Monthly Archives: May 2010

Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #6 – Valkyria Chronicles

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Until recently, I had never been a big fan of the SRPG genre. The appeal of these kinds of games was something I never really understood, as I found many of them frustrating in that one tiny screw-up could mean hours wasted. As a result, I generally steered clear of these kinds of games. When I first learned about Valkyria Chronicles, it didn’t impress me. It just looked like another generic war game. However, since there was a free demo available, I decided to give the game a try and immediately got sucked into it.

The continent of Europa, in which the game takes place, closely resembles Europe in the time of World War II. The peaceful nation of Gallia, rich in a valuable material known as Ragnite, has recently become under attack by the East Europan Imperial Alliance. They want the precious metal, and will do anything it takes to acquire it. Valkyria Chronicles tells the tale of Squad 7 of Gallia and their struggles to push back the Empire’s forces. At first this seems like a generic story, but there are some nice twists & turns that give it a fresh feel. It’s a great story filled with plenty of action, surprises, and even some sadness.

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Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #7 – Eternal Sonata

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I was never a big fan of music history when I was growing up. I remember sitting in 7th grade music class when the teacher babbled on about famous composers and whatnot, and me not really giving a damn. When I learned a few years ago that there was an RPG called Eternal Sonata that centered around Frédéric Chopin – a famous composer from the 19th century, I thought to myself “Meh, that can’t possibly be interesting.” But it was an RPG, and since I’m a sucker for RPGs, in addition to the generally positive reviews the game received, I decided to give it a try.

Upon playing Eternal Sonata, it quickly became one of my all-time favorite RPGs. Although a bit weak in terms of story, the game excels in its graphics, gameplay, and characters.

The game starts out with Chopin suffering from a fatal illness on his death bed. With death looming just around the corner, he falls into a deep sleep and dreams himself into a fantasy world. This is the world of Eternal Sonata. The events that take place in this world are loosely related to actual events that occurred throughout Chopin’s life. In the dream world, a product known as floral powder is used in everyday life to cure any illness. For some reason, the government has recently placed a hefty tax on this product and instead is encouraging people to use mineral powder, another product that seemingly has the same effect. Chopin, along with some friends he meets along the way, set out to investigate the mystery behind this mineral powder, only to discover that its continued use could pose a threat not only to those who use it, but to the entire world.

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Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #8 – Illusion of Gaia

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Back in 1994 when Enix was still just Enix, they released a game known as Illusion of Gaia (known in Europe as Illusion of Time). It’s now 2010, and I still don’t get what this game is about. But if there’s one thing I know for sure – it’s that this game is loads of fun to play. Set in what’s supposedly our planet in an ancient era (despite the land formations not looking at all like Earth), some of the landmarks in the game resemble those of past civilizations.

The story? Umm, well, as I said – I don’t get this game. The story really makes no sense at all. If you don’t believe me, watch the first few minutes of this Let’s Play of the game just to see how ridiculous it is. All I know is that it’s about a young hero named Will who wields his mighty… flute… to battle demons, and somehow eventually saves the world from a giant comet that’s in the sky for no apparent reason. The historical accuracy of the game’s setting is well – not accurate at all! For some reason, this game takes place in an era where Angkor Wat, the Great Pyramid, the fictional kingdom of Mu, and the Tower of Babel all existed at the same time. If that’s not ridiculous enough – there’s 20th century technology in the game… because we all know that airplanes existed when the Tower of Babel was built, right? But enough ripping on the story and this game’s terrible attempt at relating to the real world…

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Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #9 – Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

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I know what you’re thinking. Why not Star Ocean: The Second Story? Unfortunately, I never had the chance to play the game which is widely considered to be the best in the series. I did, however, play its successor, Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (commonly referred to as Star Ocean 3). Released for the Sony PlayStation 2 in 2003, Star Ocean 3 added a new generation of graphics to the popular RPG series.

In the distant future, technology has advanced to the point where humans can travel freely into outer space. Contact with aliens has been made, and a system of laws has been set up to govern how aliens and their worlds are interacted with.  With far off planets at their disposal, humans set out to explore these distant worlds.

Fayt and his friend Sophia, the story’s protagonists, are spending a vacation at the resort planet of Hyda IV when an alien race suddenly attacks. Fayt and Sophia evacuate, but at the expense of being separated from their parents. After a series of events, the two eventually end up on Elicoor II, a planet with civilization that resembles that of 17th century Earth. The bulk of the game’s story takes place in the fantasy setting of this planet, where all of our favorite fantasy tropes such as magic, castles, and dragons exist. Having been thrown into this world, the protagonists have no choice but to live among the natives and assist them in their ongoing war with a neighboring nation. It isn’t until much later in the story that our heroes finally leave Elicoor II and discover the much larger threat at hand.

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Top 10 Greatest RPGs – #10 – Wild Arms 2

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Recommended to me by my good friend Ray Reilly, Wild Arms 2 is a wonderful title for the first Sony PlayStation (PSX) that I unfortunately did not discover until about a year ago. In spite of it being very dated, I still enjoyed this game greatly.

Wild Arms 2 takes place in a setting that resembles the “old west” with steampunk and fantasy elements thrown in. The story revolves around three heroes – Ashley, Lilka, and Brad. The three band together with a group known as ARMS to fight against the evil organization Odessa, which is bent on destroying the world. Sound familiar? Sure, the story is just about as generic as it can get. But Wild Arms 2 isn’t good because of its story…

The game begins by letting you choose which of the three main characters you want to start with, thus providing a little bit of background story about that character. After completing one character’s story, you can then choose another character to play as. After playing through all three of these character’s prologues, the characters meet up with each other and embark on their quest to destroy Odessa.

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