For week number two of our new weekly feature “games that will cost you a kidney,” we have another Japanese role-playing game from the genre’s golden decade. The game? Lunar 2: Eternal Bue Complete. While our focus will be on the PlayStation 1 version, know that the original Sega CD version is retailing for $499.99…
Hylics: An Abnormal RPG
My initial introduction to the Hylics series was by watching Hylics 2’s trailers on Youtube. This RPG’s strange and interesting graphics captured my attention, and I enjoyed the music so much I listened to the soundtrack on repeat once it was released on Mason Lindroth’s (the creator) YouTube channel. For a long time, I desired…
Throwback Bit Thursday: A Brief 1997 Nintendo 64 Memoir
Ah! 1997! To be 13 years old again! To have a crush on Ginger Spice again! So many memories, but perhaps none dearer than my time as a new Nintendo 64 owner and the hours I spent playing Turok, Golden Eye, and Star Fox 64. Truth be told, I probably played more of Super Mario…
The Best Games of 2000 According to GameRankings
The turn of the millennium was a momentous occasion. Doomsday nuts thought the world would end and that computer equipment would suffer catastrophic failures. The year 2000 also brought us the strongest year in gaming since 1998. How strong was the year 2000? All-time great game classics such as Vagrant Story, Chrono Cross, Skies…
Square Enix President: Japanese Developers Shouldn’t Imitate Western Games
It is well known that except for The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and now Elden Ring, Western RPGs rule the gaming world in terms of sales. Square Enix is a successful company, but its Final Fantasy series has fallen off its “king of the hill” perch over the last two decades with newer RPG games…
Games That Will Cost you a Kidney: Panzer Dragoon Saga
A few days ago, one of our readers and group members suggested that we should work on a section about retro games and the reasoning behind their high prices. We thought the idea was good. After all, as a JRPG focused site, we know all too well the growing pains of grabbing some genuine 32-bit…
Tenchu: Stealth Assassins Review
In 1998, stealth-focused videogames became serious contenders in the videogame market. We saw critically acclaimed releases like Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation and Thief: The Dark Project for PC. These games were exceptional, but FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice would later draw inspiration from another stealth-based game franchise created in 1998—Tenchu. Tenchu: Stealth Assassins, created…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Metal Gear Solid 2
Before I write anything else, I must confess that I was never a big fan of the original Metal Gear Solid game on the PlayStation. It is not that I didn’t like the game or appreciate what it did for the stealth and action adventure genres on Sony’s little gray machine. My issue with it…
The Best Games of 1999 According to GameRankings
All great things must come to an end, and the 1990s met such a fate. With today’s coverage we close the book on GameRankings.com’s best games of the 1990s decade. After 1998’s historically great (arguably the greatest) year, 1999 was a bit of a letdown. Today, we bid farewell to arguably gaming’s most important decade…
Kingdom Hearts 4’s Announcement Bodes Well for a Final Fantasy IX Remake
Kingdom Hearts 4 is the latest Square Enix title that was included in the GeForce Now leaked list to be officially confirmed. That would only leave the Final Fantasy IX Remake as the sole member of the Square Enix listed titles to have yet to be officially announced. While early on, Nvidia’s list seemed a…