Games you might have missed

Games you might have missed:

Torchlight-

Torchlight is a Diablo clone.  This previous statement is not meant to be disparaging but rather a compliment.  You see, the Diablo series is, in the opinion of this gamer, one of the best game series of all time so having more isn’t bad.

Picasso said “amateurs borrow, artists steal,” and Torchlight steals enough to give you that Diablo feel.

Is the game a complete rip off then? 

I say no!  And who are you to ask that anyway?  Do you work for Activision or something? 

Ahem… Anyway.  Torchlight is different from Diablo in many ways; art style, pets, with Diablo 3’s abandonment of skill trees, skill trees, and Fame.  Note: This isn’t an exhaustive list. 

Torchlight has a very charming art style.  While its graphics don’t rival those of Diablo 3, they are an improvement over Diablo 2.  The art style is clean, and colorful and as you should expect all the equipment changes the look of your character.  Torchlight’s art style contains, in my opinion at least, a bit of Steam Punk flair though not so much as to turn off those of you who don’t care for that style.

Torchlight gives you the player a pet.  Unlike your dog in Fable, these pets can equip items, use spells, and fight with you.  The pest part about your pet is that you can give your loot to them and they will return to town and sell the stuff while you remain in the dungeon to continue exploring.  I found this very helpful as I was able to continue exploring instead of having to manage my inventory constantly.

Torchlight still uses classic skill trees.  Each level gives you a point for the skill tree along with the fulfillment of various quests.  There is a lot of opinion going around the internet about Diablo 3’s choice of abandoning the skill tree so if that decision bothered you then you will like Torchlight even more.  I think the skills are pretty cool, even if I can’t have them all like in Diablo 3. 

Torchlight also has a Fame system.  The more monsters you slay the more famous that you become.  Gives you more bonus skill points. 

I especially recommend Torchlight for those of you who have an older computer that can’t handle Diablo 3. 

So in summary:  You owe it to yourself to play Torchlight if you like Diablo style games.  It is a Diablo clone that improves in many ways on Diablo 2’s formula.

Also, since I know this will come up: Please don’t compare it to Diablo 3.  Diablo 3 is three years newer and it has a much much larger development budget.

And you know what the best part of Torchlight is?  I found my copy at Fry’s for five dollars!  Go find it!

Notes: Torchlight can also be found on Steam

Be on the lookout for Torchlight 2 which comes out sometime this summer.  Apparently Torchlight 2 is Steam only.  Read my previous article about the digital age to figure out how I feel about that.

My Thoughts: New Super Mario Brothers 2

First thoughts: New Super Mario Brothers 2

I’m kicking off my new review posts with Nintendo’s latest side scrolling Mario game.  First though a few things:

1.        I’m not done with the game, sadly I have to work so unless you want to start paying me (and you can!) I’m only giving my preliminary thoughts.  I will update my review if needed.  Currently I have played World 1, Part of World 2, and World Mushroom.

2.       I’m not going to give you some arbitrary score as to how good the game is.  I will simply tell you my thoughts on the game.  I figure reviews have only two uses; either you like games that I like and trust my opinion or you hate me and the games I like and want to do the opposite of my opinion. 

Oh!  And a note to game publishers:  I’ve bought one game since May and now in the last week three games have come out that I must play.  Can we perhaps spread releases out? 

Oh!  Plug plug look for my first impression reviews of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and The Last Story later this week.

So, here we go.  The review! 

I like side scrollers, I really do.  I’m a child of the 80’s who remembers with much fondness getting his NES for Christmas of 1988 and playing the first Super Mario Bros until I was blue in the face.  This means that I have a bias.  There, I admit it.  Want to know something else?  I like Nintendo… mostly.  I do feel Pokémon was/is an abomination but hey, nobody is perfect.  So I admit I have some bias when it comes to this game.  If you don’t like Nintendo or side scrollers then you won’t like this game.  Have a good time playing Modern Warfare 10 or whatever it is you play.

Still with me?

Cool!

Graphics- They are better than New Super Mario Wii.  Are they perfect?  No, but they are bright, clear, colorful and best of all they are Mario.  Do graphics really matter that much in a Mario game?  I don’t think they are huge.  The variety of new stuff is pretty impressive such as the undead goombas and piranha Pete’s that are in the castle levels.  Also, the return to some of the older stuff is nice to see.  Remember the fireball breathing rhinos of Super Mario World?  They are back!  So are the Kooplings which, I admit, I was hoping they would kill Bowser Jr. in the opening.   

One thing I was disappointed about graphically was that there is no use of the 3D.  I know a lot of you out there feel that 3D is just a gimmick and I can’t in many cases disagree with you.  Still I think there could have been some cool effects between the foreground and background that was missed out on. 

Playability- Nintendo is a master of having tight controls in Mario games and this is no exception.  I recommend using the D pad over the analog stick.  One thing I have noticed that is a bit problematic though (but has nothing to do with the game but rather the system) is the lose hinge flaps when you get excited and are rushing through a level.  I hope that Nintendo has fixed this with the 3DS XL.  If so I will have to strongly consider getting one.  Of course I’m pretty poor so that might be a while.

Game play/Originality- Trolling around the various game websites I have noticed that some reviewers feel that this game is just more of the same.  On the one hand I love Mario and if Nintendo wants to bring out a new Mario game every year than I wouldn’t complain. 

Every year we get another Assassins Creed, Battlefield, and Modern Warfare, Dance whatever, Madden, NBA insert goofy number system here, World of Warcraft expansion.  Why should Nintendo be any different?  Also, look at the number of units sold for New Super Mario Wii versus Super Mario Galaxy.  NSMB Wii outsold both Galaxy games combined.  Nintendo is in the business of making money after all. 

That said, I just don’t see it.  I’m only two worlds in and I’ve seen new enemies, new level designs, and a new gimmick the coin collection.

At first I didn’t care for the coin idea, but despite myself I have found myself going back through levels to increase my coin count. 

I also like that Star Coins have more use in this game, so as a player I have more desire to make sure a collect them all.

Another complaint was that the Raccoon Suit’s ability to let you fly is under-utilized.  So far I have found numerous opportunities to explore levels and have been rewarded.  I am only two worlds in however, so this could change.

Another element changed are the cannon levels.  These are the giant cannons from before, except now they take you to a Super Mario Brothers 2 through the red door type level.  The one I went through took me to a bonus world.

Music- Sound effects are typical Mario.  However I wish there was more variety in the music.  The castle levels and ghost houses I really like, the rest is… well it’s there.

Value- Each world so far has about 8-10 levels.  There are six worlds shown, but I also unlocked the Mushroom world so there are at least seven worlds and I would imagine more than that still.

Fantasy Vs 40k part 3

Today I bestow upon you part three of "Why I prefer Fantasy to 40k," I present to you my third reason. 

The Internet.

The Internet is no longer a new thing.  Everyone, even my grandfather who doesn't even own a computer is on the Internet.

So why is the Internet listed as my third reason for preferring Fantasy to 40k? 

Simple:

Theoryhammer, army lists websites, blogs about winning, etc... these things have exploded with the advent of the Internet.

And these are not good things... to the degree that they are common in today's game. 

I'm going to take you on a trip.  Don't worry, you don't have to pack any bags or even get your toothbrush ready.  This is a trip through time, I'm taking you back to 1985...er... sorry, I'm taking you back to 1995.

"But Crazy Guy the Internet was around in 1995!"

You are quite correct, it was but guess what?  In our trip back to 1995 if you go around talking about Blogs people will look out you like you're crazy.  We had chat rooms in 95 and the gaming community wasn't anywhere near as advanced. 

So where was I?

Oh yeah; 1995!

So back in 95 we would go to a game store, find an opponent, and play a game.  Afterwards you would talk with your opponent  and your buds.  You would talk tactics, painting, perhaps if you were a cool kid you might even talk about some ladies.

That was as far as it went. 

Every group had their dynamic, their tactics, and their hierarchy.

Now that information is shared across fiber optics and spread around the world.

Why is that bad?

It isn't, at least not necessarily. 

The problem lies in people trolling websites to find the latest killer list, killer tactics, and whatever else.

Now we have terms for army lists

I don't play Blood Angels we have DOA or 3++

No Grey Knights rather Dragowing

Back in 4th Edition we had Nidzilla

Razorspam

The list goes on and is ever growing.

Nobody explores on their own anymore.  No one discovers their own tactics.  The game stagnates because in their desire to win many players will only try what they read is successful on the Internet.  To me that is sad.

Warhammer has less of this.  Therefore I prefer Fantasy more than 40k.

Best RPG Characters

Here I will list the coolest RPG game characters in my opinion. 

This list is not in order, in fact I have a hard time picking one character over another.  So, without further adieu; the list.


Shadow- Final Fantasy VI:  First, he's a ninja!  How cool is that?  Second, he has a dog named Interceptor who shows up in battle and does tonnes of damage.  Third, he likes his booze, alcohol in games is awesome (kids, drink responsibly!), and finally Shadow doesn't care what you think.  He does what he wants when he wants.  Need proof?  He leaves your party and joins it whenever he feels like it.  You have no say in the matter. 

Commander Shepard- Mass Effect series:  He's cool because I got to make Shepard whoever I wanted him to be. 

Taloon- Dragon Quest IV: He likes his money, he has a smart business plan, and he likes the lunches that his wife packs him every day.  And get this; this isn't a small business reality show but a game in which you need to save the world from a demon invasion.  Did I mention he's fat and wears a mumu?  Bonus:  In Japan Taloon got his own spin off series.  Who says every hero has to be a beef cake?

Alistar- Dragon Age Origins:  Most of the cast was forgettable, but Alistars dry wit and dead pan delivery makes him part of this list. 

Kain- Final Fantasy IV:  Mostly silent, he makes this list on cool factor in the game itself.  What do I mean by this?  He carries a lance, he can strike from the sky at any time, and he wears a dragon hat! 

Edgar- Final Fantasy VI:  The womanizer young king with a heart of gold, add to this his ability to create awesome tools (fart gun anyone!) and sink his castle into the sand and you have an awesome character.

Kefka- Final Fantasy VI:  Were you ever afraid of clowns?  If you were then don't play Final Fantasy VI as the mad clown Kefka is most awesome villain in the Final Fantasy series. 

Vivi- Final Fantasy IX:  He is a black mage, but he also is one of the greatest existential characters of all time.  Trust me if you want a philosophy lesson then play this game and learn a lot from that little guy.

Luca- Chrono Trigger:  The plucky inventor who mastered time.  You need a science lesson, then she is your girl. 

Laharl- Disgaea:  Overlord of the Netherworld.  He is a bad guy who has to deal with love freaks, prism rangers, and a space hero named Gordon and his robot Thursday.  Truly if you haven't played this game and you like strategy rpgs you owe it to yourself to track this down for PS2.

I know I'm missing tons of awesome characters.  Let me think on it and I'll finish the list. 

Fantasy vs. 40k round 2

You thought that I forgot didn't you?  Well I haven't!


Last time on "Why I prefer Fantasy to 40k," I discussed the prevalence of Space Marine armies and the lack of variety in gaming that entails.


Today I will move on to my second point as to why I prefer Fantasy to 40k: Cost

40k is cheaper to get into than fantasy.  Generally a 1500pt (common point level for a game) 40k army will contain 45-60 models while a 2000pt (common point level for a game) Fantasy army will have between 75-100 models.  Obviously more models = more money.


But crazy guy, how could cheaper not be better?  I'm so glad you asked.  Thank you; if you didn't ask these questions then this blog would be grind to a halt. 

In order to answer this question let me tell you a story about a gamer that we all know.  Let's call him Hobart.  Hobart shows up to his favorite gaming establishment every week ready to game.  We know he's ready to game because he has a brand new army list that he found from the bestest tournament website.  He is ready to kick your ass, but the army that faces you is unpainted, with five models from his abandoned 3++ army and his big tank is a Tervigon that he really liked from the Tyranid army that he sold two years ago. 

Next week Hobart will have another new army.

Then another.

And another.

Until he one day discovers the "Perfect List," or gives up the game as unfair.

This isn't to say that there aren't any Hobarts in Fantasy, but they are fewer and farther between. 

I prefer to play against painted armies.  Now I have NO problems with new gamers and gamers that have new armies so long as progress gets made in completing it.  Also, I do understand that sometimes not all armies are for everyone and sometimes you need to move on from an army that does not mesh with your style.  You should be allowed to change your army, you should be able to try new units, new combinations, but completely new armies every week or every month is a bit much. 

The fact that Fantasy armies require more time and money and thus (at least in my mind) more commitment means that players who change armies more often than underwear are less frequent.

Also, in Fantasy their are fewer Internet sites devoted to "cool (read) killer army lists."  Which transitions ever so nicely into part 3 of why I prefer Fantasy to 40k: The Internet.

The Digital Age:  The nerd dream come true or a new nightmare?



We live in an amazing time.  Many people carry in their pockets technology that is more powerful than the most advanced super computer from twenty years ago.  Forget the US postal service, now I've got email.  Got something to do when your favorite show is on, wait for a re run? Nope, I can just pause live T.V.

But is every new trend good? 

I say, no!


To what am I referring to?  A new evil, digital downloading.


Today almost all video games are available as digital downloads.  Without having to leave the comfort of your house you can have the latest video game beamed right to your console or computer.  It's amazing, right?  Wrong.  Here is why I fear this new trend.

1.  Video games that go to a store shelf must be put on a physical medium, boxed in an artsy package, shipped, and stocked for me to be able to buy it on a store shelf.  Video game publishers are saving themselves some money by distributing online.  Do I as the customer benefit from this? Do I pay less money?  No (in most cases) I must still pay full retail price.  Something about that seems wrong!

2.  But I hear you screaming, but crazy guy it's sooooo convenient!  Really?  A few weeks ago I downloaded a Playstation One Classic game off the PSN.  It took 97 minutes to download a 500mb game.  Most PS 3 games are between 5- 10GB.  Now, a little background; I live in a suburb of one of the ten largest cities in the US.  I have an average Internet speed.  I do not live in Hicksville Illinois population 3023 with three thousand of those being farm animals.  I pay a reasonable amount for Internet and refuse to pay more.  Guess what else I can do?  I can get in my car, drive for five minutes and buy a game for the exact amount that I would pay for a digital download. 

You might say, "but crazy guy, you would have to make a special trip!" Not so, see I require certain things in my daily life outside of video games such as: food, gas, my job, clothes, Warhammer stuff, general medical check ups, the list goes on.  Even if I had to make a special trip the $.65 that the gas costs me is worth several hours of my time. 

3.  This third reason is the worst.  I can hope that the first two will, as time goes on, get better.  My third reason I fear will only get worse as time goes on. 

When you digitally download a game guess what; you don't own it.  Ever read those pages upon pages of agreements when you first sign in?  Guess what they say?  You are buying the right to have the game on your console or computer.  If you break the agreement that you must say yes to in order to play then they can take that game.  They can't take away my disk (though they could take away my online access but look at my why I dislike first person shooters to learn how much I care about that.)

Even worse is that if you download a game and your X Box 360 gets the Red Ring of Death guess what happens after you get your console fixed?  Your game could be gone and you will have to buy it again!

Storage is another major issue.  My PS3 is 80 gigs of which I only have 32 gigs left.  Now I have had this PS3 for 4 years and I have a lot of saves and a few PS 1 classic games and various DLC that I overpaid for.  Pretending that every game for the PS3 was only a 5GB download  I would be out of room and now would have to delete games which would be permanent. 

Now it could be argued that I should just get rid of some games, but why should I have to?  I still play Assassin's Creed 2 even though I've had the game for two years.  Every so often I get the itch to play Forza 3, or Mario Kart Wii.  I'm weird, I go back to games.  I don't want to choose what can stay and go when I had to pay 50-60 dollars for the game in the first place.

Yes, I downloaded A Link to the Past, but it cost 5 dollars!  If something happened and I had to re download it, I could handle it (or have my mom send me my old SNES version.) 

4.  It makes game companies lazy.  How many patches have you had to download?  I've downloaded a lot.  Companies no longer have to release finished products!  They can just fix it later.  Has Skyrim for PS3 ever worked correctly?  And don't get me started on DLC!  I saved this one for last, because this issue is a problem for disc games also.  It scares the living daylights out of me that one day I'll have to buy each hour of a game separately in the name of "progress."

As for me, I'll be buying physical medium until EA has to come pry them out of my dead cold hand! 

Okay that last sentence sounded crazier than I intended.

Just watch out!  And read those agreements and complain if you don't like what they say.

Warhammer vs. Warhammer 40,000

Among the many, many geeky hobbies that I partake in are the games Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. 

Neither of these games involve actual warhammers, much to many people's surprise.  Rather they are games produced by an evil British company called Games Workshop.  Anyway, for those of you not in the know, Warhammer is fantasy based meaning it has dragons and elves (of many types!) and these creatures fight with swords and spears, well not the dragons... but the elves and men and dwarves and...  Warhammer 40,000 by contrast is sci-fi with aliens and massive guns and tanks.  If you have never seen or heard anything about these games go and Google them before reading on as the opinions coming next will be nonsense to you (to be fair it's likely the arguments will still be nonsense even after you've read up as they are nonsense, but hey lets keep it between us and keep those stupid people who are going to keep on reading waste their time eh?)

If you have heard of these games before, good, read on cuz I'm about to bust out some correct knowledge on you.  Will I support my opinions with facts? Hah!  Facts are sooooo 20th century!  Am I going to give you well reasoned supporting details?  Helz no!  I'm gonna shout and your going to listen!

Got that?

Good!


I enjoy Warhammer far more than Warhammer 40,000 (from here on called 40k) and here is why.

In the world as a whole 40k is more popular than Warhammer.  Many theories exists as to why this is.  Some claim 40k's rules are better, others that the models are cooler.  Personally I think two factors reign supreme:

1.  40k has Space Marines, the 8 foot tall super soldiers who are decked out in full kick ass armor, who have guns the size of that nerdy kid you stuffed in a locker in high school (no that wasn't me, I was smart enough to go hide) and who wage war in the name of the Emperor with giant chainsaw swords.  Sure you occasionally will get someone who really likes the Eldar or whatever but most people love Space Marines.

This is part of the problem though and one of the reason I prefer Warhammer over 40k.  Go to any hobby store, or tournament, or convention and guess what?  Most of the armies are space marines.  And why shouldn't they be?  Space marines are cool!  I'm part of the problem too!  I like Space Marines too. 

Of the armies that I play I have Ultramarines, Imperial Guard, and Eldar.  If I can trick my wife into letting me spend more of my hard earned loot I would have a Blood Angels and Space Wolf army to boot. 

I freely admit, I'm part of the problem.  Still when I go to a 40k tournament, most of my opponents will be marines.  Here are my tournament army break downs by year:

1999- Played in 10 tournaments for a total of tournament games.  28 were against marine armies of one sort or another.

2000- Played in 7 tournaments for a total of 25 tournament games. 22 were marine armies.

I'll skip ahead here

2007- Played in 2 tournaments (being a working stiff really sucks!) for a total of 10 games 7 games against marines.

2008- Played in 4 tournaments for a total of 12 games 9 against marines.

I could go on, but the stats are the same and I'm getting bored of typing them all.

I get tired of always playing against the same armies.  My career as a Warhammer player (from here on called 'Fantasy' because I'm getting tired of all this typing) has no one dominant army that I've played against.  Yes I've played against more Orc and Empire armies over the years than I have Wood Elves but the numbers aren't hugely different. 

Some of you may ask where I've played and am I around the same collection of gamers.  I'll answer that I have played in the 1998, 99, 2000, 2001, 2003, GW sponsored Grand Tournaments and the first three Adepticons.  Plus local tournaments in three of the United States 5 largest cities.  I've been around and have been active since the mid 90's.

Some others may say, "but crazy guy surely you admit that a Blood Angels army is different from a Space Wolf one and so on and so forth."

I admit no such thing.  Their are universals that all marine lists can count on (please note I'm NOT counting Chaos Marines in this mix) and therefore I count them all as one.

So variety is my first reason for why I like fantasy better than 40k. 

Wow!  I wrote a lot more than I thought.  So tune in next time for why I prefer fantasy to 40k.

Reason 2: The Cost!- You won't want to miss it.

Why I don't like first person shooters

I don't like first person shooting games.

There I said it.


I won't go so far to say that they are bad, I'm sure they aren't bad at all, some may even be great.

I still don't like them.

Why you ask?  Okay, I'll be nice and answer your question.

1.  The first reason is that I just can't get over the fact that I have a neck.  I can turn my neck very quickly and automatically, I don't even have to think about it.  How awesome is that!  My character in a first person game can't do that.  That bothers me. 

2.  The next problem is similar to the first.  See, I have peripheral vision which allows me to see (albeit not clearly) almost 180 degrees in front of me.  I like that I can see out of the corner of my eye, but I can't in a first person shooter.

3.  I don't like to play online.  The biggest draw for many first person shooting fans is the online aspect.  I don't have friends that play first person shooters and I have zero desire to play against Internet trolls.  If you are a troll, I'm sure you're very nice troll but I don't want to play against you.

4.  First person makes me feel less connected to the character That I'm playing.  Many people say the feel more connected, but not me.  I know I'm not the guy with the massive gun and well... massive guns.

So there, I've laid out the fundamental reasons for why I don't like first person shooters.  Remember, I'm not saying they are bad games, they are just not the game for me. 

Next on "Why I don't like..." MMORPGs

My Favorite Video Games

Scott’s opinions- My favorite games

1.        Final Fantasy VI/ Chrono Trigger- Don’t make me pick please!  Some days it’s FFVI and other times it’s Chrono.  I love them both!

2.       The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past- What an incredible atmospheric beginning that lead to the quest of a lifetime.  While Ocarina of Time is a more sophisticated and mature game, I will always love A Link to the Past far more.

3.       Final Fantasy IV- A game that taught me that a good story is what really matters.

4.       Secret of Mana- Was it buggy?  You bet!  Were there flaws in its presentation and mechanics?  Yep.  Still I was a wonderfully fun game that I could (and did) play with my friends.

5.        Super Mario World/ Super Mario 3- Again I have a very difficult time choosing.  Both were great.

6.       Dragon Quest VIII- In my opinion it is the best of the Dragon Quest games.  A blend of great gameplay and cool story make it stand out.

7.       Super Metroid- Best side scroller ever!

8.       Castlevania: Symphony of the Night/ Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest- True, SOTN is by far the better game, but where would SOTN be if not for Castlevania II?  Well everyone would just say it was great, but it’s a Super Metroid clone.  Now we have proof that it isn’t.  Aren’t you glad?

9.       Disgaea- Probably the least well known of the titles on this page, but it is a hilarious strategy RPG with tons of gaming references.  You owe it to yourself to play it if you like strategy games.

10.   Mass Effect/ Mass Effect 2- I got to create my version of the hero and have him do what I want him to do! 

Just Missed the cut:

Diablo- Diablo II and Diablo III are better games, but going through the original was a special experience for me.

Warcraft II- My first real time strategy game.  Again part three is better, but this was my first time playing against friends online.

Super Castlevania- I couldn’t bounce Mass Effect off my list for three Castlevania games.  Still this is a wonderful experience.

F- Zero- Mode seven graphics powered me and the Blue Falcon to victory after victory.  With any luck Nintendo will return to this great franchise.

Donkey Kong Country- Not at the caliber of the Mario games previously mentioned.  It is a brilliant side scroller game that made me think my Super Nintendo could compete with modern systems.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess- I admit that I hold an unpopular opinion here but I prefer Twilight Princess to Ocarina of Time.  Does it owe everything to Ocarina?  Mostly, but then again I’ll choose a 2012 Camaro to a 74 Camaro every time.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time- You were worried I’d forget about completely?  Don’t worry, I didn’t. 

Dragon Quest IV- So many memories from this game; saving 50,000 gold pieces to open my shop in chapter 3, going to sleep in order to have the dream tell me where to go next, breaking in to the enemies fortress disguised as a monster.  Good times, good times. 

My favorite Final Fantasy Games

My Opinions

Crazy gamer ranks his favorite Final Fantasy games:

1.        Final Fantasy VI- Best in the series in my opinion.  Great characters, villains, and plot.

2.        Final Fantasy IV- The start of story based Final Fantasy, it started out great!

3.        Final Fantasy VII- I feel it is very slightly overrated but still great.

4.        Final Fantasy V- A step back from Final Fantasy IV in terms of cast and story, but damn it if it wasn’t fun to learn all the different jobs

5.       Final Fantasy IX- The character design was…interesting, but despite their flaws they were interesting.  Besides who couldn’t love Vivi?

6.       Final Fantasy- The original.  In the 80’s it was awesome and the start of great things to come.

7.       Final Fantasy X- Many will boo and hiss me for ranking it this low.  I really enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong.  I just liked the others better. 

8.       Final Fantasy XIII- I liked the battle system more than I thought I would and I didn’t find Snow or Hope as annoying as most. 

9.       Final Fantasy VIII- I liked the story, I just had a difficult time when it came to the battle system.  It took forever for some attacks to go through.

10.   Final Fantasy III- Not as good as Final Fantasy V in terms of jobs, but still fun.  Its old school charm on the DS remake was refreshing.

11.   Final Fantasy XII- This has my least favorite battle system and I found Vaan to be very very creepy, but you got to think Balthier was awesome!

12.   Final Fantasy II- If the experience and leveling system made any sense at all the game would be much improved.  Still, I did enjoy the game.  If you’ve never played it or have only played it a little, give the game a little love!

Not ranked:

Final Fantasy XI- I have heard many great things about the game.  I don’t like MMORPGs so I have not played it and therefore I don’t feel I am qualified to give an opinion on it.

Final Fantasy X-2- Played it, thought it was okay. 

Final Fantasy XIII-2- Played it and really enjoyed it.  In fact I liked it better than Final Fantasy XIII.  I felt that Serah and Noel were great characters and I sincerely hope that there is a Final Fantasy XIII-3 that has a party of Lightning, Serah and Noel. 

Final Fantasy XIV- I’ve never played it, and even if I got over my MMORPG dislike, it is currently so messed up I’m not sure what is going to happen to it.

A Final Opinion on the matter:

I hope Final Fantasy XIII Versus comes out.