How to Defeat Bloody Mary in Terranigma (SNES)

Ah, Terranigma, the final entry in the “Quintet Trilogy,” on the SNES, and perhaps the best of the three treasured action RPGs. Terranigma, despite being one of my absolute all-time favorite games, is far from perfect. This imperfection is largely due to two major factors: the game’s obfuscation of its magic system and its bizarre difficulty curve that oddly peaks mid-game. This article will be focused on rectifying the difficulty curve by providing a spammy and unfair strategy to counteract the primary culprit of ruining the game’s otherwise smooth progression in challenge.

Identifying the Problem: Bloody Fuckin Mary

The primary culprit I speak of that ruins Terranigma’s otherwise logical progression in difficulty is that heartless, cut-throat bitch, Bloody Mary, or as I affectionately call her: Bloody Fuckin Mary. She resides in a mid-game dungeon, Sylvain Castle. Up until that point in the game bosses offer a mild challenge at best, leaving the player nearly begging for a challenge. However, Bloody Mary takes it too far, rather than offering a challenge requiring careful strategy and learning her attack pattern, it leaves the player with only two options: spamming cheap, screen-engulfing magic or over-leveling and participating in perhaps the most boring, time-consuming boss fight in the game.

The problem with the latter, honorable option, is that it is boring and ruins the pacing of the game… and you know what? It just isn’t fun. This approach consists of waiting patiently for an incredibly infrequent opening in her attack pattern, followed by long periods of staying away from her. It is not a challenge, it is simply poor design. It would have been much better to decrease the waiting time between openings and simply increasing her health, and already god-tier stats.

It is my service to my readers to provide them with the spammy, cheap option so that the rest of the game can be enjoyed and the bosses that offer a well-designed challenge can be reached.

Solving the Problem: Killing Her Ass

The cheap way of beating Bloody Mary, first requires one to figure out Terranigma’s absolutely un-intuitive Magic system. To use magic in Terranigma you must collect Magirocks found scattered throughout the game, which act as vessels that can be temporarily enchanted with magical powers at the magic shop. Each spell costs a certain amount of Magirocks, but after the spell is used up, the “empty” Magirock is returned to Ark to be recycled for future use. So to be clear, when you go to the magic shop you are paying the shopkeeper in a number of Magirocks that you want to be enchanted with a particular spell.

The next step of this poorly designed magic system, is to equip the Jewel Box to Ark’s item slot so that it can be used via a simple button press, rather than scrolling through the menus.

Finally before heading to Sylvain, get to level 20 or 21, preferably 21, load up on the max amount of Elec Rings allowed, then Zap Rings Max, then Fire Rings Max. Elec Rings are they key to the battle, but the others work to some extent as well. Any remaining magic slots can be filled with healing magic. It also wouldn’t hurt to bring as many healing items as possible.

Equip the LightRod weapon, which will allow you to deal maximum damage possible (If you are level 25 or greater with this weapon you will have a legitimate chance of beating her the fair way, but honestly its not worth it to level that high so early, because it makes the game way too easy later).

When the battle starts she will be invulnerable, so do not attack. The key to defeating her is to move in a circular pattern to avoid being hit by the spinning jewels and her other attacks

Her major attacks occur in a random pattern and require patience to avoid getting your ass handed to you. Remember to look for the openings and test with a standard attack, then use magic. These attack patterns include:

Warp: Bloody Mary will warp across the level, the key is to not get hit by her body when she reappears. This warp also leaves an opening by leaving her jewel circle behind temporarily. The problem is you will probably only have time to land one hit
Triangle Attack: a very dangerous attack, she is invulnerable and it causes massive damage, avoid this at all costs.
Mask Attack: When Bloody Mary removes her mask/face, the mask follows Ark around the room. This the best time to implement the circular movement strategy. Making large circular motions around the map can help dodge the mask easily. This also leaves Bloody Mary vulnerable to attack. Multiple hits can be landed, but as I will later suggest just do a test hit and use magic after.

Be careful to avoid her when she is “deciding” which of these attacks to use, this delay may seem a tempting opening, but it is very dangerous and opens Ark up to unnecessary risk.

Whenever you have an opening, ESPECIALLY when she initiates the mask attack, hit her with the LightRod to ensure she is vulnerable attack, then when its confirmed use the Elec Ring to cause some significant damage. Besides being the most effective damage-wise, the Elec Ring is screen-engulfing magic, so no aiming is required.

If Elec Rings are spent and Bloody Mary still isn’t dead, proceed to using the Fire Rings which release a flamethrower like attack in the direction Ark is facing. It is worth noting that if used from the pause menu, Ark will default to facing downward and therefore the attack will always go in that direction, which it why it is so important to equip the Jewel Box. If somehow she still isn’t dead then use Zap rings and finally Ice Rings.

If all else fails focus on attacking with the LightRod using the running attack (simply press the attack button while running), especially during the mask attack.

After the nightmare is over, you will be treated to a long cutscene and will gain permission to enjoy an otherwise incredible game.

Check Out My Full Review of Terranigma

Europe’s Chrono Trigger?: Terranigma

Don’t Forget to Comment Below and Donate to Help keep the Community Active and Alive

Every Donation counts: Even ONE DOLLAR makes a huge difference in keeping the domain bills paid. Consider using the donate button to donate via Paypal. My goal is to eventually eliminate ads.
Every comment counts. My articles luckily have generated discussion on Reddit and other sites, but my goal is to build a community within the site

Gaming Memories #3: Phantasy Star Online

Introduction

My recent article on my experience with the SEGA Dreamcast sent me on a nostalgia trip from which I have not yet recovered. As the weeks elapsed from the writing of that article, I slowly became overwhelmed with a yearning to delve more deeply into some of the individual games that defined that time in my life. One game in particular kept cropping up in my near-aimless wanderings through my memories; that game was Phantasy Star Online. The reason I so hastily pursued writing about this game was first its incompatability with a formal review in my format thanks to the thousands of hours it would take to replicate my previous playthroughs in their entirety, allowing me to avoid another taxing review, and second its near-evergreen relevance to my gaming life. There have been very few games, if any, that have siphoned such a percentage of my waking hours; Phantasy Star Online is all consuming. This dungeon-crawling, party-based online multiplayer, action-RPG allowed a peek into the future, at a time when online console gaming was truly in its infancy, and it all began with a chance purchase of a Dreamcast magazine at the corner pharmacy.

Continue reading “Gaming Memories #3: Phantasy Star Online”

Retro Revamped #3: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon

Introduction

Growing up I was always a huge fan of the Castlevania series. It all started for me when I played the first 3 games on my friend’s NES, sometime during the transition between the 16- and 32-bit eras. We spent an entire day getting our young asses whupped by each game, as we illogically jumped from one game to another, losing our progress, but having a hell of a time.

One may ask, Why the hell did it take me so long to play Castlevania? Well I didn’t have an NES growing up, instead relying solely on my Uncle for access to Nintendo’s dominant patriarch console, and unfortunately never got Super Castlevania IV for my SNES. Despite these major oversights, all was forgiven following that fateful day at my friend’s house; I was addicted to the series, now considering it one of my favorite of all time.

Unfortunately, the series in its 2D form has been essentially a no-show since the DS era, and has, of late, been ignored by Konami, who instead prefer to focus on Pachinko machines.

Luckily, the DS games were incredible Symphony of the Night-esque experiences, and kept me busy for quite some time. It is for that reason that I was thrilled when I heard that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s, an ambitious SoTN clone, KickStarter campaign was as success. Though this “MetroidVania” style game is critically adored and widely accepted as the better style of Castlevania, I have always preferred the classic, balls-hard, linear approach to the series.

The last time I was able to experience such a Castlevania was during the PSP’s run, with Dracula X Chronicles, which included a 2.5-D remake of Rondo of Blood, the original Turbografx CD Rondo of Blood, and Symphony of the Night; clearly one of the most epic anthologies in gaming history. Since that experience, I had been starving for more of the classic style of Castlevania, but was left un-satiated. That is, until I discovered that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night had a certain stretch goal that was successfully reached. The reward for reaching one of the game’s financing goals, was an entire classic-style Castlevania game entitled: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. Needless to say I was twice as excited as I was for even the original Bloodstained announcement, despite the game merely being a means to whet the communities appetite during the primary game’s development.

Continue reading “Retro Revamped #3: Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon”

Gaming Memories #2: Christmas ’99: Livin’ the Dream

Introduction

On 9/9/99 SEGA’s last ditch effort to overcome Sony’s dominance in the North American console market, the Dreamcast, was released. Promising proper online console gaming, true arcade quality graphics, and a strong upcoming line up of games, SEGA put forth their best effort to rebound from the mild domestic success of the SEGA Saturn in Japan, and its colossal failure in international markets.

Despite the Dreamcast ultimately failing as well, thanks to a lack of consumer confidence in SEGA, rampant piracy, the power of the PlayStation brand, and most importantly the PS2’s included DVD player, the Dreamcast managed to become a cult favorite with a die-hard fanbase that continues to speak its praises even today.

I am one of these rabid Dreamcast fans, and it all started on Christmas 1999.

Manipulating the Limits: Exploiting Zell and Rinoa’s Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy VIII is the pinnacle of the implementation of Limit Breaks in the storied JRPG franchise.

Stressing interactivity and real-time button presses, Limit Breaks ensure the player is adequately stimulated during battle, while simultaneously being the game’s premier damage output modality.

This amazing iteration of the powerful Limit Break mechanic, can become even more useful to those who know how to exploit it properly. Manipulating character turns, HP and casting certain spells all act as easy ways to control access to Limits.

Manipulating said access, however, is not the only available exploit at the player’s disposal; particular character’s Limits can be made nearly unstoppable, with a bit of planning and some fast fingers.

What I am referring to in this case is Rinoa’s Angel Wing and Zell’s so-called “Armageddon Fist,” a loophole in his Duel Limit Break that allows theoretically infinite damage. In this article I will provide all that is needed to get the most out of these to exceptional Limits, as well as a general overview of making Limit Breaks more easily accessible.

Reaching Your Limits: How to Get Limit Breaks Easily

How to use a Limit Break

When a Limit Break is available a “>” will appear next to the Attack command.

Simply hold right on the D-pad and the command will change to the name of the Limit Break. For example Attack will change to “Duel” for Zell or “Shot” for Irvine.

Low HP

When the player is at approximately 30% of their maximum HP, and it appears Yellow on screen, the chance of a Limit Break appearing increases.

Crisis Level

Crisis Level is a hidden stat that helps determine the availability of a Limit Break during battle.

Crisis Level is determined by 3 main factors.

HP level
Number of KO’d Party Members
Negative Status Effects

As mentioned Low HP alone can cause a Limit Break to appear, but luckily the effect is stackable with the other two influencing factors.

Each status ailment increases the chances by a given percentage. Multiple negative status effects lead to MULTIPLE increases in Crisis Level.

Each KO’d party member also increases the chances of a Limit Break, with the second KO yielding twice as much percentage as the first KO’d character.

These factors can easily be optimized by purposely damaging or inflicting status ailments on party members. Silence is probably the least damaging side effect and is my main suggestion for any character that will not be using Magic.

Aura Spell

Speaking of Magic, the Aura spell, when cast on an ally, increases the chances of having a Limit Break tremendously, regardless of HP level.

Removing the requirement of low HP opens up doors and makes using Limit Breaks far less risky.

That being said, the duration of the Aura status buff is determined by Crisis Level. Higher Crisis Level Yields longer Aura status.

The item Aura Stone, has the same effect and can be used on a party member via the Item command in battle.

Turn Skipping

Despite all of the ways to increase the chances of a Limit Break appearing, it is still based on probability. One could have an 80% chance of obtaining a Limit break according to the Crisis Level and still not get a Limit Break on a characters turn.

More turns leads to more opportunities to win the Limit lottery, but waiting for the ATB gauge to fill and performing senseless commands is both boring and potentially wasteful.

Enter the almighty “O” or “Circle” button. Pressing Circle during battle allows the player to skip a character’s turn without decreasing their ATB gauge. This essentially allows saving a turn for later.

Mashing the Circle button continuously until the “ding” that signifies a Limit Break is heard can, in minimal time, make a Limit appear. This is much more efficient than waiting for new turns as the ATB gauge slowly fills up.

Caution must be used however, if Circle is mashed too fast, and the player’s reflexes aren’t up to snuff, a Limit Break can be skipped over. An additional risk to keep in mind, is that turn skipping can be wasteful if the Crisis level is too low; skipping turns too frequently with a low chance of receiving a Limit Break renders the player inactive, while enemies will continue to attack.

I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing: Zell’s Armageddon Fist

Zell’s Limit Break, Duel, allows the player to enter button combinations of individual attacks as many times as possible within a defined time-limit.

While there are a number of powerful techniques, Zell’s two most basic attacks are the best, wasting the least amount of time during input. The two attacks are:

“Punch Rush” [button input O,X]
“Booya” [button inputs Right, Left on the D-Pad].

Which attack appears first, and how much time is allotted for the Limit Break for that matter, is determined by Crisis Level. Higher crisis levels favor starting with Booyah, while lower favor Punch Rush.

Use your time wisely, entering the smaller combos quickly is superior to large cumbersome button entries

Theoretically it is possible to hit with these two attacks well over 100 times depending in the player’s reflexes and the amount of time given.

In a 12 second Duel, the maximum time awarded, it is possible to do even more if the player is able to make inputs in less than one second, which is definitely achievable even with average reflexes. The overall damage output in such a scenario can be well over 1 million HP with maxed stats.

Two-Winged Angel: Rinoa’s Angel Wing

As the game progresses, Rinoa gains access to a second Limit Break, Angel Wing. This Limit Break sends Rinoa into a berserk-like state that increases magic attack 5-fold.

In this state, Rinoa will psuedo-randomly cast magic from her inventory to attack random enemies, but the Magic will NOT be consumed.

There are some rules, however, to Angel Wing’s spell selection worth knowing that are not openly publicized within the game.

Who is targeted?

Random enemies are targeted. In a group of multiple enemies, one will be chosen at random.

Rinoa will not target the party or herself.

Spells Left Out of the Rotation

Rinoa will NEVER use curative or support Magic that boosts the target. For example Curaga, Aura, and Triple will NOT ever be selected.

Again, this is appropriate considering Rinoa will NEVER target the party or herself, ONLY enemies.

Spells Included in the Rotation

All offensive spells, including elemental and non-elemental spells, and status-inflicting spells can be used during Angel Wing status.

For Example Firaga, Meteor, Silence, Demi and Scan are all possibilities.

Particularly note Scan, the proverbial cock-block of all Angel Wing users.

How Spells Are Chosen

Well, this is complicated. It is psuedo-random, but there does seem to be a few patterns agreed on by most Final Fantasy VIII players.

Firstly, Rinoa tends to use status-inflicting spells more often than any other spell class. This can be marginally useful, but since the spell choice is random, the risk of using a status effect an enemy is immune to is omnipresent. Meltdown, the spell that drops enemy vitality (Vit) to zero, is particularly useful, but otherwise I could do without this class of spells.

Next, Rinoa generally uses the best spells the LEAST frequently. For example, Ultima and Flare will be selected less often the Fira.

Interestingly however, she will generally, but not always, choose the higher level spell in a spell family. In other words, Rinoa will cast Firaga more often than Fira.

Other than these examples, there are some arguments for other patterns of her casting, but I cannot reliably reproduce them. Knowing these general patterns can be helpful, but it is better to control the magic inventory as a means to manipulate Rinoa’s choices.

How to Manipulate Angel Wing

Manipulating Angel Wing via the Magic inventory is a simple and effective way to gain control of the randomness and harness the Limit Break’s true potential.

To start, eliminate all status-inflicting spells from the inventory, with the possible exception of Meltdown, which is incredibly useful at debilitating the enemy’s defenses. Aside from this, make sure Scan is NOT in the inventory, it is the bane of an Angel Winger’s existence

Next, eliminate all but the strongest offensive spells. If far enough in the game, limit them to Ultima, Meteor, Holy and Flare. If elemental magic is necessary, use only what is not resisted or absorbed by the enemies or boss in the area.

It is also wise to limit the inventory to one offensive spell to ensure the desired one is chosen every turn.

This becomes particularly useful with Meteor, which is capable of striking an enemy multiple times, thus allowing the player to exceed the 9999 damage cap. With appropriate junctioning, each hit of Meteor can hit for 5000-8000.

In order of importance, the stats that are highest priority for Rinoa and Angel Wing are:

Magic
Speed
HP

Junctioning Supportive and Curative Magic that are not used during Angel Wing is key. These spells will allow for maxing stats without compromising the control of the Limit Break. Spells like Triple and Full-Life are particularly useful for Speed/Magic and HP respectively. The chosen Non-Elemental Magic can also be used in junctioning, since Angel Wing will not consume any of the spells from the inventory.

Final Word

Overall, Limit Breaks, particularly Zell’s and Rinoa’s, are some of the most lethal attacks available in the game. The game’s most difficult enemies, including the near-immortal Omega Weapon, are all made significantly easier with knowledge of the underlying mechanics of Limit Breaks, and related exploits. Enjoy dominating Final Fantasy VIII.

Winner for the Retro Game Resource 1st Anniversary Give away announcement!!!

After closing the contest on December 1st, 2018, entries were compiled in a numbered list, and the winner was selected via a Random Number Generator.

The RNG gods have finally spoken

Anddd the winner issss….

Grand Prize:

Reddit user : djthememelord

Prize: New game of choice per the contest’s rules.

Consolation Prize:

Retro Game Resource commenter: Roland

Prize: 10 free entries to next year’s contest

WINNERS CONTACT ME VIA THE METHOD OF ENTRY

djthememelord contact me via reddit. I will be reaching out.

Roland you are automatically entered into next year’s contest.

Thanks to everyone for participating and please continue to enjoy Retro Game Resource.

Remember the Fan Art Contest is Open until January 1st.

See Rules

Final Fantasy VIII (PSX) Resource [Compilation of Final Fantasy #1]

Compilation of Final Fantasy

During the Compilation of Final Fantasy article series, my goal is to tell the story of my experience with one of my favorite series of all time. This likely multi-year endeavor will span from my introduction to the series with Final Fantasy VIII, to all mainline entries in the series. Instead of replaying the games in chronological order, I will play them in the order I, personally completed them. For games with multiple ports or adaptations, I will pick my personal favorite rendition and re-play through that one.

I hope everyone enjoys my story and review of one of the most influential series in video game history.

Introduction

On one fateful day in 1999, a 9 year-old me and a group of friends came across a shady character on the corner hustling outside of my parent’s store. Despite our ingrained inclination to avoid such individuals, there was something particularly special about this man. In his limited collection of mostly useless, and likely stolen, wares laid a beacon of modernity and splendor: a collection of PlayStation games.

Despite being 9 year olds, our level of skepticism was incredibly high, and our trepidation in dealing with strangers incredibly healthy. Needless to say, we were hesitant to interact with this individual. Considering the potential sketchiness of the situation, and the nearly magnetic pull of the PSX games on our pre-pubescent attention, we were forced to act: get my dad.

Being a store owner in an urban environment, he had many a time dealt with the bootleg peddling “entrepreneurs”who generally barged through the door in an attempt to peddle their merchandise to his customer base. As long as they weren’t a nuisance or overtly aggressive in their sales approach, he normally let them make their pitch and leave. On occasion, when the quality of the good was particularly high, and they actually spent money in our own store, he would even give them some play and buy a bootleg here and there. It was for this reason he was consulted in this particular scenario.

As the salesman made apparent his inventory, I was shocked to see one copy each of two fairly new releases: Final Fantasy VIII, for $30 and Syphon Filter, for $20 BRAND NEW. My dad agreed to get me one game as a reward for both my scholastic achievement at the time, and the undeniably good price. I was unsure what direction to go in; my GamePro magazines raved about Final Fantasy, but I wasn’t sure what it or RPGs were, despite being an avid gamer since 1992. I had almost rented Final Fantasy III for my SNES a few years prior, but ultimately ended up settling for Super Mario Kart.

In that moment of indecision an older, and much wiser, friend of mine FIRMLY suggested I get Final Fantasy VIII, even stating if I didn’t like it he would buy it off of me. He clarified what an RPGs was, stating it was like Pokemon, but better and more Adult-focused. From there it was decided, after my father opened the packaging to verify there were actually games in there, and to double check with my friends and I that the disks looked appropriate, payment was made and I quickly abandoned my friends to go try out my new game. As I popped in disk 1 of my first ever multi-disk title, I was transported into a world that forever matured my tastes in games, and opened up an entire new genre to me.

Continue reading “Final Fantasy VIII (PSX) Resource [Compilation of Final Fantasy #1]”

1st Anniversary Giveaway! And Fan Art Contest.

One year ago, on October 26, 2017, RetroGameResource.com was born. After years of pussy-footing around and coming up with excuses on why I can’t have a gaming site, I developed the testicular fortitude to share my story and love of all things gaming.

I had an itch for long-form video game reviews, that was not being scratched, so I decided to finally execute and do it myself.

My goal with the site evolved over the year, from simply creating the best reviews I could with my limited experience, to giving my story in each and every one of the reviews, providing context for my feelings towards a game.

As time went on, I decided to expand the subject matter, to personal gaming stories removed from the confines of a review, hardware reviews, and strategies for dealing with the overwhelming back log most adult gamer’s will undoubtedly wrestle with.

Looking at the sites stats and comments on Reddit and RacketBoy, I can tell my fan-base is incredibly loyal, despite not being large.

As a thank you, I would like to announce two major contests opening today:

1. Anniversary Giveaway

Grand Prize: One NEW video game of your choice, value up to $70 USD.

Consolation Prize: 10 free entries into next years anniversary contest.

FAQs:

Why must it be new?: I can’t be responsible for counterfeiters or damage done to used games for the purposes of the contest.

What if my game is cheaper than $70 dollars?: You can get more than one game, BUT the maximum amount of games you can get is 2 ( to avoid people getting a ton of $5 games making the purchase unweildy). The total AFTER taxes and shipping must be LESS than $70

If I spend less than $70 what will happen?: $70 is just a cushion for taxes and shipping, so it would just be unused. If you really want all $70 I can give a $70 gift card to Steam or Amazon, but you have to at least buy one game (on your honor).

What about the consolation prize?: the 2nd place winner will be entered into next years contest with 10 free entries.

To Enter:

1. 5 entries: Leave a non-spammy comment on any article on this site. Giving any opinion is fine, but no advertising, no vicious comments towards other posters (racist, sexist, “go kill yourself,” etc.) or random text will be accepted.

(ex: writing one random word or phrase just for an entry)

2. 1 entry: Follow the site on twitter @ResourceGame

3. 2 entries: Re-tweet the contest on twitter.

4. 3 entries: readers who comment on a reddit post from a certain sub-reddit that helped me get my start will receive 2 entries.

To be eligible all entries must be submitted before December 1, 2018 at 1200am (aka 0000) EST. Entries are stackable to an extent, for example, commenting on multiple articles will result in 5 entries for EACH, while multiple comments on the same article WILL NOT stack. Same goes for re-tweets and the reddit post.

How are Winner’s Chosen?:

Entries will be calculated and a random entry will be drawn for a winner. By random, I don’t mean blindly picking the name on my own. Names will be entered into a spreadsheet (multiple times if a person has multiple entries) and a Random Number Generator will be used to select the winning number, which will correspond to the row of the spreadsheet.

When Will the Winner Be Announced.

The winner will be announced before January 1st, 2019.

2. Fan Art Contest

Grand Prize: One NEW video game of the winner’s choice up to $70 USD AND the opportunity to have your art spotlighted in the top of a fan art gallery post on this website. I will explain why I chose your art, provide your name, and give you the option of providing a blurb about your piece.

Everyone Else Prize: All the art will be featured in a post showing off everyone’s awesome work. Sort of a fan art gallery that will show the image, the creator’s name and an optional blurb by the artist describing the work.

FAQs:

Why must it be new?: I can’t be responsible for counterfeiters or damage done to used games for the purposes of the contest.

To Enter:

Submit your fan art based on a a retro game or game series to

retrogameresource@gmail.com

by January 2nd, 2019 at 12am (0000) EST

How the winner will be chosen:

I will personally choose the winner. In the event I cannot make a choice I will narrow it down and have the fans choose.

Agreements

By entering the contest, you give me the right to permanently display your art on retrogameresource.com in the upcoming fan art gallery post that concludes the contest.

Credit to the artist will always be given and I do not own your work and will not use it elsewhere on the site without express written permission.

What the Streets of Rage 4 Announcement Means to Me… and Thoughts

UPDATE: Check out my first impressions of SOR4 post-release here

When my 3-year old self managed to convince my parents to get me a SEGA Genesis just like my older cousin, one of the first games I received was Streets of Rage 2. Even as a barely functional toddler, it quickly became one of my favorite games on the console; spending much of my time bludgeoning hordes of “Galsia” with steel pipes and incorrectly mimicking the inaudible battle cries of the protagonists while they were performing their special moves on-screen (honestly, who the hell understood what they were saying back in the day?).

As mentioned in a previous post, a different cousin of mine, who was the same age as me, also happened to receive a Genesis and SOR2 the same year, and we played it together everyday following our daily 12:00 PM dismissals from pre-school; She the massive, possibly steroid infused, Max Thunder, and I, the scrawny pre-pubescent boy Skate. These character choices were particularly ironic considering I was big for my age, while she was pretty scrawny back then. As a side note, now she is pretty jacked, perhaps inspired by her childhood favorite Max?

Continue reading “What the Streets of Rage 4 Announcement Means to Me… and Thoughts”

Retro Revamped #2: Bravely Second: End Layer

Retro Revamped is a series of review articles written about new games that attempt to embody the founding principles of their respective genres, whilst still yielding an experience that feels nuanced and fresh. What constitutes a game that “feels” retro is completely my subjective opinion, and may not have been the intention of the developers.

Introduction

Bravely Default was responsible for renewing my interest in JRPGs, following a prolonged hiatus resulting from burn out. When I first obtained Bravely Default, I held on to it for over a year before jumping in. Why? Well, because I feared I didn’t have the time to invest in an expansive JRPG. At the time this was true, considering I was working multiple jobs and going to school at night. When the doldrums of life were replaced instead by a more sustainable existence, I finally did venture into the world of Luxendarc my life quickly reverting back to my childhood. I went on an RPG binge that continues even now.

After taking a break from the Bravely Default for a while, exploring new JRPGs and childhood favorites such as Phantasy Star, I revisited the game and tied up some loose ends; namely defeating the secret Uber-bosses, The Adventurer and Comrade.

This additional taste of the Bravely world compelled me to finally commit to finishing the sequel: Bravely Second: End Layer; but how would it measure up to the well-regarded original? Would it continue to foster my reignited passion for JRPGs, or would it usher in a new era of RPG-fatigue?

Continue reading “Retro Revamped #2: Bravely Second: End Layer”