At long last, it’s finally here. Nearly 28 years later, Live A Live has finally been localized in all of its glory, wrapped up in a brand new package as one of Square’s many plans for remastering old content that missed the broader global market in years past. It’s a welcome effort considering the love and care put into it and the merit in making former media that was legally inaccessible open to a much broader demographic. Before I get into what this remaster brings to the table for fans both old and new, I’d like to address the importance of reintroducing a title like this to the current gaming era. It’s a move that I hope pays off not only because of the legacy Live A Live represented at the time of its release but also because of what it represents now as a zeitgeist of early 90’s experimental game design in an era of gaming that feels increasingly corporatized in terms of game production. Yet because of its previous exclusivity, it’s a title that often feels neglected in the pantheon of more “influential” titles at the time such as Final Fantasy VI when it rightfully deserves its place in that

“I'm here to kill Chaos.” In the history of Final Fantasy’s numerous spin-off titles, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is certainly one of the strangest conceptually. Set before the events of the original Final Fantasy, Stranger of Paradise is a prequel nearly 35 years later with entirely different gameplay to boot. Helmed by the ever-ambitious Tetsuya Nomura and series veteran Kazushige Nojima along with a beautiful score by Naoshi Mizuta, Stranger of Paradise’s development by Team Ninja might’ve come as a surprise for many but after finishing the game, I’m glad to say their style is more than welcome. It only makes sense that Nomura’s “story of an angry man” has the gameplay intensity to match it and given Team Ninja’s work with the Ninja Gaiden series and more recently, the Nioh series, it feels like a perfect fit. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is experimental, unrelenting, and chaotic to say the least. But more than that, Stranger is ambitious in its attempts to connect itself to the world of Final Fantasy and while disjointed in the presentation of its story, somehow manages to wrap it all up in a way that’s unlike anything I’ve witnessed in the series

There's a moment early on when Leena, Serge's childhood friend with ample romantic undertones, ponders what their lives might be like in 10 years, or even 20 years. She wonders if they'll remember this conversation when their whole worlds have inevitably shifted to accommodate the rigors of full adulthood. Her queries help to set the tone of an ambitious, adventurous, and sometimes frustratingly ambiguous tale. I first played Chrono Cross, and thus encountered this scene, on August 15th, 2000. It was the day of the game's North American launch, and I had turned 13 exactly one day beforehand. Leena's thoughts held real weight for me. In a decade, I'd be 23. What would that be like? I could scarcely imagine. Tag in another ten years, and 33? Goodness gracious, isn't that how old Char Aznable was when he evaporated into magical green pixie dust in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack? It was unfathomable that I'd live that long, and that my body would take on a shape befitting the achievement. As it happens, it took longer than 10 years for Chrono Cross to make its triumphant return. It took a little over 20, in fact. Here I am, then, replaying this

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve replayed Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre through the years. The PSP versions alone very likely stole several hundred hours of my life. I try to keep my chin up about Tactics Ogre still being stuck on old hardware by reminding myself I don’t have time for it right now, anyway. It doesn’t help. I’m still upset. When Triangle Strategy was announced, the early bits of its reveal trailer had me excited for an Octopath Traveler sequel. That’s probably still coming eventually. But for a split second my heart sank as I slowly realized that, unless Octopath Traveler 2’s development path altered full-tilt in an unexpected direction, this was not that game.  But wait. An elemental spell can spread across tiles. Units stand kind of goofily around a grid-like battlefield until it’s time for them to march onward. The world beyond a predetermined combat or exploration space drops off sharply into virtually indistinguishable nonsense. This wasn’t Octopath Traveler 2, or as I insist Square Enix call it, Oc2path. This was something else. This was the potential renaissance of Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. This was Triangle Strategy, and my heart skipped a beat. Two

Sometimes, you have to make the best out of a bad situation. Babylon’s Fall doesn’t feel like one of those times. As of this writing, Square Enix and Platinum Games, the publisher and developer of this game respectively, distributed a survey last week. This survey is one of several that will address the fundamental issues that the game has, starting with the graphics, and with that information the team will begin making improvements. Great! However, I’m positive both Square Enix and Platinum Games know the shortcomings quite well.. Currently, the game’s being run through the wringer in its critical and consumer consensus and it’s earned it. Babylon’s Fall was announced in 2018 as the latest joint between the two companies, high off their well-received NieR Automata collaboration. On paper, I think it’s a very attractive pitch: a four-player co-op game utilizing Platinum’s action game prowess married with a looter-style RPG, a unique art style, and an esoteric, mysterious, perhaps even silly story. I definitely think there’s a permutation of ths that works well, but what we got feels like it didn’t proceed well past the planning phase, as I’ll lay out. I can’t call myself a game development expert, so it’s

For as long as I can remember, Final Fantasy VI has been heralded as "the secret actual best entry" in the Final Fantasy canon. If so many people keep saying it, how secretive can it be? If a million fans whisper a certain sentiment, that whisper becomes a scream. At this point, in 2022, I think it's fair to start this review by saying that a lot of people think so highly of it, and there's no amount of quietness behind their proclamation. Do I think Final Fantasy VI is the reigning chocobo champion? Honestly, not really. It's a great game and a seminal moment in Square's history. It gets a lot of things right, but there are wrinkles in its battle and customization systems that don't really wow me. That said, it's likely my favorite of the 2D-era entries. So, while you won't necessarily see me heaping quite as much praise upon the original release as you will in other reviews, bear in mind that FFVI is still quite special to me and the ultimate case study in whether the Pixel Remaster series would get things "right" or leave me with a disappointing aftertaste. The last chapter in the return to

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Final Fantasy and despite all the potential spinoff revivals, the one I never expected to see was a brand new Chocobo Racing. That said, Chocobo GP is a strange title. Granted it’s been years since its predecessor released in 1999, and the constant attempts at its revival punctuated over the years with a sequel intended to come out in 2010 on the Nintendo 3DS. Nearly 23 years later, Chocobo GP has fixed most of the issues found in the original and introduced some great additions to the racing formula. Unlike its predecessor, Chocobo GP boasts a variety of modes and features such as the 64-player mode "Chocobo GP", multiplayer, time attack, custom mode, series mode, and most importantly a story mode along with split-screen support for most everything available. However, while I wasn’t able to try out multiplayer due to it not being available during the review period, most of my contention with this title lies with modern trappings that have wormed their way into a lot of recent multiplayer outings. Given the hot-button nature of that topic, I wanted to talk about that before diving into the rest of the review. Simply put, the game

In November of last year, I reviewed Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, a smaller budget titled helmed by Yoko Taro alongside Drakengard and Nier veterans Kimihiko Fujisaka and Keiichi Okabe on art and music respectively. My consensus at the time was a largely positive one. It was a pleasant and comfy experience throughout, even if I had my fair share of criticisms. While I did mention that there were a lot of interesting ideas presented within Voice of Cards, I had anticipated these to be expanded on in potential sequels and that this was a promising start. Nearly three months later, that promising start has been fully realized. Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden is an exceptionally noteworthy experience and a culmination of the lessons learned from its predecessor. Despite its presentation, The Forsaken Maiden is so much more than a sequel, it's a beautifully realized expansion of its predecessor's ideas while also challenging them at the same time. The Forsaken Maiden begins on a small set of islands that have long since been protected by the titular "Maidens" who undergo a ritual to determine the fate of their respective islands. You, the hero of the story, happen to live

Few games can truly capture the imagination in a way that spans nearly a decade worth of content. Final Fantasy XIV is in a unique situation where it finds itself as one of those games - a labor of love that can only be described as having earned its place in the upper echelons of the greats. The original setup might have been wrought with chaos but the payoff is everything. And that all culminates with the launch of Endwalker, the game's latest expansion. To understand the situation FFXIV finds itself in, we must first venture to the past when nearly ten years on, the game's world sundered itself (through a very expansive campaign and CG cutcene) to bring forth a new beginning. A Realm Reborn opened the door for new stories to be told, furthering ideas set about in the original 1.0 version of the game. With its then success cemented, the team at Square Enix brought out expansions every two years with Heavensward and then Stormblood, followed by Shadowbringers before finally paving its way to the largest expansion yet. All throughout players have been treated with a singular saga threaded with multiple narrative pieces that have build and build

People love to initiate conversations about Final Fantasy V by labeling it "underrated." For the longest time, I agreed with that assessment. It's a great game that has always existed in the shadow of its SNES-era brethren, Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI. Cecil, Kain, Rydia? Hot topics. Terra, Celes, Shadow? Hot topics. Bartz, Galuf, Faris? It's telling, perhaps, when the most frequent comment on the internet regarding FFV's protagonist is that his Japanese name is "Butz." It's not about his spirit of adventure and kindhearted ways. It's about butts. That may hold true to this day. But several years ago, something started to change. An annual celebration in Final Fantasy V's fandom ballooned in size, and the broader Square Enix fandom took notice. That celebration is called "Final Fantasy V Four Job Fiesta." It's cool. You can read about it over at our sister site. What matters, in the context of this review, is that it turned a lot of heads. And thus, when Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster launched a few weeks back on Steam and mobile devices, there was notably more interest in a return trip to the world of butts than there would have been a decade