Parasite Eve: Squaresoft’s cinematic RPG (Review)

In the 1990s Square was making a big push towards making video games more like film. Starting with Final Fantasy VII with it’s very impressive opening cinematic and character focused story. This continues throughout their remaining SNES games, and into the PS1 era. Emphasis is placed upon story, cutscenes, and visuals. This comes to a head with the bombastic cinematics of FF7 and its later siblings. Each of these games felt like RPGs that utilized filmic elements to help tell their story, but never truly “cinematic” RPGs. That title is most aptly applied to Parasite Eve. It packs many filmic elements together with innovative RPG mechanics to create a very unique experience.

How Final Fantasy VI lets players create their own protagonist.

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.

Crystal Compendium: Final Fantasy VIII

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.

A Crystal Compendium Hub

Returning to Ivalice: First impressions of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

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.