History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

When you have a series that has become beloved and spans many consoles, it's only natural to want to branch out at times.  That's what Square did with Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles.  In an attempt to recapture lost Nintendo fans who they'd left when Final Fantasy jumped to the Playstation, they released several DS, Gamecube, and Wii exclusives, however, these games were...different.

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

As Final Fantasy moved through the PS2 era, it also found a welcome home on portable markets through the Gameboy advance and digital services.  Today, we take a look at the successor to the Final Fantasy Tactics game and return to Ivalice with, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings

Following the success of Final Fantasy 12, Square decided to release a sequel...but in the most unusual way and on the most unusual platform.  Taking an rpg for Sony and the Playstation, they made a port for the Nintendo DS that was an RTS.  The hell...?!  It's actually pretty good.  Listen and find out why.

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 12

Square Enix tried to revitalize their flagship series by moving it online.  This plan had originally been to make all subsequent games online, but it quickly fell through, leaving Square with a choice of backstepping to a more traditional RPG or going in a new direction.  And, for good or for ill, they took the risk and tried to use what they'd learned in Final Fantasy 11 and use it to make Final Fantasy 12, an offline title.  This is the beginning of where their era of change begins to crumble into failure and shortcoming.  But not quite yet.  For all it's faults, Final Fantasy 12 does have some strong merits.  Watch to find out what those are.

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 11

Alright everyone, back on schedule, hopefully, with History of Final Fantasy.  This time, we close in on controversy as we talk about the biggest change to date for the series and what influenced every game after it, for good and for ill.

Today, we discuss Final Fantasy 11.  Final Fantasy online.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 20 & Epilogue

Today, we conclude the Sunless Sea Stories and my journey as Solarus comes to an end.  I'll finish up History of Final Fantasy next, but following that...I'm leaning towards retiring or at least taking a break from videos for a while...and maybe this blog.  Who knows...part of me misses playing games rather than talking about or making videos about them, you know?

Either way, here is the end of Captain Solarus...and here is the beginning.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 18 & 19

Ugh...life has not been kind to me, in between dealing with the banking  nightmare here in China and videos, and school, and writing, and preparing to return home in 2 months, so forgive me for my lapse in video posting.  This week is HELL, so I'm not sure when the last two parts of Solarus's Journey will be up, but there are only 2 parts left...so look forward to them.  For now, see my Captain's downfall as he gives into the whims of the Apes and comes close to a fateful choice. 

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 16 & 17

Stress and my workload are increasing, plus I've got a lot on my plate day to day, so I'm probably going to start just releasing two videos on one of my weekend days rather than spacing them out through the weeks.  Still working on History of Final Fantasy, but it's slow going, so I'm finishing up these videos before we dive back into that.

Anyway, enjoy Solarus's Journey, we're closing in on an ending.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 14 & 15

Hey all.  So, I've been sick, scraped a large portion of skin off my hands, and been swamped with work, so I missed my last chance to upload some more Sunless Sea.  So, here we're going to upload two at once to get people up to speed.  I've got six more chapters left before the story ends, so we're getting close.

Anyway, work on History of Final Fantasy is continuing, but I'm still sidetracked by real world responsibilities, so it'll only resume once I finish Sunless Sea Stories.  Just a few more weeks.  Now, enjoy Captain Solarus's journeys.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 13

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 12

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 11

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 10

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 9

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 8

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 7

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 6

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 5

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 10-2

So, SquareEnix has released Final Fantasy 10 to widespread praise and despite the clunky voice acting, the game is as polished, as beautiful, and as fun as it has ever been.  So, they decide to make their first ever direct sequel.  And they change almost everything about the game, save for the characters and the graphics.  It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but if you can get over the foolish marketing choices and some sexism, the game is an incredible experience, with truly inspired design, paying homage to previous games, while still trying to be its own thing.

Final Fantasy 10-2 has no right to be a good game based solely on its looks and legacy.  And yet it is.  It is a damn good game.  Watch on to find out why.

Just a heads up to anyone who sees this.  I will be taking a short break, maybe a week or two, from History of Final Fantasy and game reviews because I'm a bit behind.  In those times, we'll be doing more Sunless Sea Stories, which I've already got recorded and rendered.  I hope people enjoy.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 4

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 3

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 10

So, the Playstation era has ended and Square-enix is ready to wow the world once again with the mighty Final Fantasy series on the PS2.  However, something is different.  Never has a game been more mechanically strong, yet divisive amongst the fans than their entry into the PS2.  Final Fantasy 10.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 2

History of Final Fantasy: The Era of Change

Well, we're about to cross into the region of "terrible" Final Fantasy games, born out of the PS2 era and beyond.  Before that, however, we need to talk about the evolution of the series and how it changed to welcome the PS2 and how it began to expand and, in many ways, collapse in on itself.  This week, we're talking about the era of change surrounding Final Fantasy and how it went from a classic JRPG to...something totally different.  Enjoy.

Sunless Sea Stories: Solarus's Journey 1

So, I've been through about 4 playthroughs of Sunless Sea, truly a fantastic little adventure.  For my 5th, I wanted to do something different, so I'm going to narrate, in audio book form, the adventures of my captain as told by his log book.

Please, join me for some Sunless Sea stories.  Let us follow the adventures of Captain Solarus as he tries to survive this bleak abyss beneath the earth.

History of Final Fantasy: Chocobo games and other related titles

Forgive me, everyone, I missed last week due to sickness...which I still have.  Either way, I managed to get another video made in time for this week.  This time, we discuss how Square expanded its brand through spin off titles like Chocobo Racing, Chocobo Dungeons, and other games that made use of their Final Fantasy characters.  So, stick with me as we delve into the strange, the surreal, and the often adorable.  These are the Chocobo and other related Final Fantasy titles.

Sunless Sea Video Review

Time for another review!  I've been sinking most of my free time into Sunless Sea lately, so I figured I'd share some of it with you.  Join me as we venture to the deepest ocean, far below the surface of the earth.  Ancient monsters sleep here as rats colonize islands, the king of the sea judges his drowned souls, a reef of living coral plays chess, and devils make deals with London Citizens.

Only upon the sunless sea.

History of Final Fantasty: Final Fantasy Tactics

Today, we explore a side series of Final Fantasy.  While the numbered titles were dominating the charts as traditional JRPGs, there was a small little game that appeared with the Final Fantasy name, blending both turn based and tactical gameplay together in a smooth, creamy blend of fun.  This game called Ivalice its home and soon its name would be synonymous with excellent tactical combat.  This is the story of Final Fantasy Tactics.

History of Final Fantasy: FInal Fantasy 9

Near the end of the PS One era, we had a return to form for Final Fantasy, where the design was very reminiscent of the golden era of Final Fantasy.  It was the swan song of an era and proved to be an excellent title besides.  However, it seems to be somewhat forgotten compared to other entries into the series.  The graphics are some of the only things remembered because of their oddity.

So, I want to encourage people to remember this entry into the series because it has some of my favorite characters, music, and villains.  Let me tell you about Final Fantasy 9...and the Black Waltzs.

Hand of Fate Video Review

Since we looked at an early access game last week, let's look at a game I've been playing since early access.  This is Hand of Fate, an addictive card/board game with rogue-like and deck building mechanics blended seamlessly with 3d arena combat.  The game has an insane amount of atmosphere and charm and is a fascinating experience for DnD players of all ages...or anyone, for that matter.

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 8

Final Fantasy 8 was a game which, while popular on its initial release, received rather harsh criticisms from fans years later.  In particular, the Spoony One was very critical of changes to the games formula, especially involving magic and the progression systems.  However, despite its changes, the game still felt distinctly Final Fantasy and remains a favorite of fans.  Today, we look at why the game was good and some of the changes the game made which earned it its criticisms.

Darkest Dungeon Video Review

Hello, everybody.  Like most players and reviewers, I have become swept up with and addicted to Darkest Dungeon, which is a fantastic little game.  So, I decided to do a review of it.  My footage is...problematic, since fraps didn't want to record the game, but crappy or not, I think it gives you a good taste of what the game is like.

Enjoy

Fanservice: The Death of Storytelling

*UPDATE*

Youtube is a piece of shit that content ID me AUTOMATICALLY.  Friggin robot.  Last time I ever try and use fucking video of any AAA games, fuck you Sega, or anime, fuck you TV Tokyo, so I blacked all that shit out.  Still got some good still images and some good commentary, but yeah, this broken ass video is all that's left after Youtube bowed its head to the corporate gods of greed.

As a proponent of good stories in games, movies, anime, etc. I happen to get especially agitated when a series leaves plot holes or other issues.  However, more than even that, I get teeth grindingly frustrated when they mess up the characters.  Nothing does this more, in my opinion, than fan service.  How can we make our bad ass female warrior seem far less capable and intimidating?  Ass and boob shots.  It's nearly killed my love for the manga Fairy Tail, but it's not all as bad as that.  Sexual characters are fine.  Screwing up characters who aren't portrayed as sexual, however, is not.

So, let us examine this phenomenon, in several different anime, manga, and games.

History of Final Fantasy: Compilation of Final Fantasy 7

Final Fantasy 7, despite its problems, became arguably one of the most popular Final Fantasy games in the entire series.  So, to try and make more money off it, and to appease fans clamoring for a remake, Square-Enix decided to release some sequels and tie-ins to the game after the Playstation 2 had hit.  These games were direct sequels but dealt with side characters and sub plots that the original game never got a chance to tackle.  So, how were these games?  While most were reviled by fans for being clunky and not what they wanted, many of them are actually quite interesting and even fun to play.  So, please, join me, as we take a look at the Compilation of Final Fantasy 7 and find out just how crazy this game and its sequels could get.

Remembering Justin "Jewwario" Carmical

Video game growing pains here.  This is, sadly, the one year anniversary of the death of Justin "Jewwario" Carmical.  Even now, it hits me hard, every time I watch his videos...but I keep on watching them, because his energy, his kindness, and his love of gaming still shine through, bright as ever.  I did a text memorial last year, but this time, I have enough skill to create a small video memorial.  So, I want to share my memories of Justin with all of you.

Let us not forget the man in the yellow hat, who told us "You can play this!"  Let us always remember.  In that way, we can keep him alive in our hearts and our minds.  Justin has plenty of friends also honoring and remembering him, so...let me give you a few links, just in case you don't see the video on youtube.

For Justin's full body of work, please check out:
http://blip.tv/youcanplaythis
https://www.youtube.com/user/JewWario/videos

It's got all his videos and the ad revenue should go to support his widow.

For the Famikamen Rider Tribute that Marzgurl is working on, please check out:
https://fkrcompletion.wordpress.com/

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy 7

Here we come to one of the most iconic games in Final Fantasy.  Final Fantasy 7 is heralded by many as the greatest game in the series and has changed the face of the RPG genre for close to two decades.  It's certainly an amazing game, but is it as good as everyone says?  What is the history surrounding the game everyone wants to remake?  Stay tuned and find out.

History of Final Fantasy: The Art of Final Fantasy

Video game growing pains is back, this time with another Final Fantasy video.  We're talking about the art of Final Fantasy, because it changed quite a bit in the jump from the 16-bit to the 3-d.  It's important that we recognize the differences in art and how they affected the franchise and the fans before moving on to talk about Final Fantasy 7.

So, let's do that.  Enjoy!

History of Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

Brand new year, same old retrospectives.  What better way to ring in 2015 than with MORE Final Fantasy?  Well, I can think of a few ways, however it's time I got back to regular releases, so I'm releasing the last of the 16-bit Final Fantasy games.  The game so hated and reviled that it took Final Fantasy 13 to unseat it.  Final Fantasy Mystic Quest?  So, is it as bad as all that?  Watch and find out.

I intend to try and release videos a bit more regularly now.  At least once a week, if not more, but this is a side project, not a job, so...yeah, bear that in mind.