Betrayal in Antara

After Krondor proved to be a slow burn success for Dynamix and Sierra, they naturally wanted to make a sequel; unfortunately by the time the game had turned a profit they no longer had the rights to adapt the Riftwar saga, and instead had to make their own.  A pretty stock fantasy world called Ramar, with some equally tepid writing by Susan Frischer and Peter Sarrett; neither of whom worked on the original game, and the quality from it is sorely missed.  Our first scene is literally a prince and a young farmhand uniting, with the latter tossing out a lightning bolt out of the blue to showcase his magical talent; yes, I understand compelling world building is difficult, but surely you can try harder than this.  We've also got voice acting now (of a very mediocre sort) and the game isn't much better looking than Krondor was, despite coming out four years later.

Aside from a few small changes and improvements, this is basically just a bog-standard retread of Krondor in every respect.  Instead of the word-lock chests you now get lever chests, in which you pull a series of levers in the correct order to spell out the word for the puzzle.  There are also bead chests in which you attempt to create a sequence of colored beads through exchanges, though these are largely superfluous changes.  Lockpicking is now luck based (blah), and combat was used relatively sparingly in Krondor, making each battle feel significant; here it feels like blatant, boring filler as you're fighting the same handful of enemies almost constantly everywhere you go.  Spells are no longer learned through scrolls, but must be "researched" before they can be used, with new types found through certain environmental actions and research carried out very slowly as time passes.  On the upside, the game does autosave before battles in case they go wrong (and they will, a lot), and there are now touch-range spells, so you're not stuck if an enemy bum-rushes your mage (which they will, a lot).  Unfortunately the lackluster writing, dragging combat and overall slow pace make this a poor imitation of Krondor.  To say nothing of the bugs - the game crashes frequently and many mechanics simply don't work as advertised.  Krondor was a virtually bug-free experience, so having so many of them in what's supposed to be a followup game is a major strike against it.  And considering how subpar an experience it is already, there's just no reason to recommend Antara over its predecessor.

 

Developer: Sierra On-Line
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Released: 1997
Platforms: PC

Shinsetsu Samurai Spirits Bushidō Retsuden

A relatively obscure offshoot of the Samurai Shodown/Spirits series, it also holds the distinction of being the only RPG released for the Neo-Geo CD, as well as one of the very few RPGs from SNK (the only other I'm aware of being the cult classic NES title Crystalis).  Story-wise it's a loose retelling of the first two Samurai Shodown games (divided into a separate chapter for each game), giving you a choice of six starting characters as they embark on their own journeys, eventually joining up at the end to vanquish that respective chapter's main baddie.  The overall plot remains the same, but each character gets some unique dialog and scenes to view, lending it some replayability.  The core gameplay is fairly standard turn-based RPG fare, having you purchase items, upgrade equipment, get into random encounters with various foes and earn experience to level up, though there are some small twists - you can block enemy attacks or inflict extra damage with timed button presses, and special moves can either be selected from a menu or executed via fighting game style action inputs.  Characters also keep their trademark weapons throughout the game, gradually upgrading them at blacksmiths as the story progresses and optionally infusing them with elements to inflict extra damage to certain types of enemies; not completely unlike the weapon forging in the Suikoden games.  As ever SNK's gorgeous animation and beautiful spritework is a joy to behold, and the moody music and voiceover lend it a nice edge over may other RPGs of the time, but it shows SNK's forte really doesn't lie in the traditional RPG genre - the slow action (even on the fastest settings), frequent encounters and drab dungeons are definitely a detriment to the experience.  Die-hard fans of Samurai Shodown's characters and lore will probably find a lot to like here, but if you're looking for some visceral and captivating fighting action in isolationist Japan, I'd say play one of the fighting games instead.

Developer: SNK
Publisher: SNK
Released: 1997
Platforms: Neo-Geo CD, Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation

Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero

Mortal Kombat of course needs no introduction; a popular '90s fighting game franchise that combined martial arts, monsters and magic, it quickly became a fan favorite for its unique comic book flair and for having tons of hidden secrets for players to unlock.  It also drew plenty of controversy for its over-the-top violent finishing moves and mid-match bloodletting, and was almost singlehandedly responsible for the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board and their content rating system that appears on every video game released to this day.  Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero was presumably intended to be the first of a sub-franchise that would have expanded the series' lore and storytelling, though its poor critical reception (as well as the dismal failure of another spinoff game, Mortal Kombat Special Forces) quickly put a damper on those plans.  It isn't difficult to see why the game flopped after only a few minutes of playing it, either; essentially, they attempted to take a fighting game engine and incorporate platforming, puzzle solving and RPG-style levels and boss fights into it, and the end result was - to put it charitably - disastrous.  Enemies all have the same strange AI as the 2D Mortal Kombat games, which is to say they're either braindead easy or read every input from your controller and instantly counter it until you're dead.  Every level is laden with platforming puzzles and traps that either eat a huge chunk of your health or (much more frequently) just kill you instantly, and avoiding them is a pain owing to the fact that the screen doesn't scroll until you're roughly 2/3 of the way from the edge.  Each level is also a convoluted maze where enemies can attack at virtually any time, and you have to hit a button to turn Sub-Zero around to face them every time they come from behind or jump over you (and lord help you if enemies attack from both sides at once).  The RPG element also feels lazily implemented - you get points for defeating enemies and unleashing combos, and reaching certain thresholds unlocks more special moves, including Sub-Zero's freeze blast; that's right, you don't even start the game with the character's signature move.  Boss fights are downright nightmarish too, often requiring extremely niche tactics to even hit them, let alone whittle down their enormous life bars, and they can generally kill you in only a few hits (which you often cannot block).  You do get items that restore health, boost your attack/defense or grant temporary invincibility, but these are so few and far between and the combat is so frequent that they barely provide any help, and if you die and have to restart a boss battle after using some, they don't come back.  Just an amazingly frustrating and poorly-planned experience on every front.  Hell, when there's secret codes to give yourself 999 lives and unlimited health powerups and even that barely makes it more tolerable, you know your game is in serious trouble.  The only highlight of the whole mess are the live action cutscenes, which showcase some truly cheesy acting and special effects, and it's almost worth suffering through the aggravation just to watch them.  Almost.

Developer: Midway Games, Avalanche Software
Publisher: Midway Games
Platform: Playstation, Nintendo 64
Released: 1997, 1998

X-COM: Apocalypse

The third game in the X-COM franchise (and the only sequel to be helmed by series creator Julian Gollop), which tried to be something more grandiose in scale; ironically while only taking place in a single city rather than encompassing the entire planet. Not only do you have to contend with invading aliens, but the city's major players all come into play to work for or against you; for example, helping the police force will have them aid you in fending off alien invaders, befriending the android and alien-hybrid minorities can make new (and quite powerful) troops available, while making an enemy of the transportation corporations will make getting around to undertake missions much more difficult.  Unlike the previous X-COM games, the central government is also your only major funding lifeline; getting on bad terms with them (or seeing them fall to the aliens) can make the game downright miserable, forcing you to rob other factions to survive and painting a huge target on your back for the rest of the game.  There's also an alien worshipping cult that will oppose you no matter what you (or the aliens) do, which can be troublesome at times.  There's also an option for a real-time mode which sounds like it could speed up the monotonous search and destroy missions, but honestly, the AI is too mediocre and the action gets too chaotic to make it practical on all but the earliest battles.  Sadly the game wasn't as good as it could have been - internal conflicts and tight deadlines meant many planned features (like inter-faction conflicts and espionage missions) were scaled down or cut entirely, so the game overall feels very similar to the original with a few extra gimmicks glued on. Still a fun game that executes the X-COM hook of "gradually learn, adapt and overcome" quite well, but it's definitely not as well-refined and cohesive as the original classic.

Developer: Mythos Games
Publisher: MicroProse
Platform: PC
Released: 1997

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers

The Megami Tensei series has always blended science fiction and fantasy elements to it, but Soul Hackers is one of the more prominent examples, taking it deep into cyberpunk territory.  The player is part of a hacker ring called the "Spookies" opposing a corporation called Algon Soft, who have vastly upgraded the tech in the small town of Amami and who have dark ulterior motives in doing so.  As per series standards, demons soon inter the mix and the player pursues numerous virtual worlds in their quest to unravel the dark secrets within them.  The game utilizes the same mechanics as the earliest Shin Megami Tensei games - having to negotiate with demons to recruit them and keep a supply of a resource called "Magnetite" to keep them summoned.  However, demons' personalities also enter the equation; the player will slowly have to earn their trust with gifts or letting them choose their own actions, lest they disobey orders in combat or clash with other demons in their group.  Its also not the series' best in terms of presentation or design - while the VO is quite good for the most part, the music is rather drab and the dungeons are mostly dull (with one standout in the form of an art museum where the player ventures through various paintings to proceed).  Still, its relatively fresh concept makes it another worthwhile SMT title and worth a try.

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus, NIS America
Released: 1997, 2013
Platforms: Sega Saturn and Playstation (Original), 3DS (Remake)

BS Zelda no Densetsu: Inishi no Sekiban

 In the same vein as the original BS Zelda, Inishi no Sekiban (translated as "Ancient Stone Tablets") is a reworking of Link to the Past, this time with an added narrative (voiced in Japanese and in text at the bottom), reworked episodic gameplay, a time limit and a score table, challenging the player to complete two dungeons and collect as many rupees as possible before time expires and possibly (in the 90s when it aired) earn prizes.  Also somewhat unusual is the fact that the player doesn't control Link in the original release, instead utilizing their avatar from the Satellaview's BIOS menu in game and some of the text changing accordingly.  Other than that, this is much in the same vein as the original, with reworked dungeons, timed events that can grant the player bonuses like temporary invincibility or unlimited bombs for a short while, and a clever new twist on LTTP for those who know the original game like the back of their hands.  Like the first BS Zelda, it's only available nowadays through emulation, but it's a great piece of history that's well worth a look for any serious franchise fan.

Developer: Nintendo R&D2

Publisher: St. GIGA

Released: 1997

Platform: Satellaview

Wild Arms

One of the earliest RPGs for the Playstation to get critical acclaim, as well as one of the first RPGs on the platform in the west, period.  But does Wild Arms still prove to be an entertaining title, or is this one that's simply overshadowed by what came later?

Early Playstation adopters that were fans of RPGs found themselves in a tight spot; Sony, itching to show off the 3D and media playback capabilities of the platform, was famously averse to releasing RPGs on the system and games with 2D graphics, which didn't bode particularly well for genre fans.  However, they did eventually relented on this policy, allowing games like Suikoden, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Wild Arms to be released and finally giving fans something better to play than Beyond the Beyond (shudder).

Because of that, Wild Arms quickly made itself into a fan favorite, as it maintained much of the feel of a good 16-bit RPG in its design.  Colorful and detailed visuals with 2D sprites, a surprisingly strong soundtrack, and dungeons that shared elements with the classic Zelda games, having the player use a variety of "tools" to clear obstacles and solve puzzles in order to make their way through.  Bombs to blow up rocks, grappling hooks to cross over gaps, a lighter to burn things and lamps, and even Jack's sidekick, a mouse named "Hanpan" that can cross over gaps to activate switch and safely open trapped chests.  As one would expect, more of these are unlocked as the story progresses, keeping the puzzles varied and fresh throughout.

Wild Arms for the most part is a linear adventure, though one element that set it apart from some is that its main characters have a small solo introductory quest before the main story proper begins, giving the player an introduction to their character, motives and unique mechanics.  After that they travel together for much of the game, though there is the odd dungeon here and there that requires them to split up and solve puzzles separately so that the others can advance (with the player able to swap between them at set points).  While there are only three playable characters in Wild Arms, they do have quite distinct abilities.  Rudy is a relatively well-rounded character in terms of stats, but cannot magic.  However, he does wield ARMs, which have a limited number of shots and are consistently expensive to upgrade, but are quite powerful.  Jack utilizes a number of sword-based techniques that inflict elemental damage, status effects and have other special traits.  Cecelia utilizes both offensive and supportive magic, though in a somewhat unconventional way - rather than simply learning spells through levels or as the story dictates, one finds "Crest Graphs" as they adventure, which can be used to pick any of 32 spells (which later expands to 64).  These can also be cleared and reused, so essentially, you don't learn new spells as much as you expand how many you can utilize at a time.

Combat is a traditional turn-based system, but works in a few twists of its own.  As an odd contrast to the overworld and dungeons, which use 2D graphics, combat scenes are rendered entirely in 3D, with a constantly-panning camera to give the action a more dynamic feel.  Another prominent element of its design which would become a series staple is the Force meter, which fills each time a character takes an action or is hit by an attack, and enables special abilities to be used.  Rudy can fire his ARMs with 100% accuracy, for example, while Jack can take his turn first regardless of the other combatants' speed (an important tactic in some battles).  Cecelia has an interesting one too, able to pick an item and "draw magic from it" - for consumables, this usually means giving their healing/restorative effects to all allies rather than just one, while with weapons and armor it can cast various spell effects without using MP - dealing damage, putting up defensive barriers and so forth.  More of these are unlocked as the story progresses, though one common to all three characters is the ability to summon Guardians from runes, which often perform powerful elemental attacks in exchange for 50% of the Force gauge.  In addition, once the bar fills up to 100%, this activates "Condition Green", instantly clearing any status effects on the character, so it is beneficial to store power at times and not just spend it whenever you get the chance to perform a powerful attack.

Wild Arms is also noteworthy for having more bells and whistles than many other RPGs of the period.  Taking the window customization options from Final Fantasy even further, one can actually edit them pixel-by-pixel with the game's built-in editor and even save them to their memory card, keeping it throughout that entire playthrough if they wish.  This even extends to the UI icons too, so if you find the standard ones to be a bit hard to read, you can go ahead and make your own.  It's also the only RPG franchise I know of to have its own built-in screensaver, which the player can even set the timer for (defaulting to five minutes).  Between that and the quite well-composed music, it is a little odd that Wild Arms also utilizes so many stock sound effects, though I was rather amused at hearing a lot of sounds also featured in games like Doom and various cartoons from the era.

The game hasn't aged well in some respects, though.  The translation is notably quite spotty, feeling like the developers just ran the Japanese script through an automatic translator and then pasted it into the game, with dialog often coming off as clunky and unnatural and some puzzles being rather unclear (and the game sometimes not even making it clear there is a puzzle in the first place).  I had to check a guide several times to progress for this reason.  Combat is also relatively one-note, with most enemies one encounters going down in only a few hits and few having exploitable elemental weaknesses or differing strategies required for most.  Dungeons also just tend to drag on for this reason, forcing you into constant fights with the same enemies and the same few puzzle gimmicks again and again.

Wild Arms definitely tries to put a new twist on many elements, but in the end, I just didn't have a lot of fun with it.  The lack of variety really drags the game out before too long, and the dungeons, while they have some creative puzzle-solving at first, soon give way to tedious, long-for-the-sake-of-length design.  Far too many block-pushing and wall-bombing puzzles with little thought required, as well as some that are just plain obtuse (having to talk to everyone in the dungeon, then use the rat on a particular NPC to get them to move aside.  And no, the game does not explain this to you at all).  It laid the groundwork for substantially better games to come, but as it stands, you're probably better off playing the remake of the first Wild Arms than the real thing; it hits the same plot points while incorporating many welcome gameplay updates from Wild Arms 3, as well as featuring a much better translation, and is much more fun overall.

Developer: Media.Vision
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation 1, Playstation Network, Playstation Classic
Released: 1997
Recommended Version: The PSN and Playstation Classic rereleases are direct emulations of the original game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania's second attempt at an RPG format and the first in which Koji Igarashi played a major role, Symphony of the Night is regarded as a classic and a building block for an entire subgenre of games that worked RPG elements into the open-ended exploration format of Metroid.  But does the turning point for the Castlevania franchise still hold up today, or is this just one for the history books and little else?

A relatively low-key entry in the early days of the Playstation (in part because Sony refused to promote it in favor of several 3D games coming out at the time), Symphony of the Night has gone on to become a huge fan favorite and as a result of that, radically changed the course of the Castlevania series.  Only rarely from then on would games be linear action-platformers, instead adopting the same non-linear exploration and gradual upgrade system as this game, which in turn was inspired by Nintendo's Metroid series.  This format endured for several years and numerous entries on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS systems, and of course continues to be copied today by numerous indie developers wanting to make their own take on the format.

Playing it now, it isn't hard to see why, either.  While the acting and dialog is rather cheesy (as per standards of the era), it certainly tried to take the series' storytelling into a new era with plot scenes, a running narrative with a few clever twists (tied to solving some in-game puzzles) and full voice-over.  Even the audio and visuals have upped their game, with a stellar genre-melding soundtrack that works in elements of classical, techno, rock, jazz and metal, and even has vocals during the end credits.  Graphics are impressive too, with 3D backdrops and some 3d modeled enemies and bosses integrated into a world of impressively detailed, smoothly-animated 2D backdrops and characters.

The way it's done is also rather cleverly implemented.  The game at first appears to be another platformer (even opening with the player in Richter's shoes and re-enacting the final fight from Rondo of Blood), and afterwards is put in the shoes of Alucard, who is exceptionally powerful (defeating any enemies he encounters in a single hit).  However, it isn't long before the player encounters Death and has all of their equipment taken away, and at that point they must scavenge and buy equipment along the way, even gradually unlocking the "RPG elements" of the game like displaying damage inflicted on enemies and allowing them to drop items and hearts after being defeated.

Strangely, the game also retains quite a few elements of the earlier platforming-based Castlevanias.  Alucard still gets access to sub-weapons from many of the prior games - Holy water, throwing daggers, bouncing diamonds, the time-stopping stopwatch, and others - and they're still powered by hearts, which can be found by defeating enemies or smashing open candles and lanterns along the way.  Once the game is completed, the player also has the option to replay it as Richter, who retains several abilities he had in Rondo of Blood, including the ability to do the "Item Crash" with sub-weapons and do powerful, often screen-spanning special moves at a large heart cost.  Even a lot of areas in the game are familiar, with series mainstays like the clock tower and underground caverns making appearances.

For the most part, though, the experience is a relatively fresh one.  Alucard gets access to a staggering number of weapons, shields, armor, capes and usable food and attack items, allowing for a staggering amount of player customization.  Moreover, several forms get unlocked over the course of the game, including a wolf form to allow for faster running, a bat form to enable flight and see in dark areas, a mist form which makes him intangible and able to slip through barriers and avoid damage (and can be upgraded to a "Poison Mist" form to damage enemies).  Other abilities get unlocked too, like the ability to leap up to the ceiling to avoid damage and damage enemies in one's path, and the ever-popular double jump to allow more mobility in combat and travel.  A number of spells are also found over the course of the game, letting Alucard mimic some of Dracula's signature attacks (teleporting and throwing fireballs) and granting him several of his own (like a charge attack with the bat form and the ability to "Soul Steal" enemies to recover HP).  Another odd addition is "Familiars", which cause a small 'sidekick' to follow Alucard and aid him along the way - a fairy that will use healing items or free him from Stone status, a demon that attacks enemies and presses switches, and a sword that flies around the screen slashing at enemies to name a few.  Strangely, two of these (Faerie and Tengu) were cut from the original US release, but have since been restored in later ports of the game.

Of course, once one is familiar with the game and its mechanics, they discover some rather hilariously overpowered (if not outright broken) combinations for weapons and armor.  One of the most famous of these is the Shield Rod; a weak weapon on its own, but it has the gimmick of granting Alucard various stat buffs when used in combination with shields one finds throughout the game.  By far the most powerful, though, is when used in combination with the Alucard Shield, which makes the player all but invincible and lets the shield rapidly inflict massive damage to anything it touches - enough to devastate even bosses in a matter of seconds.  Similarly, one can also use a gem-duplicating exploit to get ahold of the Duplicator item early, granting the player unlimited uses of any expendable equippable item and letting them rapid-fire shurikens and generate a limitless supply of HP-restoring food, which makes the game's difficulty overall rather trivial.  And of course, there are some rare drops that break the game in their own right, like the long-ranged Verboten sword and the rapid-firing Crissaegrim.

In spite of all that, though, Symphony of the Night is a very captivating game.  The sheer amount of content it offers allows casual players and those interested in a deeper challenge to tweak the game to their liking, and the amount of fan service and plot scenes are a treat for long-time series fans.  There is also substantial replay value thanks to the aforementioned Richter mode and various special passwords one can input to access new challenges  (my personal favorite being "Thief Mode" or "Luck Mode", which lowers all of Alucard's starting stats but raises his Luck to 99 right out of the gate, allowing you to get rare drops much more easily).  It may not be the most well-polished or balanced of games, but it's arguably the most entertaining Castlevania game ever made, and that alone gives it a lot of clout.

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Playstation, Saturn, PSP, 360, PS4, Vita
Released: 1997, 1998, 2007, 2018
Recommended Version: The PS4 version is the most readily-available one nowadays and is arguably the definitive release, bundling the game with its predecessor Rondo of Blood and restoring some content cut from the original PS1 release and updating the dialog and VO to more modern standards (and featuring the likes of Yuri Lowenthal, Michelle Ruff, Tony Oliver and David Vincent, among others).  If you can find it, though, the Saturn port does have some exclusive content not seen in other versions, including some new areas (the Underground Garden and Cursed Prison) and a playable version of Maria with very different mechanics than those seen in later releases.

Chocobo's Dungeon 2

Released at the height of Square's popularity in the late 1990s, Chocobo's Dungeon is a Final Fantasy offshoot that combines a cute and colorful visual style with the hefty challenge of roguelike gameplay.  But does it prove to be a competent adventure, or does this spinoff title just tarnish the name of Final Fantasy?

Chocobo's Dungeon 2 is sort of an odd man out in Square's late-90s lineup.  While the other games had taken on a darker tone and more modern fantasy settings, it retained a more fantasy-based world and characters and even still utilized 2D sprites a la their 16-bit titles.  Despite being touted as a Final Fantasy offshoot, it carries over only a few familiar elements of the series, with the gameplay primarily being that of a turn-based roguelike (in fact, it's actually an offshoot of Chunsoft's Mystery Dungeon series).  It also had the dubious distinction of being released as "Chocobo's Dungeon 2" despite the original never being released outside of Japan, which probably led to some confusion and contributed to the game's relatively low sales.

Probably also not aiding matters was the fact that the game was quite challenging despite its cute aesthetics, retaining many of the hallmarks of the roguelike genre.  Even early on, the game is pretty relentless with its difficulty, requiring the player to carefully manage their inventory, health and energy levels in order to survive.  Traps that weaken or disable the player are common, and enemies can actually kill other enemies in order to level up and drastically bolster their own power level, which can put them well beyond the player's current one.  Unidentified items (generally nuts and magic cards) are commonplace, with the only way to identify them being to use them and see what they do, which can prove hazardous to one's health.  Even then, though, the Cantrip and Spell books one finds always have random effects which can help or hinder the player, so gambling is as much a part of the experience as raw skill.  And of course, as per Roguelike standards, dying is very costly, robbing the player of all the items in their inventory and forcing them to redo the entire dungeon from the beginning.

Another thing that failed to win points with JRPG fans was the fact that most everything in the game was not a permanent addition to the player's repertoire.  In addition to losing your inventory when you die, weapons and armor also wear down over time and eventually break.  Even spells come in the form of single-use spell books or summon stones.  The closest one comes to permanent equipment is "feathers", which are earned either as rare items or awarded when the player's equipment is broken.  These can have a large variety of useful effects when equipped - boosting maximum HP, increasing the effective range of certain spells, or even allowing you to summon monsters at any time (at the cost of a hefty Stamina drain for as long as they remain in play).  Some items and effects can even reduce the player's level, which only puts the odds less in their favor, particularly late in the game.  The notorious "recycle boxes" littered throughout the dungeons are another element of this - sometimes you can throw in junk items and get something useful (such as a spell book or piece of equipment) in return, while other times you throw stuff in and get junk back.  Either way, there's no takebacks, so you just have to hope the dice land in your favor - a stark contrast to the more concrete, strategy-driven Japanese RPGs that were becoming popular around this time.

As a result of all of this, mastering the game's mechanics quickly becomes an essential part of survival.  One key element of this is the game's crafting system, allowing the player to combine two items together, along with a magic spell, at one of the stoves in the dungeons in order to create new equipment.  Weapons can be combined to create more powerful variants, while armor can be combined to grant greater boosts or transfer abilities to new, stronger pieces of equipment.  Of course, this all relies on the random element of finding items to combine, a stove to combine them with, and having the proper magic to do so when you do find it.  Shops do afford the player the same service with less risk, though of course you do have to pay money for the privilege there.

Another unique element of the game is that virtually any item or object can be "kicked", removing it from the player's enemy but utilizing it to attack an enemy.  This gives some use to otherwise useless items such as the LostChild cards - normally these will erase the minimap when used by the player, but they will inflict Confusion status on enemies when kicked at them, giving them a practical purpose.  This ties into the game's crafting system as well - kicking empty bottles at enemies will capture their "essence' in them if a killing blow is dealt with the damage they inflict.  This Essence can in turn either be used as a potion to restore some HP or Stamina, or it can be used in combination at a crafting stove to give extra stats and abilities to equipment.

Basically, Chocobo's Dungeon 2 is a game caught between worlds, seemingly made for a younger demographic with its cuter and more colorful visual style.  Its gameplay reveals this to be anything but the case, however, proving to be just as unforgiving and luck-dependent as any well-regarded roguelike title.  Basically, it alienated both Final Fantasy fans with its lighter style and and younger/more casual players looking for an easier game to play, and as a result it was generally shunned by gamers of the time.  It's a polished and enjoyable experience for those who can adapt to its high degree of challenge and complex mechanics, but it's easy to see why it's one of the less-talked-about Square games of the Playstation 1 era.

Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Platform: Playstation 1
Released: 1998
Recommended version: N/A

Fallout

Interplay's return to Computer RPGs was lauded as a true role-playing experience, unlike the heavily combat-driven design of most others of the era.  But does it live up to the hype, or is it just another mindless shoot-the-monster simulator?

Intended at first to be a sequel to Interplay's 1988 hit Wasteland, Fallout eventually became its own IP when EA showed no intention of relinquishing the rights to that title.  Both titles do show a lot of similarities (taking place in a North American setting after a nuclear war), but Fallout ultimately took advantage of the technology of the era to create a more fleshed-out experience in every respect.

As its tagline implied, Fallout was intended from the get-go to be an actual role-playing game; rather than solving problems only with force, the player had a variety of options in almost every scenario, and all of them were equally valid.  For example, to resolve a kidnapping that happens early in the adventure, the player can take a stealthy approach to free the hostage, negotiate for her release, challenge the leader of the raiders to a one-on-one duel, or simply go in guns-blazing and wipe them all out.  One even had the option to go down a less savory route and join the raiders themselves, and the game treated all of these options as equally viable.  It is even possible, with some effort, to go through the entire game without your character killing anyone.

Supporting this, the game features a very complex character customization system, deeper than perhaps any other to that point.  The SPECIAL system gives the player seven stats - Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck - and a list of skills, three of which can be "tagged" for faster growth over the course of the game.  The player also has a choice of up to two Traits, which each carry their own advantages and drawbacks.  For example, Small Frame grants the player an extra point of Agility at the cost of significantly reducing their total carry weight, and Jinxed causes the player and everyone they encounter to get many more critical failures in combat.  The numerous combinations of skills and abilities available, as well as the gameplay styles afforded to each, lends Fallout some considerable replay value.

For every 3 levels the player gains, they also gain access to a list of "Perks" that grant them new abilities or enhance their existing ones.  Action Boy gives the player an extra AP for each combat turn, Bonus Rate of Fire reduces the AP cost of using guns (allowing the player to sneak in an extra shot or two per turn), and Fortune Finder will double the amount of money the player finds in chests and random encounters.  Unfortunately, these don't support the multiple gameplay styles nearly as well; many of them require a high stat or skill level as a prerequisite, and getting to that point with that skill/stat generally makes them redundant.  As a rule of thumb, only the combat skills are the ones that prove consistently useful here.

Where Fallout truly shines, however is in its writing.  A post-apocalyptic setting generally lends itself to a heavy mood and a bleak amosphere, and the same is true to a degree in Fallout.  However, it also possesses a more light-hearted tone in many respects as well, seemingly drawing some inspiration from 1950s-era science fiction and comic books to deliver some more outlandish elements (like giant animals and people mutated into more grotesque monsterish forms), as well as a wry sense of humor in many respects.  This is also punctuated by the occasional "talking head" NPC, who are given a fully-animated model and even some surprisingly decent voiceover with the aid of professional actors like Tony Jay, Jim Cummings and Richard Dean Anderson.  There is even a surprising amount of dialog with many NPCs in the game, as well as a large number of text logs and computer files to read that effectively offer a lot of insight into the world and its lore from the perspective of people who lived it firsthand.  This alone makes Fallout a much more compelling experience than many RPGs that fall back on the lazy "plot codices" that simply explain the events leading up to the current day in a dry Wiki-like format.

Despite a somewhat poorly-planned Perk system and some unbalanced gameplay elements, Fallout was (and remains) an important milestone for the genre. It proved to be instrumental in turning Computer RPGs away from being mindless monster mash-fests and truly putting the Role Playing aspect into them.  By giving the player numerous paths to complete each objective and a true sense of consequence for each choice they make, Fallout felt much more alive and dynamic than any CRPG before it, and it continues to be one of the finest examples of design to this day.  Its sequels may have surpassed it in many ways, but without such a strong foundation to build them on, we'd probably still be seeing a lot more mindless first-person monster bopping simulators.

Developer: Interplay Entertainment
Publisher: Interplay Entertainment
Platform: PC
Released: 1997
Recommended version: N/A

Final Fantasy VII

A breakout title which made Sony and Squaresoft into household names and helped to carry gaming as a whole into a new era, turning games from relatively simple diversions into big-budget blockbusters.  But does this game-changer stand the test of time, or is this one experience that's best left in our memories?

Final Fantasy VII is the first game I can remember being marketed as something much bigger than a mere video game.  As the commercials of the time put it, this a major motion picture in video game form, full of amazing special effects and a cast of thousands.  While marketing does tend to exaggerate claims of grandiosity, especially in the realm of video gaming, Final Fantasy VII's developers certainly did their best to live up to the hype.  This was not a typical RPG set in a world of tile-based movement and static backdrops; instead, the game's protagonists were now leaping across rooftops,fighting bad guys atop trains, and even taking part in high-speed chases down the highway as armed troops pursued their getaway truck.  All in a plethora of environments and set pieces that not only drew inspiration from mythology and Tolkien-styled fantasy, but from works like Blade Runner, Shadowrun and Mad Max.  While not the first game to blend elements of action and science fiction into the JRPG genre, it was certainly the most successful attempt at it to that date; the Playstation's capability for high resolution prerendered backgrounds and full motion video helped bring the game's world to life in a way not seen on earlier systems, and even the in-battle characters upped the ante by being fully animated 3D models instead of the simple, static sprites of earlier Final Fantasy games.  Some battles even used elaborate setpieces to give the game a more fast-paced, action-driven feel; from fighting atop trains to a battle with a war machine atop two elevators descending the side of a skyscraper.  The game definitely succeeded in providing a new presentation to the RPG genre, which until this point had been largely viewed as relatively slow-paced and methodical.

Final Fantasy VII's new focus on visual flair proved to be a mixed bag, however, as with it came a drastic change in the RPG paradigm, particularly for Square.  Final Fantasy's customizable characters, challenging active-turn gameplay and distinct high fantasy settings became more and more muddied with new mechanics of varying quality and many more modern elements in their design.  The franchise's class system that divided characters into the familiar fantasy archetypes (Fighter, Thief, Mage, Cleric, etc) was now totally cast aside, with any familiar Final Fantasy abilities now relegated to "Materia", small orbs that can be placed into slots in a character's equipment in order to grant them new spells and commands, and with materia orbs leveling up independently of the characters themselves and able to be freely exchanged between characters at any time.  While this does allow the player to change up their strategies on the fly, it also renders the playable cast more or less indistinct from one another.  They attempted to offset this by having Materia carry advantages and disadvantages; magic Materia tends to lower the character's attack power and maximum HP, for example, while physical skill Materia boost their speed or vitality stats.  However, I don't think they went far enough with this idea; drawbacks for Materia tend to be minimal at best (losing 2% of your HP and one point of attack per materia isn't much of a deterrent, even in large quantities) and you don't really gain enough benefit from having a "pure" Mage, Thief, Fighter, etc. character to make it a strategy worth pursuing.

The Materia system does have at least one interesting twist, though: Materia effects can be combined with one another in linked slots to provide extra benefits.  For example, combining the Double Cut Materia (which allows more than one attack per turn) with the MP Absorb Materia causes physical attacks to absorb MP from enemies, while combining a Restore Materia with an All will cause restorative spells to affect the entire party a set number of times per battle (depending on All's level), rather than simply targeting one person.  This does add a degree of strategy to make up for what the classless system removed, though it does become comically game-breaking once some of the more powerful materia begin to show up - draining MP with every attack, casting Phoenix as soon as one dies, et cetera make the game's difficulty pretty trivial, especially in its later stages.

Another controversial change to the gameplay comes in the Limit Break system.  Each character has a "Limit" gauge that gradually fills as they take damage, and once it is full, they can unleash a "Limit Break", a powerful attack that does substantial damage to one or all enemies on the field or boosts their party in some way.  These vary from character to character; while most simply play an animation that boosts the party or attacks an enemy (or enemies), others play out as something of minigames, such as Tifa's Reels that determine how many attacks she can string together in a combo, or Cait Sith's slots that have a number of randomized effects from healing the party to casting a random summon at no cost.  These definitely add a more arcadey flair to the gameplay, but like the materia system itself, they tend to be quite overpowered - Omnislash and Meteor Swarm in particular are famous for being some of the most broken attacks in video game history, hitting for tens of thousands of damage per use and very spammable with the right setup.

Final Fantasy VII's gameplay definitely isn't the most polished the series has seen for these (and other) reasons, but the game was built more as a vehicle for graphics and storytelling, which it takes to new heights.  Not just on the merits of its well-produced cinematics, but for the writing itself - the CD format definitely adds volumes here, giving us a well-rounded cast with their own histories, personalities and motivations, all becoming distinct and iconic video game characters based on much more than having cool designs.  Granted, some characters do get a bit shafted for development (Red XIII in particular doesn't have much at all to do once his story beat is up), but for the most part, this was easily the strongest part of the experience.  Cloud in particular is one of my favorite video game protagonists of all time; he presents himself as a badass hero but in reality has much more going on beneath the surface (and even he doesn't seem fully clear on the details for much of it); without saying too much, this builds up to a very captivating twist toward the end of the game that ultimately makes Cloud one of the best-defined, as well as most intriguingly flawed, protagonists in any game I've played.  Hell, even the goofy cat-doll-on-a-robot-moogle has more going on beneath the surface than initially appears and gets a few surprisingly well-written scenes; something I rarely saw for the goofier characters in earlier Final Fantasies.  It's not totally without doofy humor - just look at Palmer once you hit Rocket Town - but it still feels a big step forward for storytelling in RPGs and gaming as a whole.

In addition to that, the visual technology that the Playstation brought is put to brilliant use, bringing a new level of immersion and atmosphere to the world it's set in.  No longer was the environment broken up into a distinct grid from a fixed view; by utilizing prerendered backgrounds and multiple camera angles, you were able to walk, climb and leap through slums, city streets, forests, caverns and even go into space, and you felt like you were actually there with the characters - little touches like graffiti, bent branches, functional-but-ruined machinery gave it that much more impact than 16-bit sprites ever could.  This was also used to great effect in the storytelling - there's plenty of unsettling imagery, bizarre monster designs (both mythological and products of mad science) and surreal scenes that add perfectly to the heavy cyberpunk feel and horrifying moments it carries.  And while the earlier Final Fantasies had staged cutscenes, Final Fantasy VII takes them to a new level; characters actually move about, interact with the environments (and each other) and animate expressively for each scenario they're in; enough to make you forget that they're blocky lego-men models with about twenty polygons apiece.

But as any RPG/anime/manga fan can tell you, the game's design and themes also proved to be a double-edged sword on the whole; in the years following Final Fantasy VII's  success, it seemed that nearly every franchise out there attempted to copy elements of VII's design.  This resulted in a lot - and let me emphasize, a lot -  of angsty protagonists with crazy hairstyles and shady pasts fighting against evil corporations and Biblical-themed antagonists, usually wielding gigantic, impractical weapons as they did so.  From King of Fighters to Inuyasha to Trigun to Fullmetal Alchemist to several other copycats within the RPG genre (Legend of Dragoon, Shadow Madness, Shadow Hearts, Grandia II and Star Ocean 3 just to name a few), it seems like everyone wanted a piece of the Final Fantasy VII pie.  This has largely died off in recent days, but the media of the late 90s and much of the 2000s were thoroughly saturated with these elements, which got to be a bit tiresome and may have soured some fans on Final Fantasy VII's long-term appeal.  Probably more than any other, Final Fantasy VII stands as proof that widespread acclaim and success is a double-edged sword.

For these reasons, as well as its divisive change-up in style and gameplay, Final Fantasy VII was a standout game in its time that continues to divide the fanbase even today.  That said, I still hold a lot of respect for the game - the presentation for the time was nothing short of incredible and the characters remain distinct and memorable - one of the earliest examples of a game where they felt like actual people with motives, passions and histories, not just cardboard cutouts with skills.  Its gameplay may not be the series' best on a mechanical level, but it's fast-paced, fun and rarely relies on tedious grinding, which really helps its longterm appeal.  More than anything else, though, it got right what many of the later Final Fantasy games wouldn't - finding a balance between the fun/camp factor and serious storytelling that worked in heavy psychological and mythological themes, but never crossed the line into becoming preachy, pretentious or manipulative.  While it hasn't aged the best in some respects, I think it's one every serious RPG fan should play at least once, if only to see what it gets right (and so many of its copycats would get very, very wrong).

Developer: Squaresoft
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform: Playstation, Playstation 3/Portable/Vita (Downloadable), Playstation 4, PC, iOS, Android
Released: 1998, 2015, 2016
Recommended version: All versions of the game are more or less the same, but the recent Switch and PS4 releases add in a few "cheat" functions that allow the player to triple the game's animation speeds, skip random encounters or activate a God Mode that instantly restores their health and fills the Limit bar.  This allows those only interested in the story to make their way through the game, and those interested in the gameplay to speed up the more tedious grinding aspects and lengthy spell animations. The PC versions also have an extensive mod manager called 7th Heaven that allows for replaced models, upscaled backgrounds and numerous gameplay tweaks.