlkLH5butlQsKN-_N3J7oQn54nvtsrbQfxNobu7CGQjH2FcsiOoOdt8ohKDLjGQGLPBXpOakBUz/w400-h300/extreme-g-nintendo-64-i-see-opponents.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I never played any of the sequels, surprisingly. I remember mostly playing this because I liked the soundtrack. It's a pretty solid game with bikes and a good alternative to the other racing games of the era. Not sure why it didn't get more attention.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AQ2Vb1t1-Js" width="320" youtube-src-id="AQ2Vb1t1-Js"></iframe></div><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Tune: The first stage theme in this game coincides with me reaching level 50 with my Necromancer finally in <i>EQ</i>. Well after the fact and well after level 50 was the max. Later I actually played <i>Extreme-G</i> itself. Heard the soundtrack well before I played the game though. I remember listening to music from the game while I finished off that stupid level grind, mainly this tune. It worked pretty well for flying in an out of Lake of Ill Omen farming Bloodgill Goblins until I passed 50. Then I pretended I was done with the game even though the max was 60. Well, I'd have a rematch with the game a few years later.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGwHkzXHW8qYhxCu6NWi_bGwLy4Lh8Koo9gbjOOjuhVPBezbWEGRu-Y409ocwhWlfcZ0IWhL28Se9qfxiKmAkXeTAuCLZs9J4raTjeVcEJywJsN-5v5y2Csa1_LA1n2G7-bkdMvBEWnKZbg5z3PwC6Jg96p_qVTzsJLoJrIP0bkCc091mzyVi0fOWN4Yt/s512/sailormoon%20rpg.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="446" data-original-width="512" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVGwHkzXHW8qYhxCu6NWi_bGwLy4Lh8Koo9gbjOOjuhVPBezbWEGRu-Y409ocwhWlfcZ0IWhL28Se9qfxiKmAkXeTAuCLZs9J4raTjeVcEJywJsN-5v5y2Csa1_LA1n2G7-bkdMvBEWnKZbg5z3PwC6Jg96p_qVTzsJLoJrIP0bkCc091mzyVi0fOWN4Yt/w400-h349/sailormoon%20rpg.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#177 Sailormoon: Another Story (Super Famicom) – Fall 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">Based on Season 3 of the show (Sailormoon S, or the Dr. Tomoe Saga, if this had DBZ naming conventions), this is a pretty cool RPG that I had a blast playing. One of the many fan-translated Japan-only games one had to emulate back then, but it was worth the trouble. This one goes through the battle against Mistress 9 and you get to spam everyone's special moves just like they do in the show.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q4DyMTnqtay_Ya2EZ-98OGRlVgdPFPoBHDEr2ZQfIuyaN5bh53FNVG_RgszIltbeZ5o-Hhwus1-lqVmr82l0eqaADnVCMSPsRfNgypcVFC1o6ShaQEFqFh_bCUIuybv4mA2p86H6LMfBGXuwpZRabsAXgqKlgx7VOTXMldFbgDkYUFiyp4eRivgAsZdH/s1024/sailormoon%20rpg%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5q4DyMTnqtay_Ya2EZ-98OGRlVgdPFPoBHDEr2ZQfIuyaN5bh53FNVG_RgszIltbeZ5o-Hhwus1-lqVmr82l0eqaADnVCMSPsRfNgypcVFC1o6ShaQEFqFh_bCUIuybv4mA2p86H6LMfBGXuwpZRabsAXgqKlgx7VOTXMldFbgDkYUFiyp4eRivgAsZdH/w400-h300/sailormoon%20rpg%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Most of what I remember about playing this is spamming all of the signature attacks of the characters. They're all here and they're all recreated in SNES spell form. The animations aren't anywhere near as long as the show, luckily. I got enough of that from <i>FFVIII</i> and the GF summons. First time I played that game, not only did I level up and do everything wrong, I also over-relied on GF summons so the battles took forever to win.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Fondest Memory: Not sure if there was a specific thing. I just have general fond memories of this whole game. It was a pleasant game to play, even not being that much of a fan of the show. The season this game is based on is the only season I've seen, and it's a good season but I was never a superfan. This is just a good game though, and fun to play. I wish any of the DBZ RPGs had been this polished at the time.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Sailor: Sailor Mars of course. Best hair, second-nicest body, would probably be spectacular in bed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeKfRzLJtR_rf-RPVru_htmT4Oq80nfokQakjvlUIfQsATzDbs_ney6cpUC0ZZ4Ts_6q-U1_C2MIGcqCY3UQwbJu5uH4QTwgwfgFccSzZg7qd4UD7AemFcS8ewkmK3fgM1quTVKFrTsL5lgeVAe9xFnD-UGUydQiwve6bzCBLgwHBAG_hAmZuG5yi3gdG-/s500/earthbound%20zero%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="500" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeKfRzLJtR_rf-RPVru_htmT4Oq80nfokQakjvlUIfQsATzDbs_ney6cpUC0ZZ4Ts_6q-U1_C2MIGcqCY3UQwbJu5uH4QTwgwfgFccSzZg7qd4UD7AemFcS8ewkmK3fgM1quTVKFrTsL5lgeVAe9xFnD-UGUydQiwve6bzCBLgwHBAG_hAmZuG5yi3gdG-/w400-h363/earthbound%20zero%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#178 Earthbound Zero (Famicom) – Fall 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">This game was so far along that it had a full translated ROM data floating around, ready for an American release that it never got. No idea why this happened the way it did. RPGs in general didn't get a fair shake at the time, and maybe Nintendo thought this game was too hard for Americans. It is a pretty tough game, but I think it's hogwash to have it completed and just not put it out there for people to buy.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrltqYD-haBZ0OP8osFbdQmNmXLo_20QegxI60tZylirX379yWfitK2RTXsi0MhlbnQOyRGrbRg2SQ5i754NCWCdmhLZIhM34iiJyrwCCu4lq-5KmShY_ECGst6TtEG4fZ1u3USqcfjSHBalIuzL_tEAeOWdLOwBKngO4S3kRSHBU4IP5ulDZQoz3sg_yR/s836/earthbound%20zero%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="836" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrltqYD-haBZ0OP8osFbdQmNmXLo_20QegxI60tZylirX379yWfitK2RTXsi0MhlbnQOyRGrbRg2SQ5i754NCWCdmhLZIhM34iiJyrwCCu4lq-5KmShY_ECGst6TtEG4fZ1u3USqcfjSHBalIuzL_tEAeOWdLOwBKngO4S3kRSHBU4IP5ulDZQoz3sg_yR/w400-h321/earthbound%20zero%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Now known as <i>Earthbound Beginnings</i> in the modern era due to the Wii U port, but back in the day we called it <i>Earthbound Zero. </i>It's a prequel, but it's also mostly disconnected from <i>Earthbound</i> aside from sharing a bunch of themes and having the same villain. That's right, Giygas got his start here. This is a game that also punches way above its own weight, with themes that it couldn't flesh out the way the creator wanted to, at least not on the NES. It has a massive world to explore that would take a while just to walk across.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPX-v8NVW8CjuDa3S7bk9o_iixQEklzbM6pU-ByGrcyOjdxXG0lEMRpCDDTizFmcOgjLbTLv-iEDW7p3UaZG2IR7KU6BV5NWncQo_XxMWnildv0cntJkqktxoh35b3PHoq5DH9HiYwxkLCrhhWeB_06UDOjNUBMOCsn6bKpoMsKKVia_Dh2r_mfBfT0Xq/s837/earthbound%20zero%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="837" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrPX-v8NVW8CjuDa3S7bk9o_iixQEklzbM6pU-ByGrcyOjdxXG0lEMRpCDDTizFmcOgjLbTLv-iEDW7p3UaZG2IR7KU6BV5NWncQo_XxMWnildv0cntJkqktxoh35b3PHoq5DH9HiYwxkLCrhhWeB_06UDOjNUBMOCsn6bKpoMsKKVia_Dh2r_mfBfT0Xq/w400-h320/earthbound%20zero%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This game had a similar thing happen to <i>FFV</i> where I constantly recognized things from its sequel, which I had already played. Numerous sprites, enemies, and so on are proto versions of things from <i>Earthbound</i> and it's really cool to see after the fact. I'd actually probably recommend people play this game after the sequel to capture that feeling of seeing all these proto things. Especially the music. A lot of <i>Earthbound's</i> music can also be found in this game, only in NES proto form.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Tried a few times to get into this one over the previous couple years, since I love <i>Earthbound</i> so much. Unfortunately, this one just seemed like a waaaaay inferior version of the game, and I couldn't even get past the first boss without a copious amount of grinding. Finally gave it a real try in Fall '01, equipped with guides and motivation this time. Well, what I remember most about it... THE GRINDING. So much grinding. It's a good thing I brought motivation because it was GRIND GRIND GRIND. Every time you reach a new area, grind. Every time you challenge a new boss, grind.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRJ8AqHI8xReWr7YgxQwici00lVsd09b1GdT4S2Cn01XZXjfY_Vwjwo72TARFzakT9py4qKFkpI8KdeCqAR7L5FVmUXcfhdD-aDUSM9UWSkN5fXwWmy3IEic_vF_EQ1MwZLR_W1_xbyNjzVvFKNbF5j8jHIWUhact67NXPWws1PbJpaTU8lBsleRzsliK/s1024/earthbound%20zero%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1024" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBRJ8AqHI8xReWr7YgxQwici00lVsd09b1GdT4S2Cn01XZXjfY_Vwjwo72TARFzakT9py4qKFkpI8KdeCqAR7L5FVmUXcfhdD-aDUSM9UWSkN5fXwWmy3IEic_vF_EQ1MwZLR_W1_xbyNjzVvFKNbF5j8jHIWUhact67NXPWws1PbJpaTU8lBsleRzsliK/w400-h375/earthbound%20zero%202.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Shigesato Itoi implored players of this game to play it slowly and pay attention, not rush. And with all the grinding you have no choice! But either way, there's a ton of heart here, and I'd love to play it for a second time. I'd say it's nearly inevitable that I'm going to revisit this and give it more of a chance to impress. Because my existing playthrough was just me vs. the game, trying to "get it done" rather than rolling with it and seeing what it had to offer.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Weirdest Memory: Reaching the first boss...and finding all my attacks did 1 damage because I wasn't sufficiently leveled. That was kind of harrowing, and sent me back to painstakingly grind. 1 damage, geez.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tMMU6VF0gd0KcFOiwwA9CPZFqGKOUoml-OsJUTQ3C6UXCZr2fcLLCplo7UxXl0FQSMYgwMxiNu5vf_u5lgz6-clWhWY26okwV-F6VSdNjCVWSK1QMom8ISq5F33mcHM6zjNYifsi4ILMemWo9dTy5r4Jd2-wNithmGKrpfV6aVSFnY5h9Dr90OBmhjp0/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome002.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="256" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tMMU6VF0gd0KcFOiwwA9CPZFqGKOUoml-OsJUTQ3C6UXCZr2fcLLCplo7UxXl0FQSMYgwMxiNu5vf_u5lgz6-clWhWY26okwV-F6VSdNjCVWSK1QMom8ISq5F33mcHM6zjNYifsi4ILMemWo9dTy5r4Jd2-wNithmGKrpfV6aVSFnY5h9Dr90OBmhjp0/w400-h373/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome002.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#179 Dragon Quest V (Super Famicom) – Fall 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">This is a real S-tier game, and possibly my favorite game in the series. I'd put it up against anything from the Final Fantasy series as well and it'd probably emerge favorably. While it doesn't have the character variety of <i>DQIV</i> or the classes of <i>DQIII</i>, it has great pacing and story and the game flows very well. There's a reason I'm willing to play it multiple times over to write about it. I couldn't get into the DS remake, unfortunately, but eventually had better luck with the HD phone version.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOq6e6AgWlhNHqxPXO-gkP-YinoUZd3UQpg-coxC2xe0MY73vP0nxD-SNnIN_ZqHwGq79XDes3XmJ6WHBjUu7RPNrT0cL-aaya7gk9EEz0rimi7nzXycTTvMm2UZrh4gNv4iLXZURFMwtB7OjFz3qCSl2kBY6ogSveG8frDcHEMxSzYd5UbzA3hxbEHqjf/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome003.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="256" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOq6e6AgWlhNHqxPXO-gkP-YinoUZd3UQpg-coxC2xe0MY73vP0nxD-SNnIN_ZqHwGq79XDes3XmJ6WHBjUu7RPNrT0cL-aaya7gk9EEz0rimi7nzXycTTvMm2UZrh4gNv4iLXZURFMwtB7OjFz3qCSl2kBY6ogSveG8frDcHEMxSzYd5UbzA3hxbEHqjf/w400-h373/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome003.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I was always more of an FF guy until the last few years when I shifted towards being a DQ guy. I like that the DQ games are more gameplay and exploration focused, while the FFs usually tend to be more story and cutscene focused. Which is fine if those things are really good (<i>FFVI</i>) but the rest of the time just give me as much gameplay as possible.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbQbKBRwmiNWPoqBzvheCqIpfqpqAk2HR9MNPnFbNib4mKPNUwOL-84YSTAULCSXRzGFyoVDW7YahYtjKSabBlILVc1RUL_yPC30RuwQ1gxDvMwH3NropDgfKEZ3x6mMDeOkB4qragUNJLoPk-sXz7u7dPnxEtwk1ArVXLkMZpcxuHjLTgpk20I9UJ3Jx/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome026.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="256" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbQbKBRwmiNWPoqBzvheCqIpfqpqAk2HR9MNPnFbNib4mKPNUwOL-84YSTAULCSXRzGFyoVDW7YahYtjKSabBlILVc1RUL_yPC30RuwQ1gxDvMwH3NropDgfKEZ3x6mMDeOkB4qragUNJLoPk-sXz7u7dPnxEtwk1ArVXLkMZpcxuHjLTgpk20I9UJ3Jx/w400-h373/Dragon%20Quest%20V%20-%20Tenkuu%20no%20Hanayome026.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This game has a very "early Super NES" visual look to it, and I like that look a lot. It's nice and simple, kind of mellow. Was a fine continuation to a series that hadn't let me down once so far.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Woman: Flora. She's cuter than Bianca, even though Bianca is more fun. ...actually Bianca. Man, I can't decide. Luckily the decision in the game pretty much only affects the hair color of your kids during the endgame. I've picked both in the past: Flora in 2001, Bianca during the replay recently.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party of Choice: Hero, son of the hero, daughter of the hero. Though I of course want the wife included too if possible, it usually results in a suboptimal party for the endgame. The remake adds a fourth character slot which is a very nice change.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest%20V" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3FGAsfa4qt4e2WRaIX8mLfhLR_eXkWA2QSDkZLkcDxEjunJKxJ6r6yU06aDMY55O0y6OzN9y04kjCiH4gM03nBX_8lOBjwtCkPEEgBOARA3EBr8ceNl8zZdkx9yCfmYGCAVygAoFbpTI_L6x-oUIZQpHAJY89C15n6wIEETyyo3e6ypzf2TP72MD28dT/s640/tecmo%20secret%20of%20the%20stars.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="640" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib3FGAsfa4qt4e2WRaIX8mLfhLR_eXkWA2QSDkZLkcDxEjunJKxJ6r6yU06aDMY55O0y6OzN9y04kjCiH4gM03nBX_8lOBjwtCkPEEgBOARA3EBr8ceNl8zZdkx9yCfmYGCAVygAoFbpTI_L6x-oUIZQpHAJY89C15n6wIEETyyo3e6ypzf2TP72MD28dT/w504-h353/tecmo%20secret%20of%20the%20stars.jpg" width="504" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#180 Tecmo Secret of the Stars (Super NES) – Fall 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">Terrible, awful game here that Nintendo Power made look pretty good. It's as generic of an RPG as you can possibly imagine gameplaywise, with bizarre dialogue and a nonsensical plot. The worst part is how you run two different parties for the whole game, one of them ends up doing like 90% of the work, then at the end it makes you use both. So you inevitably have one super-useless party in the endgame, and level grinding them up takes forever.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86rZYTTIFKnEaER3QMtjeRFC_IIJwGDhXVi1UO8wK5qVgHU2Y1RIK55aK_qrRaNgv9N49n3R23qWXEgfuSFtFnHcvSdfZ94VnxeHJmbfKoqL9I835Fl71np6v4AHU0xLTbP0wUWCOQDV8G-8My2WQ5a-gP3AzEhz-K9POFR2Oey1XTyij-fVcTt7DRubF/s1280/tecmo%20secret%20of%20the%20stars%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj86rZYTTIFKnEaER3QMtjeRFC_IIJwGDhXVi1UO8wK5qVgHU2Y1RIK55aK_qrRaNgv9N49n3R23qWXEgfuSFtFnHcvSdfZ94VnxeHJmbfKoqL9I835Fl71np6v4AHU0xLTbP0wUWCOQDV8G-8My2WQ5a-gP3AzEhz-K9POFR2Oey1XTyij-fVcTt7DRubF/w640-h360/tecmo%20secret%20of%20the%20stars%202.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All of that said...I had fun with this. I had a lot of fun with it. The villains were basically a homeless man's Sinistrals, consisting of such luminaries as the pantless goblin BOOTH. Oh, this is a good time to mention that all of the character names and all of the text in general for the entire game... are in all caps. Yep, all caps everywhere. Nothing but caps. It makes the game even funnier, as if the nonsensical premise and ridiculous dialogue didn't do enough.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuY3QRRVsqr4U0bzxHOjRijQhYL98Tl44aBAByuGI0i-YzlqIqNhs7olbVSgyrgToY2PmT_pey5JlkgRgM_u8BCxhE_BCWhlMTm163OIV83m4wekEDgysI3lAuMveS6wQpfSvpgIR-zl-rTF_yBv8ztmOfumWetneUoee2fOLdxucPBpGbMznnu6VLuJz/s650/tecmo%20secret%20of%20the%20stars%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="650" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNuY3QRRVsqr4U0bzxHOjRijQhYL98Tl44aBAByuGI0i-YzlqIqNhs7olbVSgyrgToY2PmT_pey5JlkgRgM_u8BCxhE_BCWhlMTm163OIV83m4wekEDgysI3lAuMveS6wQpfSvpgIR-zl-rTF_yBv8ztmOfumWetneUoee2fOLdxucPBpGbMznnu6VLuJz/w400-h350/tecmo%20secret%20of%20the%20stars%203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">The translation is also pretty terrible, but even that I found ways to have fun with. For example, "Kraken" was mistranslated as the dastardly "Clarkken" of Daily Planet fame. All in all I have fond memories of this absolutely awful game.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Team of Choice: The Aquitallion kidz. By the end they were pretty formidable. On the other hand the lame Kustera adults were a bunch of low-level useless losers.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSDDt4hnhfiISAmz6-ttiyXY_uFvNhtfYCex7E2WwPEu7dwEPbu1Jpq1q74SZ5VWf5OckmwKwILIvoeAz2YYc1-AFhjNQfOvI5xCgKx3HxfPEob4BCFhxkTiL8pccLe72Uvn6VOp6_HcSRDICMrs2gDJyfgSONAm6lTEimqr1Nl74ZC0F4r-Yx9w8_KnY/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZSDDt4hnhfiISAmz6-ttiyXY_uFvNhtfYCex7E2WwPEu7dwEPbu1Jpq1q74SZ5VWf5OckmwKwILIvoeAz2YYc1-AFhjNQfOvI5xCgKx3HxfPEob4BCFhxkTiL8pccLe72Uvn6VOp6_HcSRDICMrs2gDJyfgSONAm6lTEimqr1Nl74ZC0F4r-Yx9w8_KnY/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">#181 Dragon Quest VI (Super Famicom) – Winter 2001</p><p style="text-align: center;">This game LOOKS significantly cooler than <i>DQV</i>, with a more bad-ass hero and considerably better, late-SNES visuals. Unfortunately it's a step down from that game in most regards. Classes are brought back which is cool, but it results in a lot of ability bloat. And the two worlds system just gets really confusing really fast (also something that existed, with the same results, in <i>Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance</i>). As a result I found this game a bit of a chore a lot of the time, and it required frequent looks at a walkthrough to figure out what in the hell I had to do next.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjETHEWhr11nVV-mB_X7gqD2FVaPrhokcMsPNZC21-KHmbKgDJmWEbzazu84BisAMNaPNRLSt_K9WOaZP3qD1HCIqyITlf2GFmbnl61i8UX3BD7WxG0uY_FXVHiduYghJzoIpZvtASuJ-zcMto0weskkzbsXq4lQyIH2ABvhp0vuiKuAs82na3NZu70Jq/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi029.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBjETHEWhr11nVV-mB_X7gqD2FVaPrhokcMsPNZC21-KHmbKgDJmWEbzazu84BisAMNaPNRLSt_K9WOaZP3qD1HCIqyITlf2GFmbnl61i8UX3BD7WxG0uY_FXVHiduYghJzoIpZvtASuJ-zcMto0weskkzbsXq4lQyIH2ABvhp0vuiKuAs82na3NZu70Jq/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi029.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">This was the first DQ game that was any kind of letdown, and took me a while to get through. Even <i>DQII</i> I got a lot of fun times out of. None of this is to say that <i>DQVI</i> is "bad" or anything. It most certainly isn't. It's just overinflated, too drawn-out, with too much Mid content. They were going for length with this one rather than a tight cohesive story. You can really see all of that with the class system and the ton of redundant abilities you get saddled with if you get everything. Unfortunately the classes don't offer any permanent bonuses for maxing them, so it's pointless aside from seeing all of the gold stars on your class screen (and reaching the optional superboss, which requires all classes maxed).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDpFAaqwp4jVBY6_5X3YSUxFNs83cI81cVBsSqLqfQv7V_J98z6qhkJXat6dmCkdW_PvLqIHDhiOhxnZPbOlTak_BfKcu7mMKOeHl5Bqnmg2-w2JI5OTd1MAj0-ppR4Ima0m4LhqQ2gb0K76uAKSTBcsPJy6qM-B2Euoiiexto-WbJfRUzsOfkgecROlV/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi040.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTDpFAaqwp4jVBY6_5X3YSUxFNs83cI81cVBsSqLqfQv7V_J98z6qhkJXat6dmCkdW_PvLqIHDhiOhxnZPbOlTak_BfKcu7mMKOeHl5Bqnmg2-w2JI5OTd1MAj0-ppR4Ima0m4LhqQ2gb0K76uAKSTBcsPJy6qM-B2Euoiiexto-WbJfRUzsOfkgecROlV/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi040.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">I certainly didn't bother maxing all the classes back then like I did with the more recent replay (still in progress). I got through it as quick as I could so as to just kinda move on. I got <i>Dragon Quest VII</i> on PS1 for Christmas in 2001 (my only Christmas game, IIRC) and that was my only new game for 3-4 months after this. So it was very much the plan to move right onto that game and finish the series. </p><p style="text-align: center;">However, <i>DQVI</i> took a while and when I finally got to <i>DQVII</i> I found it to be even more drawn-out and padded. Didn't get super far in that game before I just kinda put the series down for a while. I'd make a couple more attempts at <i>DQVII</i> over the years (in 2004 and 2007) and eventually got to the end, but that's a story for a later post. The first of my 3 big runs at <i>DQVII</i> was right here at the end of 2001 / beginning of 2002 and it was what it was. At the end of the day I'd say 2001 was The Year of Dragon Quest for me.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Favorite Class: Paladin has some pretty sweet attacks.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Party of Choice: Hero, Hassan, Muriel, Barbara</p><p style="text-align: center;">Posts <a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/Dragon%20Quest%20VI" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY5cnp7QezAja_hVxa03bjwywP9690xvZkSxHKv3UrHqwCYWXE_oJJkQKoo71kPuxqYQClATfdREA3lWx2bgqH-jMI0HqJIJbRIYeca4CpC4AukO18rI-p2SZncJkb9JCQsSOSrv6PK4qtizS8Hg5CAlJHf8X4VK9u-qH2Kkz5nS_Zoxdm3AuHR0t1ZgA/s256/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi034.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="256" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGY5cnp7QezAja_hVxa03bjwywP9690xvZkSxHKv3UrHqwCYWXE_oJJkQKoo71kPuxqYQClATfdREA3lWx2bgqH-jMI0HqJIJbRIYeca4CpC4AukO18rI-p2SZncJkb9JCQsSOSrv6PK4qtizS8Hg5CAlJHf8X4VK9u-qH2Kkz5nS_Zoxdm3AuHR0t1ZgA/w400-h350/Dragon%20Quest%20VI%20-%20Maboroshi%20no%20Daichi034.png" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">And there you have it, 2001. I started and ended the year with two different Dragon Quest games. Was also my last fun year as a non-working teenager without much to worry about. Yep, life was all downhill from here!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6QSGyZI88wD3uNtvuxnmtV0UBr_Tm8JZclSeS8a6RAbig2UarK2BAAsV41Q7pAtiJIWBCWJ3q3zxXg5YZVWE2ZqSUvoS3WWBy_0bUugsSytFG_ejmeZRBNPyTMTMDER8I0x9cT9_DauPHoeZ8HcRQokzMNcYT4xJtx0jmkhQAVF_vyEHocvXu3dMtEZ7/s1280/dq7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG6QSGyZI88wD3uNtvuxnmtV0UBr_Tm8JZclSeS8a6RAbig2UarK2BAAsV41Q7pAtiJIWBCWJ3q3zxXg5YZVWE2ZqSUvoS3WWBy_0bUugsSytFG_ejmeZRBNPyTMTMDER8I0x9cT9_DauPHoeZ8HcRQokzMNcYT4xJtx0jmkhQAVF_vyEHocvXu3dMtEZ7/w400-h225/dq7.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;">Honorable Mention: Dragon Quest VII</p><p style="text-align: center;">I got this game for Christmas 2001 and took a good swing at it. I think I only got about five hours into it before it totally fell off, though. All the DQs this year was leading up to this, and it just...wasn't good compared to the earlier games. I'd try it again later in time.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Next Post: All of 2002.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.coronajumper.com/search/label/The%201000%20Games%20I%27ve%20Beaten" target="_blank">The 1000 Games I've Beaten</a> <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Jerichohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14031388156675516231noreply@blogger.com0