While I'm not going to give any game a proper rating (star or other), except for the occasional sarcastic one like I did with Final Fantasy XII, what would go into such a review? Alternatively, what do I like in a video game?
Interesting characters with growth and personality:
Bad characters will almost always lead to a bad game. Characters who remain the same from start to finish are wasted characters. They also need to feel apart of the overall plot. I don’t have a preference over character driven or plot driven, preferably there should be both, just as long as they feel like they should be connected. Backstories are also important. Where did they come from, and where are they going?
I hated Final Fantasy XII because all of the characters are boring, lack growth, and three of them don’t feel apart of the overarching plot. This would be a 0/1 star character topic.
The worst thing about Final Fantasy VII is that so many of the characters just drop out of relevance at some point. Most of the characters are interesting, however, so I don’t mind this. This is a 3 star topic.
In Final Fantasy IX, every character has plot relevance and is interesting. There is one exception, but I’m a forgiving man and I won’t let Amarant (Kimahri, Edge) ruin it for everyone unless they’re directly destructive to the game. This is a 5 star topic.
A good plot to begin with.
Something coherent and understandable. Something “believable”. Villains with good reasons and aren’t evil for the sake of evil. While also being interesting and exciting. Some of the early RPGs don’t hold up to today’s standards because there is no real reason to defeat the boss other than, this one person says they're evil. It’s all, “this guy is evil, destroy him” so you walk from generic place to generic place to kill a nonmemorable boss. This goes without saying but, forgettable games are bad games.
Final Fantasy I has no character backstory, reasons to fight Garland, and there's a nonsensical time loop at the end. It’s a 0/1 star topic (but gets grandfathered in due to it being made in the ‘80s).
Chrono Trigger is the greatest game ever made, however, it’s plot is filled with timey wimey confusing jam and I have to take points off. This is, itself, confusing since I called it the greatest game ever despite it not getting a perfect score, which is why I think scores are dumb. 3 star topic.
Star Ocean 2 has a plot that makes sense, has twists and turns, tragedy and grief, pain and triumph. 5 stars.
Music
I need to feel like I’m in the setting. There’s not a lot of games that fail to do this, admittedly. So sci-fi sounds in a fantasy setting, sorta thing. A good OST can keep a player thinking about the game for ages. It can make a good location great. A good character theme can make me fall in love with your character. This is also a personal thing, but I prefer mellow, slower items. I love Rock and Metal, but I want to have emotions in my interactive entertainment. I’m also over high orchestral, “non-melodic” tracks as well. It's fine, but I want rhythm.
Xenosaga Ep 2 is maybe the only game that could get a terrible review. All the tracks are fast-paced and filled with random bloops that just annoy me. There’s nothing emotionally impactful or memorable. 0/1 star topic.
Xenosaga Ep1 lacks songs, just straight up. What's there is amazing and emotional, but it’s few and far between. 3 stars
I've heard music from Chrono Trigger more often than I've heard my family. I’ve listened to Corridors of Time and Schala’s theme on loop for hours. I’ve even tried to create a song, lyrics and all, combining those two songs. Honestly, this deserves more 5 stars, but I'll begrudgingly settle for the minimum.
Mechanics
Usually battle mechanics, but also character growth, exploration methods, mini-games,
Once again, Final Fantasy XII sucks. The Gambit system is boring, the license board creates characters who are too samey, there are no mini-games, 0/1 star
Final Fantasy VII’s materia is kinda iffy. It also makes characters very samey, but with some force, can make interesting characters growth and stats. There’s also a plethora of mini-games, but some are kinda dumb. 3 stars.
Final Fantasy IX has characters who are unique in every way. They have their strengths and weaknesses and know their role. Character growth is tied to gear that comes naturally and can be changed on the fly, between battles as needed. 5 stars
Another reason why I’m not properly reviewing is because all of this adds up to 20 stars and I’m confused. I also feel it should be five categories, but I can’t think of one so oh well. I'll never be a professional reviewer at this rate, I know.
Anyway, to finish tonight, here’s a small, noncomprehensive, list of games I want to delve in to and dissect dungeon by dungeon. For some, I plan to add some challenge runs for if they’re so iconic or I’ve played them a lot and/or recently. In addition to the challenge runs, some of the games I have played and don't recall. For some, it's been a while and I want to relive them. And even some are all new experiences.
Fallout New Vegas
Legend of Dragoon
A Wild Arms (can’t recall which one)
Trials of Mana
Grandia
Bahamut's Lagoon
Trails in the Sky
And, while there are others, tomorrow I will begin playing a challenge run for .......
Final Fantasy VII.
The challenge is a job run. In development, each character had a job with a setlist of skills. This got dropped before release and I plan to bring them back. There are a few “guides” out there which I’ll post when I start. Until then, I’m pretty excited. Will I use characters I’m not familiar with? Will this grow my appreciation of the game? Will I stop it halfway through? Find out starting tomorrow.
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