Games Explored in 2017
For a game to make it onto this list, I'll either have finished it or at least passed its halfway point; not just picked it up and played it once. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to gauge its experience properly.
List items
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Incomplete.
The art style of the environments/characters and Yoko's compositions are beautiful as always and the gameplay mechanics are user-friendly and well-implemented; but unfortunately the novelty wore off pretty quickly for me, simply due to a lack of variation. I was happy to be playing the next Kingdom Hearts instalment as a fan of course, but it's definitely my least favourite. I found the experience increasingly repetitive and somewhat boring. It requires virtually no on-the-spot skill (relying predominantly on pre-structured arsenal) and is a little tedious to get through. The story is for the most part lacklustre, except once every blue moon.
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Incomplete.
Started off fairly interesting, got far too repetitive.
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Incomplete.
It's a shame how interesting the narrative, atmosphere and music of this game is because it's all unfortunately superseded by the laborious "play each level twice" mechanic. It's also not really something you can put down then come back to after a while because there aren't any ways of being able to retrace details and pick up where you left off. I want to love this game so badly because it had so much unique potential, but it simply falls short.
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Incomplete.
This game joyfully creeped me out, despite its dated temperament. Its ability to build tension and atmosphere is great. Unfortunately, I'll admit I found the puzzles to be somewhat cryptic. I don't necessarily have an issue with this, but it can be tedious when I'm going back and forth throughout the same dreary map for ages trying to figure out wtf to do, with the scare factor being quickly replaced with annoyance; though that isn't entirely a fault of the game since I've always found puzzles in general a little difficult to begin with.
The tank controls definitely took some getting used to and although they eventually became second nature to me, I will proudly argue against their necessity, unlike many others who see them as an accidental blessing. I know it's a dated mechanic due to hardware limitations, but that doesn't stop it from being a cheap scare tactic, like jumpscares in pop horror films. I would love to see a remaster with the implementation of modern controls. I don't care about the camera angle clashes, Devil May Cry never once bothered me and it's always had modern controls; so I think it would be great.
Nitpicks aside. The lore, music and art of this game is fantastic. Definitely a milestone in survival horror.
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Incomplete.
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Complete.
I first played this when I was around 14, enjoying it until half way through when my memory card became corrupted and I lost my save data. Finally, 7 years later, I’d gotten over my grief enough to give it another crack and finish it.
The world feels impressively big in its charming artistic expression for a PSX title, the story is obviously a classic, Uematsu’s music is unforgettable and Nomura’s character design is iconic. The gameplay, though aged and clunky, works perfectly well as a story telling vessel and the turn-based system is made into something truly special with its active time battle aspects, fun animations and camera movements.
The only thing that deters me in this game is the eternal yet necessary stream of mindless random battles in between key events, given that they’re not particularly varied, interesting or fun. To be fair, this is a problem with most classic JRPGs.
Overall, this is definitely one of my favourite Final Fantasy instalments, though I must admit I don’t think of it as highly as many do. I think I’m more a fan of the VII compilation as a whole, rather than of this leading game specifically. I loved what Crisis Core did with the compilation, giving us a glimpse at an improved incarnation, so naturally I’m looking forward to the Final Fantasy VII remake.
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