Sire

Army Men: Sarge's Heroes & Sarge's Heroes 2: The spider, insect, and zombie enemies. I hated spiders as a kid and these things would freak me out. The way they moved was creepy, and one time I turned a corner and suddenly there was one right there. Not fun. (Although, if I went back and did it now, it probably wouldn't be as bad. I still dislike spiders, but nowhere near the extent as I was when I was little.) Super Mario 64: The classic Piano. I think that is why Pianos are scary, it's all because of Super Mario 64! The eel was also a bit unnerving too when I was younger. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors: Not really a horror game, but one of the endings is a bit scary, even if it had hints leading up to said ending. Path of Exile - Lower Lunaris Temple: A sea of blood, discarded corpses, failed experiments... It is an unsettling place. Then there is another creepy area in Act IV, but it didn't unnerve me as much as the Temple did. Path of Exile may be a dark "Action RPG" similar to Diablo II, but it isn't horror. Torchlight 2 - Lumber Camp: Is a simple enough zone, but the way it is presented and the backstory behind it is somewhat frightening. Super Mario 64: The classic Piano. I think that is why Pianos are scary, it's all because of Super Mario 64! Starcraft 2 - Wings of Liberty Campaign, Haven's Fall Cutscene: A classic Space Marine versus the infested. Those things are creepy to me, man! Xenoblade Chronicles X: Two sidequests were a bit scary and unnerving. [spoiler=Click Me!]The first sidequest involves the Water Plant quest chain, where something goes wrong and everyone turns into monsters. If you make the wrong choice, an NPC involved in the questline can also transform into a monster as well. This gave a bit of a "Resident Evil" vibe, even though I really don't play those games. The second sidequest starts off innocent enough, your party meets another group and you do missions together. However, while you were away doing a mission, their camp gets attacked and they get captured. What gets me is the detailed explanation of how one of the female members died and how one of her squadmates had to watch the entire thing. [spoiler=Endgame Spoilers]Granted, the entire scene has a lesser impact once one learns the true nature of the Humans on the planet, but still.

I still need to get around to beating vanilla New Game + as well as Plague Knight's campaign on my 3DS. At any rate, Specter of Torment looks amazing! I look forward to the new music, story, and mechanics on how Specter Knight plays.

Game: Touhou - Lotus Land Story Song: Bad Apple!! feat nomico (Cover) It is surprisingly catchy and seemingly upbeat, even though the actual lyrics are bit depressing. // The video I linked is the full version of the song but uses the popular animation from the short version, so expect an odd pace with the animation due to this. * * * * *

I like Radiant Dawn's combo version, with the Black Knight and the Dragon chapters being memorable. However, for a more generalized variant... I want to see the final chapter in two parts. The first is the lengthy, tactically challenging map, and the second focuses on taking down that "invincible" boss. For example, the first part can be the main antagonist while the second is the greater evil or something similar. This is probably similar to Sacred Stones (Fight Lyon, then the Demon King). A part of me also wants to see bosses do something extra outside of having super stats, like the the final boss of Radiant Dawn does with her map attacks, the energy shields, and so on. The true final boss in Conquest does this to some degree, but I want to see a bit more of it. Maybe we need to run across the map to activate the seals which will weaken the boss to manageable levels or even having boss phases that will change the map and behavior of the boss itself. Fighting a stat stick can be fun, but I rather see a more in-depth boss battle that has more gimmicks and the like.

I tend to go with Option 1. I'll make a general strategy, then replay the map over and over until I reach a satisfactory ending. This is how I got through the first 5 chapters of Awakening on Lunatic and Lunatic+, and it is an amazing feeling when one conquers them with no deaths on Classic. The same also somewhat applies to Fate's starting maps. However, for the most part, it depends on the game in question, since I only really started messing around with the harder difficulties with Awakening and Fates, and even then, mostly for postgame purposes. Blazing Sword - I may have started a run, but never finished it due to other games taking my attention. Sacred Stones - I started several Hard runs, but never got around to finishing them because I would take too long of a break and just restart, or other games took my interest. Path of Radiance - Don't think I tried Hard Mode. Radiant Dawn - The fact that I had to count enemy movement manually put me off of playing RD's Hard Mode. Shadow Dragon - I think I cleared Hard Mode. I messed around with the higher difficulties, but never committed to them. Awakening - Cleared Hard Mode, did Lunatic and Lunatic+ for postgame purposes. Fates - Cleared Hard Mode, went Lunatic for postgame purposes.

I'll just quote myself from a different topic... Now, to expand a little on fanservice (revealing designs) and conversations... Classic FE did have some revealing designs, but it made sense for the character to have said designs. For example, Sonia was a femme fatale character who uses her charms to take over the Black Fang. Some female mages or myrmidons would have exposed legs, dancers are self explanatory, etc. The only real designs I remember being somewhat revealing is Nailah from Radiant Dawn and Malice from New Mystery, but they do it in a manner that extrudes confidence and being a bad*** instead of just being an eye magnet. Then there are also the shirtless men running around too, but when they did so, it made sense. I would also love to see proper Base Conversations return, demonstrated in FE 9 & 10. It adds a lot more dialogue to side characters and can help flesh out their personality, the world, and offer insight on current story events. One off lines managing a shop, recruitment, death, or plain support conversations are not really enough to flesh out a character, so more would be appreciated. Heck, instead of children paralogues, have character paralogues! Imagine how much more character development and world building one may discover... Edit: Looks like Sentinel Nephenee (battle model) in Radiant Dawn may be one of the first signs of armor going the panty route, not quite sure though.

Blazing Sword: I enjoyed the Black Fang as antagonists. Sure, there may be improvements here and there to flesh them out more, but overall they are what I remember the most about the main storyline. Lyn's tale was also enjoyable for what it was, even though it seems irrelevant to the main plot. Sacred Stones: Gotta go with Lyon. He had good intentions and tried to save Grado, only to end up being possessed by the Demon King. The Demon King did a good job at manipulating people too. Radiant Dawn: I loved Part 2 from a story and gameplay standpoint. It focuses on Elincia trying to rule her country and quelling civil unrest, while gameplay wise it features lots of NPC allies and fun scenarios. Awakening: Lucina's confrontation with the Avatar, especially if the Avatar is the husband or mother. It's probably the most moving scene in game, even more so than a certain sacrificial lamb. Otherwise, Future Past. Sure, it was just 3 DLC chapters, but those 3 chapters are well so well written that I am far more interested in the kid's apocalyptic future than what happened in Awakening. Fates - Starter: Chapter Six. This is what we wanted and were sold on for Fates, the tragedy of having to choose a side. Regrettably, even this chapter had issues and afterwards the story wandered off, but that is for a different topic. Fates - Birthright: Discovering how the people of Nohr lived and Elise's little secret. It added a bit of world building in a game that basically had none. Fates - Conquest: The Opera House, specifically Leo and his awesomeness. He explains how to get things done even if everything else is falling apart, and should have been more of a focus, but again, different topic. Fates - Revelations: I haven't finished it, so no comment. Path of Radiance & Shadow Dragon - Don't remember much in terms of story, so no comment.

Games I love but no one really knows about... Ogre Battle 64: Person of the Lordly Caliber (N64) This is my favorite game of all time. Essentially, control a platoon of up to 9 squads of about 5 units each, maneuvering them around the battlefield map. Run into an enemy to initiate combat, which is mostly run by AI and determined by formations and troop composition. Choices in the story can affect characters unlocked as well as what ending the player obtains, While combat was simplistic, the complexity of equipping individual units, the number of character classes, hidden secrets (Hidden classes, magic of ultimate destruction, recruiting creatures to the party, and so on), amazing soundtrack, graphic aesthetic, and immersive story just make this game for me. This game needs a tutorial to be played properly, and they provide an awesome way of teaching the player outside the main story. The fact that the Tutorial is not contained within the story is a big deal to me as the player can jump right into the ongoing narrative without having to be bothered by gameplay mechanics early game. Heck, even when they introduce a new mechanic about halfway in the game, they open up a brand new tutorial segment just for that! I know everyone loves to talk about Tactics Ogre (mostly the port) and it's more popular cousin Final Fantasy Tactics. A part of me can't help but resent Square for killing off the Ogre Battle franchise in 2002 by buying out Quest, there was so much to the world left to explore... Grandia II (Dreamcast) My second favorite game of all time, mostly because of its battle system. Characters are put on a line waiting to reach the "Command", where the player inputs what the player wants (skill, magic, attack, item, etc), and then they move to the "Act", where they execute the command. If that character is interrupted between Command and Act, the action is canceled. The fact magic was also stored in "eggs" and could be swapped around was also an interesting concept while skills remained character specific. I want to create a game that combines the battle map and complexities of unit management of Ogre Battle 64 with the combat system of Grandia II, but that's a topic for a different day. I also loved the classic light versus darkness story, especially when things start going crazy after about the midpoint of the game. The character cast are enjoyable, and there's even a proper epilogue where one goes around seeing what everyone is doing when the adventures end. There has been a "recent" release port on Steam (PC), so if you haven't played Grandia II and want to play an excellent RPG, I highly recommend it. Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast Version) I know of the port to Gamecube (Legends) that introduces new content and makes some modifications (and sadly reduces audio quality), but as I have not played that version, I will not discuss it. Guess what number this game is on my favorite game list? The open world map and sailing in the skies is wonderful. Where Grandia was more about light versus darkness, Skies is more about the classic thrill of adventure and discovery while dealing with the threat of the Empire and ambitions of man. The mythos around each main zone as well as the funny interactable objects where the main character will actually relay his thoughts is pleasing to read (I would check out the town at the start of the game due to this). The battle system was also a bit unique, relying on a "Spirit Meter" to use techniques (skills) and MP dropped only by one per magic use. Then, there are the Ship battles which has its own combat system of blasting each other out of the sky. [spoiler=Honorable Mentions]Quest 64 (N64) An odd RPG that I got as a hand-me-down. The player controls a boy who has skill with magic (fire, water, wind, and earth) and goes on an adventure across the continent to find his father and solve various mysterious along the way. There is nothing outstanding about the game, maybe the combat system could be considered something, but the story was average and the player only controls the boy throughout the entire game. Despite its simplicity, Quest 64 had its own charm to it. Granted, it is probably just nostalgic bias since I played it when I was really young, but if you have lots of free time and want to play something a little different, try out Quest 64. Gauntlet Legends (N64) Yes, I am talking about Gauntlet Legends for the N64 and not the Dark Legacy version. Sure, the Dark Legacy versions have more content and is generally better, but the N64 version will always be special to me. Specifically, the N64 version had much larger maps (Dark Legacy chose to keep the smaller versions) and it also had some songs unique to the N64 that was not used in Dark Legacy (for me, the Desecrated Temple N64 > Dark Legacy) Then there is the storyline of the plagued town, which is split into two separate zones in DL. Sure, Gauntlet Legends and Dark Legacy were not the most complex games in the world, but messing around with couch Co-Op was so much fun. There may be internet multiplayer and LAN connections, but nothing will beat old fashioned couch co-op, especially "co-op" that involves screwing over your friends for entertainment. X-Men Legends (Gamecube) I can also say X-Men Legends 2 for its superior gameplay, but the storytelling and cutscenes of the original won me over. There is a game over cutscene if the player fails at the final boss! (Which, surprisingly, I can not find online.) X-Men Legends is an action RPG where the player controls up to 4 X-Men (one human, rest AI unless playing multiplayer) and they use their superpowers to beat up the bad guys. The combat is enjoyable and if you enjoy the X-Men universe, give X-Men Legends I & II a go! Clubhouse Games (DS) I picked this up after a friend who had it recommended it to me. For most gamers, this is probably nothing spectacular as it is a collection of various board and card games. However, it is a valuable collection as I enjoy messing around its variety games when I get bored of traditional video games. The music is also charming, but that is probably just a personal thing. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars (3DS) A surprise title during the 3DS launch drought. It is essentially a tactics RPG and one can consider it a more simplified XCOM. It doesn't have an amazing story, but the gameplay and challenge missions were enjoyable enough to justify the purchase. Populous: The Beginning (PC) A hybrid between a God Simulator and an RTS game. Play as a Shaman with a variety of different spells that can annihilate your foes as well as shape the world to lead your tribe to victory! Command and Conquer: Renegade (PC) My first real PC shooter I was invested in. It takes the classic Command and Conquer RTS universe and transforms it into an FPS / TPS game with a good single player campaign and (at the time) healthy multiplayer. Renegade is probably the reason why I am not big on typical shooters that rely solely on infantry and guns because Renegade had vehicles, aircraft, and structures to contend with. So, I rely more on shooters that are more tactical in nature as well as relying on combined arms. Renegade X is a standalone game that focuses on the multiplayer aspect of the original Renegade. It is free and has a decent population (there is normally one server full of 40 people) during European peak hours, so feel free to give it a try! Please note that Renegade X leans towards team play and if one is new, stay away from the support classes. Natural Selection 2 (PC) A team based shooter that has RTS elements of base building. Play as either the Marines (typical shooter) or the Aliens and wipe out the opposition! However, like Renegade, this is a team game, so communication and having a mic is useful. I would also mention Nuclear Dawn as it is also an FPS that has base building, but it seems to be dead nowadays. Besides, Marines versus Aliens is a bit more unique than Human A versus Human B. Planetside 2 (PC & PS4) A free to play FPS focusing on massive battles (48 vs 48, can be more) and combined arms. Use infantry, vehicles, and aircraft to capture points on the map to lock down the continent. There is also an update that allows for limited base building, so one can build walls and fortifications to defend a location.