Released in 1996 on the original PlayStation, Suikoden found commercial (on a small scale), and critical success nearly a year before Final Fantasy VII opened the mainstream market for games in the genre. For many PlayStation owners, Suikoden was their first RPG on the system. To others, their first good RPG on the systems as Beyond…
Category: Throwback Bit Thursday
Throwback Bit Thursday is a weekly Thursday feature on Never Ending Realm. Read all of NER’s #TBT articles here!
Throwback Bit Thursday: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The 23rd of November (three days ago), marked The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time‘s 22nd birthday. Yes, it has been a whooping 22 years since we first got our hands on what in my opinion remains – to this day – Nintendo’s finest gaming moment. It is only natural that today’s throwback section takes…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Arc The Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, might just be the best PlayStation 2 JRPG that almost no one ever played. In fact, in terms of its plot, it might just be one of the best JRPGs ever, period. The 2003 game, is the sixth installment in the legendary Arc the Lad series. The series…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Dragon Warrior VII
Let’s get this out of the way: Dragon Warrior VII, by far, is the worst Japanese Role-Playing Game that I have ever played. In some ‘throwback bit’ sessions I have remembered the great, but today, it is time to look back at the other end of the spectrum. Now, Dragon Warrior/Quest (Quest in Japan, and…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Final Fantasy IX
Melodies of Life Final Fantasy IX turns 20 next week. It is hard to believe that it has been two decades since I first booted up the game on my old PlayStation console, but time sure flies. Just like its soundtrack (which is Uematsu’s favorite), and its main theme song “Melodies of Life”. Final Fantasy…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Shadow of the Colossus
It feels strange to write about Shadow of the Colossus as a “Throwback” game. Just this year, I played through its brilliant remake (Developed by Bluepoint). But Shadow of the Colossus turned 15 years old this month, and two console generations have passed us by in the meantime, thus making the PlayStation 2’s technical marvel,…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Lost Odyssey
Lost Odyssey = The true Final Fantasy XI? Much can be said about the Final Fantasy series in its post Sakaguchi era. The series has gone through a rollercoaster of directors, and the main single player entries have ranged from great but different (Final Fantasy XII), to on rails and non-sensical (Final Fantasy XIII), to…
Throwback Bit Thursday: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
The late 90s were the most magical years that I experienced as a gamer. The 3-D era was fresh and exciting. The Nintendo 64 kept churning out ground breaking games, and it seemed that every Nintendo and Rare game of the era broke and set some new standard in gaming. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Our weekly Thursday ‘Throwback Bit’ section has gathered a good deal of popularity over the past few months. Remembering old games is always good – if nostalgic – and today’s chosen game is no different. Lunar: Silver Star Story is a monumental RPG that some presentation standards in place, standards that have been attributed to…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Star Ocean The 2nd Story
Enix’s Star Ocean series is one of the few J-RPG franchises that originated in the 16-bit era that remains, to this day, somewhat relevant on home consoles. While the latest entries have been disappointing as SO: The Last Hope, and Integrity and Faithlessness, have for the most part been fairly average RPGs. One thing that…