Just for fun I decided to write up a gunblade for use in OSR/SWORDDREAM style tabletop RPGs. Initially I thought it would be pretty simple, just a regular sword with bonus damage. But after looking into the new Gunbreaker class in Final Fantasy XIV, I realized through specialized ammunition it could be much more interesting.
The rules below are mostly system neutral (leaning towards Knave.) I’m sure it will not be difficult to adjust things to fit into your game.
I’ve finally finished Final Fantasy VI for the first time. I’ve been a fan of the Final Fantasy series for a long, long, time. Despite getting FF6 on the Final Fantasy Anthology back in 1999, and again on GBA 2007, I never made it more than halfway through the game. My feelings about the game ran hot and cold over the years. The magazines super hyped it up to me as a kid, but I kept bouncing off the actual game. It’s also seems to be the #1 fan favorite amongst the FF community, but I could never understand why. Now, in the year 2018, I’ve got FF6 once again. This time on the SNES Classic. I’ve finally beaten it! With many more years of experience, and a much closer analysis I think I finally understand what makes this game so special. I’ll be going all in on spoilers, so if you haven’t played this game yet, go play it. It’s a classic for a reason.
Continue reading “How Final Fantasy VI lets players create their own protagonist.”
Games covered this week: Final Fantasy 6, Wordscapes (mobile), World Wide Wrestling (PnP RPG), and Hearthstone.
Welcome to week 2 of my games journal. This week I played a larger number of games, for a little bit of time. The first two are prototype card games I played at a local game design meetup. Then there’s a bunch of video games. Last, a recommendation for an entertaining YouTube video series about one of my favorite games, Final Fantasy VII.
I’m going to try something different for my blog. One of my goals for this year was to update at least once a week. So far, I’ve been keeping up, but I’ve been having difficulty with writing on interesting topics each week. Coming up with ideas for posts is easy, but I’d like to dedicate more time to fleshing them out. To compromise I’ve decided to make my weekly updates quick journal entries about each game I’ve played throughout the week. This is a pretty simple format that should be easy to keep up with, while also allowing me to put down quick thoughts on games as I play them (traditionally I’ve felt the need to “complete” a game before I express my total thoughts on them). I still plan on posting more focused essays, but they will be more sporadic, but hopefully longer and of higher quality. Without further ado, here is the first entry of my “Games Journal”.
Works got me pretty busy, but I still want to keep my blog updated. Here is a super quick post where I rank each mainline Final Fantasy game, presented without commentary, based on my personal preferences. While the top and bottom rankings are unlikely to change, I expect the middle 9 could shuffle around with replays. In the future I may elaborate on some of my choices.
Continue reading “Mainline Final Fantasy Games Ranked From Best to Worst”
Final Fantasy VII is one of the more unique entries in a series that prides itself on uniqueness. Following hot on the heels of the vastly successful and influential FF7, 8 continues the series tradition of evolving and experimenting with the RPG genre, with mixed results.
FFXII is the FF that fell between the cracks for me. It came out my freshman year of college, a very busy time for me. I recall it being very interesting, but maybe too weird for someone who couldn’t dedicate much time to it. I’ve made attempts at revisiting the PS2 version every now and then, but had trouble getting back into it. Recently a friend let me borrow the PS4 remaster, The Zodiac Age. This posts just consists of some random thoughts and observations from playing through this remaster.
Continue reading “Returning to Ivalice: First impressions of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age”
How visual details and an interactive world made Final Fantasy VII the most immersive game of it’s time.
Final Fantasy 7 is the game that made me fall in love with games. Cool characters and fun combat played their part, but the immersive qualities of the world is what really got me hooked. But what does ff7 do to make it’s world feel so alive? For me it comes down to the visual details and interactive elements in the world. Lets take a closer look at each.
Cantrip 