Paper Mario was originally planned as Super Mario RPG 2, a direct sequel to Squaresoft’s Super Nintendo release Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars.  The style of the games differ quite significantly, however, and because of this, I believe, Nintendo decided to introduce Paper Mario with its own name and identity to keep gamers from comparing the two titles too closely as they are definitely very different games.

The big innovation that we see in Paper Mario is the use of very attractive, rendered three dimensional environments (some of the best seen on the Nintendo 64) with all of the characters and artifacts in the game being flat, two dimensional objects rendered on top of the environment.  The effect is somewhat gimmicky but it is cute and unique and works well considering the limited rendering power of the N64 console.  The effect is so key to the look and feel of the game that the title of the series, Paper Mario, came from the graphical approach used.

Paper Mario contains many basic JRPG (Japanese RPG) elements but does so in a very basic manner making it a nice introductory JRPG for younger gamers or casual gamers looking for a game to ease them into the genre.  As a true JRPG, Paper Mario contains no character decision making (you do not determine the story-affecting actions of your character nor do you determine the outcome of the story) and the game is completely linear.

Unlike more traditional JRPG games (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Suikoden, Fire Emblem, Breath of Fire, etc.) Paper Mario contains very little storyline or character development and what little storyline there is is completely non-engaging or interesting at all.  This has been the curse of the Mario franchise from the beginning.  In the more traditional Mario games (e.g. Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, etc.) this was not really a problem as action-platformers really don’t need a storyline to be interesting.  This does become a problem in a JRPG – a gaming genre whose sole purpose for existing is to act as a delivery mechanism for deeply engaging interactive literature.

The idea behind Paper Mario seems to be a combination of showing off what the N64 could do now that several years of experience with the console had prepared developers to really take advantage of its power and to introduce young and casual gamers to a genre for which Nintendo platforms were generally pretty well known.  Since the introduction of Paper Mario the Nintendo platforms (GameCube and Wii) have leaned heavily away from adventure, JRPG and RPG genres but Paper Mario has remained one of the very few series to survive through the development of the new consoles.

Personally, I find the “Mario world” (Mushroom Kingdom) characters to be empty and shallow.  The idea behind the original Mario games was never to have characters with deep, inter-personal relationships, detailed backgrounds, personal motivations, etc. or even to have a universe that made particular sense.  Let’s face it, the concept of Mario, the Italian plumber, who adventures through bizarre vertical pipes that take him to magic realms where he fights turtles in order to rescue Princess Toadstool sounds like an “F” on a second grader’s creative writing assignment.  Taking this game world, made quickly without any particular thought as nothing more than a series of simple plot devices to make action game development simple in the early 1980s, and attempting to shoehorn a JRPG around it feels uncomfortable and strange.  The settings do not blend well together and everything feels like a plot device rather than like a carefully constructed story full of plot twists and surprise relationships.

One interesting and well done piece of the game mechanics involves the need to “acquire” a large number of allies who travel with you throughout the game hiding in a form of “friend inventory” ready to be pulled out when you need them but only one at a time.  Each of your allies has a different skill or power and by selecting the right friend to have “active” at a given moment will allow you to solve a puzzle or advance past a certain point.   The puzzle solving aspect makes Paper Mario feel, in many ways, like a more traditional graphical adventure game but its JRPG roots are pretty solid.  Battles in PM are turn-based but with minor action elements thrown in to keep the player involved.  It is a nice blend.

Technically the game shines for its generation.  The graphical approach is fresh and interesting, the graphics in general are quite impressive for the N64, the audio is well done too and the controls are quite acceptable.  The game clearly looks old when played on the Wii VIrtual Console today, but it does not look nearly as dated as its console breatheren like Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time or Majora’s Mask look.  It holds up much better with age although should never be listed as a classic alongside those other two.

Overall, Paper Mario appears to meet its goals.  The game is not overly ambitious and it is very accessible to a wide audience.  Its simplicity, lack of deep story and use of the tired Mario game world will turn off most gamers but those who are truly in love with Mario, Pricess Toadstool and Bowser or are looking for an easy way to ease into the JRPG genre may find it a cute and enjoyable game.  (For reference, Paper Mario is a far more “casual” and beginner JRPG than are the Disney-themed Kingdom Hearts titles.)

Paper Mario is, to the best of my knowledge, the very first title that can be considered a JRPG or RPG ever produced by Nintendo themselves (the Zelda games are adventures and do not qualify at all as JRPGs, Super Mario RPG was made by Squaresoft and not Nintendo) and remains the only JRPG series that they have produced.

Paper Mario produced a sequel, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, on the Nintendo GameCube which, in turn, spawned the recent fourth installment Super Paper Mario for the Nintendo Wii (fourth after Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario and PM: 1000 Year Door.)  At this time, Super Mario RPG (SNES) and Paper Mario (N64) have both been rereleased for the Wii’s Virtual Console making the Wii the one system where all four titles are available together.

If you are a die-hard Mario fan then there is no way that you can skip Paper Mario.  If you are looking for a low cost and easy to digest introduction to the Japanese RPG genre then this is a decent place to start for Wii owners.  If you are really interested in JRPG and console arcana then there is a neat bit of history tied up in Paper Mario.  But if you are already into more serious JRPG and RPG titles then think carefully before investing your gaming time into Paper Mario, it is probably too simple and too shallow to make you really happy.

Unlike other early Final Fantasy titles which were ported to alternative gaming systems in subsequent years (Final Fantasy II reached American audiences via the Game Boy Advance in the “Dawn of Souls” cartridge and Final Fantasy V and VI were released for the GBA each on their own) Final Fantasy III remained exclusive to the Famicom and to its Japanese localized version until a North American version was released for the Nintendo DS handheld game system in 2006 (several months after the remake was released in Japan.)

When playing FF3 it is important to keep in mind its 8-bit console roots.  Gameplay is shallow and much grinding is necessary.  Characters are flat and uninteresting but this is how jRPGs were in 1990.  When the era is taken into consideration FF3 turns out to be rather mammoth and much more deep and immersive than almost any other game of the era.  The DS port includes some interface tweaks, balance changes and updated sound and graphics including 3D rendered fight scenes and dungeons but mostly the game remains rooted in the 8-bit era.

Considering the age of FF3, who is going to be interested in playing it?  Anyone nostalgic for the 8-bit era (if you loved Final Fantasy 1 or the original Dragon Warrior games on the NES) then this game is definitely for you.  Or, if you are like me, and a big fan of the Final Fantasy series in general and want to play the series in its entirety now that it is officially available outside of Japan then you definitely need to play.  If you are looking for a modern, cutting edge RPG honed by decades of genre maturation then you will want to look elsewhere.  In FF3 the world plays like a transparent image of a real world being displayed for the benefit of the observer.  The shallow emptiness of early RPG games.

Graphically Final Fantasy III is a great improvement on the DS over its Famicom (NES) original.  The world map is updated to look a little better than it used to and looks, more or less, like an FF game of the 16-bit SNES era.  Once in a town or in a dungeon the game switches to a simple three dimensional style that works moderately well.  It is nothing too impressive but this is due more to the DS’s limitations than to the game’s design.  The new graphics work well and do not distract from the game.  Playing FF3 on the DS is likely far more enjoyable than it was on the Famicom eighteen years ago.

I am very happy to report that Square Enix did not add any unnecessary touch-screen controls to FF3 which so often happens with games when they appear on the Nintendo DS (or Wii.)  The mere existance of the interface so often prompts its use no matter how inappropriate it is for a given task but not so here.  There are some elements which can be controlled from the touch screen but nothing that requires its use.  The game can easily be played completely through intuitive and simple standard controls.

FF3’s gameplay is updated somewhat for the Nintendo DS to improve the original Famicom version.  Most of the changes, according to Wikipedia, are balance related to make the game work more smoothly.  There is a tiny bit of new material added to enlarge the game but only slightly.  The remake is very true to the original.

One new feature of FF3 on the DS is the addition of the Mognet system which is used to send “email” via WiFi connection to other FF3 players or to send pretend email to characters within the game.  Yes, this feature is as strange as it sounds and does distract from the game to some degree.  I doubt that anyone will actually enjoy spending the time to email each other through the game in this day and age of ubiquitous email communications but, unfortunately, some of the additional sidequests and special features are available only through this system and it ends up acting like a “cheats” input that is used for no other reason that to unlock hidden areas in the game.

One of the most interesting features of FF3 is the “jobs” system which is analogous to Dungeons and Dragons classes.  In FF3 you start out with a basic job (called Freelancer which is very general purpose allowing your character to do a little bit of everything.)  As you progress through the game new jobs will become available.  You can switch between jobs at any time but you must gain experience in the job that you wish to use in addition to your regular experience so changing often is not a useful strategy.

Final Fantasy III is the first Final Fantasy title to include the jobs system which became popular staples of the Final Fantasy series.  Unlike Final Fantasy itself (FF1) in which you could select a class at the beginning of the game you have more flexibility in the later titles which also allows for the addition of special, more powerful jobs that only become available later in the game such as FF3’s Geomancer job.

The concept of class changing was not new to Final Fantasy III, of course, and was a popular component of the RPG classic The Bard’s Tale which released in 1985.  In The Bard’s Tale only certain classes could switch mid-game and they likewise took penalties for doing so and needed to gain experience again in the new class in order to be effective with it.

In general, Final Fantasy III is an impressive game considering its age and the era from which it came.  I cannot say that all is rosey, however.  When I reached the end of the game what I found is that the very last portion of the game, that which exists after the player believes that the game has been won, is disproportionately hard and confusing leaving the player in a multi-hour long ending without opportunity to save that relies upon the old tradition of being frustrating and obtuse rather than clever and challenging like modern games.

I must confess that after dying from unbalanced battles, spending approximately five hours grinding to prepare myself for the game ending and then getting stuck wandering aimlessly and pointlessly around a “final” dungeon without any clear direction or purpose I deemed the game not worth finishing.  After forty hours of investment it was not worth my time to even attempt the final battle because I could not determine if there was one, what it was or if I was even supposed to do anything in particular.

It is unfortunate that a game that does so well for its era ends on such a sour note leaving players who have been willing to put in the time necessary to reach the end with a bad taste and poor memories of the game.  Only the most dedicated historians of the JRPG genre should put time into this title.

References:

Final Fantasy III on Wikipedia

Nintendo’s Wii Fit is a combination of exercise software and the Wii Balance Board accessory.  Wii Fit itself is pretty basic and is not a game as many people probably believe that it is.  The Balance Board is actually a very advanced scale that connects wirelessly to the Nintendo Wii and tracks not only total weight but also the placement of weight upon the scale.

First, the scale.  The Balance Board works great, even on carpeting.  We compared weights measured on it in our living room on thick carpeting versus weights measured on a regular bathroom scale on linoleum and the weights were exactly the same.  The balance aspect of the board works well too with it being quite responsive.  I am sure that it would work even more accurately on a harder surface but on the carpet it does just fine.  The scale is attractive and works well in our living room.  It easily slides under furniture so that it is out of the way while not in use.

Secondly, Wii Fit itself.  Wii Fit turned out to be a more interesting fitness program than I had anticipated.  It has two modes, one for tracking your weight and BMI progress and one for being your personal trainer doing balance, cardio and strength training.  The “game” even teaches you some basic yoga.

I enjoy doing the exercises with the Wii Fit.  It is easy to use and does interesting workouts that you would normally not do at home.  Having the handy in-game trainer stepping you through things makes it feel more interactive and the exercises have cute visualizations to make them more enjoyable.  For example, when jogging in place your jogging actually propels a rendered jogger forward through a three dimensional terrain which helps you to pass the time while keeping you motivated.

One of the most useful tools of the Wii Fit is its record keeping.  You can weight in every day or every few days and have the balance board automatically weight you and chart your weight and BMI progress along with tracking goals.  By making the process of weighing in and keeping track so easy it really encourages you to do it every day.  Seeing progress on a graph makes it easy to quickly tell how you are doing.

Something that was really smart with Wii Fit was the ability to install the Wii Fit channel directly to your Wii menu.  You cannot use this channel for your training, that requires the Wii Fit disc to be in the drive, but you can use this channel to do your daily weigh in.  So all you have to do is to turn on the Wii, stand on the scale and turn it back off.  No looking for the disc, switching discs from what the kids are playing, etc.  Nice and easy to encourage you to do it every day.

What currently we are waiting for is additional games to be released that will take advantage of the Wii Balance Board.  It is an expensive accessory and it would be nice if it had some extra uses.  At this time there are a total of nine titles (plus Wii Fit itself) that can make use of the balance board but, unfortunately, they are almost exclusively the “third party dump” titles (the stuff that is dumped to the Wii that was deemed unfit for the more serious consoles in the hopes of duping the gullible casual gamer market) and Wii Music (widely reviewed as the worst game of 2008 even though it is a Nintendo published title.)  So the lineup is weak to say the least and several of those titles only support the board as an afterthought and not as a core game feature.  The one really notable exception is Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip which is supposed to be a lot of fun.  We are planning to get that and try it out.

Coming out soon and quite anticipated is EA Sports Active which is a competitor for the Wii Fit program but is designed to take advantage more of the controllers than of the balance board but it will support the balance board as well.  We should see that exercise title in about two months.

What I am interested to see is some games release that really doing something innovative with the balance board – using it in real gameplay for something other than skiing or snowboarding titles which are simply too obvious and, at this point, very well covered.

So far the Wii Fit is fun and with its recent $50 price drop it is not a bad buy for most people.  If you are looking for a way to get some exercise in a fun, original way then check it out.

Knothole Island contains one new region for Fable 2 expanding the game from thirteen to fourteen regions.  The region contains three new quests and many new items for the player to collect.  Knothole Island does not contain any additional gargoyles or silver keys but it does have its own collectable item, Knothole Island History books of which there are ten to find throughout the region.  Knothole Island also adds one hundred additional achievement points bringing the game total to eleven hundred.  The additional achievement points come in the form of three distinct achievements: fifty points for completing all three Knothole Island themed quests, twenty-five for collecting all ten books and twenty-five for obtaining all of the curiosities in the specialty shop in town.  The village of Knothole Island also has several additional houses and shops in which you are free to invest as well.

I began playing Knothole Island almost as soon as the download became available.  The additional content took me approximately two and a half hours to complete so the size is rather disappointing for the ten dollar price of admission, but for desperate Fable fans it is a highly anticipated addition.

Knothole Island is definitely a beautiful addition to the world of Albion.  My favourite feature of the new content is the innovative weather control system at the center of the plot driving the new quests.  The addition of the weather patterns adds a unique way of expanding the layout of the single region to feel larger.  It also adds more “scenery” than you would normally experience in the single region.  Exploring the Knothole Island region under drought, flood and freezing conditions is very interesting and extremely well done.  The planning that went into the layout of the region is quite impressive.

Each Knothole Island quest involves its own unique dungeon.  The dungeons are not really as impressive as many of the dungeons in the core Fable 2 quests.  The overuse of the lock-disc mechanism as the key to forward momentum at almost every moment within the dungeons is frustrating and boring.  Some additional variety would have been nice.  Some of the lock-disc tasks are extremely simple to figure out but difficult to execute.  Not a fun combination.

Overall the new content is enjoyable and a nice addition to the existing content.  I feel that the new content will work best for players who have not yet completed the main quest in Fable 2 or for players who have not yet started playing Fable 2.  Having the additional content mixed in with the rest of the game would make for a nice break from the rest of the game from time to time and give the player time to make use of the additional items that are only available in Knothole Island.

Playing these quests after having completing Fable 2, though, makes them extremely easy.  The new plot and content does not feel connected to the rest of Albion and almost feels as if you have left the game to go into a separate mini-game somewhere.  This effect is magnified by playing all of Knothole Island at one time without mixing it into the rest of the content.

Knothole Island contains some neat innovations, beautiful scenery and some interesting new content.  The downsides are that it is short, some of the dungeons are tedious and the integration into the Fable 2 universe is not as good as it might have been.  Serious Fable 2 fans definitley want to partake of the content but more casual players may want to save their money until Knothole Island is made part of the standard content (similar to Fable: The Lost Chapters) as it is bound to do in the future.

I am looking forward to additional downloadable content from Lionhead Studios for Fable II.  I really hope that future content will involve expansions to the main storyline or an intersting arc that expands the known Albion regions.

First, let me attempt to define Oblivion is terms that most gamers can understand.  In today’s video game marketplace the concepts of adventure, RPG, jRPG (Japanese RPG – interactive fiction with RPG elements) and first person shooters (FPS) are beginning to merge in many instances and Oblivion is one of these examples.  Oblivion is an action traditional RPG.  It is action (i.e. real time and not turn based) but is a true RPG unlike Diablo or Dungeon Siege which are action games with some RPG elements added.  Oblivion’s goal is its role playing whereas Dungeon Siege’s goal is its action.  In Oblivion most of the action can simply be avoided if the player so wishes.  It is a traditional RPG in that the player maker character decisions and significantly affects gameplay.  The game is not linear and interactive fiction like a jRPG (a la Final Fantasy.)  Oblivion is obviously a rendered, three-dimensional game that would appear, in many ways, like a first person shooter but with RPG goals rather than action goals.  And, of course, there are some amount of puzzles built into the game bringing in adventure characteristics.  It is redundant to mention but Oblivion is a sandbox game (like Grand Theft Auto III) in that you can freely move around and go wherever you like.  This is a key tenent of the RPG genre but one that people not used to true RPGs are often surprised by.  In many ways the newer members of the GTA series are closer to RPG and Adventure games than to any other genre.  It takes a lot to define a game these days.

The original Oblivion game is often said to be one to two hundred hours of gameplay.  Being an open-ended RPG there is no good means of determining exactly what constitutes being “done” with the game so measurements vary dramatically.  Completing the core storyline can be done quickly while numerous sidequests, not all available to all players based on in-game decisions, make up the bulk of the storyline portion of the game, and then there is the exploring that needs to be done!  The Shivering Isles expansion adds, what is said to be, another thirty hours of main quests not including side quests and exploration time which is mount to a total, likely, of fifty or more hours.  The Knights of the Nine expansion is said, according to Guide2Games, to add at least another six hours of content again.  In total, I am guessing that I have around two hundred and fifty or more hours of gaming to which to look forward in the world of Oblivion.

Oblivion first released in 2006 so it is hardly a new game, but even now in early 2009 Oblivion still stands as the finest example of traditional role playing games on the market.  The graphics are amazing, the game is immense, the voice acting is suppurb and the score is just amazing.

I put in about twenty hours at this point and have seen a lot of the game including a good chunk of the main storyline, several side quests and lots of world exploration.  The main storyline grabs you right as the game begins and thrusts you right into the action.  It does not take too long before you are given the flexibility to set off on your own to explore the world as you would like which may include racing along to fulfill the main quest as quickly as possible or ignoring it completely.  Oblivion is full of options.

Oblivion, like the other Elder Scrolls titles, is an action RPG and is not a console RPG (aka a Japanese RPG.)  The gameplay is very non-linear and events happen as you interact with the world around you.  Your own style of gameplay will alter the gaming experience is many ways and everyone’s game is very unique.

If you have played Morrowind, Oblivion’s predecessor, one of the first things that you will notice is that the world is smaller and very densley populated with creatures, ruins, cities, dungeons, etc.  It is so densley populated that it feels very, very awkward.  When the Oblivion gates start opening you might notice them popping up several hundred yards away from each other!  While Oblivion is very large it does not have the expansive space feel that you would expect from a game of this type and makes you feel more confined than Morrowind did.  The close proximity of people and places makes it feel much more realistic as you stumble from one “major ruins” to another every few seconds.  Everything is so close that people in the major cities should be able to hear people talking in “long lost ruins” as well as the worshipers at the secret woodland altars.

One of the great things about Oblivion is that everything is voice acted.  Every character that you meet talks to you.  This benefit is tempered by a lack of recorded dialoge and a paucity of voice actors.  It is very obvious very early on in the game that even main characters are often voiced by the same few voice actors which takes away from the game and the range of recorded dialogues is very limited.  You will tire of speaking with the locals very quickly except for those involved in the main quests.

I am disappointed in the world “integrity” within the game.  By this I mean that events or character interactions in one place don’t always seem consistent.  For example, there is a woman in a chapel that I rescued from the horde of evil things attacking her.  Her dialogue with me did not change from the time that I first discovered her and she didn’t know who I was through the time that I rescued her until the time that she went to the camp away from town for safety after I had defeated the evil creatures destroying her town.  The game would have been a lot more interesting if her character was made aware of the fact that we knew each other and that I had saved her, that she had changed locations or that I would be asking different questions of her.  Characters seem to react to basic “world” level stimulous rather than to direct character interactions such as is seen in the Fable series.

Overall the initial impression of Oblivion is that it is gorgeous, sounds great, is expansive and exciting.  Oblivion is consistently rated as one of the top RPGs of all time and an instant classic.  It has held its ground for two years, at this point, as the definitive RPG for the PC over the last three years and of the PS3 and XBOX 360 consoles.  Impressive to say the least.  I am excited to delve into the story, explore the sidequests, take in the grand vistas and see what all this game and its expansion sets have to offer.

What Fable 2 does incredibly well is blending the storytelling common to linear console RPGs with the freedom and openness of true RPGs.  One aspect of Fable 2 which I did not like and detracted from the openness is that the “open areas” between game regions are only theoretical – you “warp” from region to region and within each region there are carefully designed “paths” so that you cannot just wander and explore unimpeded.  You are stuck within one of thirteen pre-defined regions and within each of those you are blocked and barricades from being able to wander completely freely.  This limits your freedom in the game as you must discover a path leading from each region to the next.  This also cuts down game play time.

Fable 2 does a great job of taking a primary storyline which is mostly linear and weaving it into a player-chosen course of events that allows the player a great amount of freedom within the game while allowing for a strong storyline.  As a player in Fable 2 you get to make a lot of decisions about how your character is going to behave and these decisions not only effect the way in which other characters will react to you but also your appearance (and your dog’s appearance as well.)

The game itself lies almost entirely in the side quests and free play and not within the primary quest.  If you only want to complete the game as quickly as possible you can but if you want to spend a lot of time exploring Albion, the Fable gameworld, finding every hidden treasure and completely all of the extra quests then you are free to do so.  The game really gives you a great degree of latitude.

My Fable 2 experience lasted approximately 38 hours.  I tend to be a slow player taking the time to explore, take in the view, interact with the locals and to complete as much of the “side” game as possible.  In 38 hours I completed the main quest and all quests that were completable (some always remain open for you to do again and some reoccur from time to time) and that were not evil (I was playing a “good” character.)  I even completed the entire gargoyle quest which is rather time consuming.

One of the complaints that I have heard about Fable 2 is that it is very short and in truth, it is.  The main storyline could be rushed through and the side quests ignored so that the game could most likely be completed in around ten to twelve hours.  Even with extensive time spent doing all possible quests, jobs and more it is hard to imagine that the game would ever be stretched to more than fifty hours at the most and that is a very high number for this game.  The upside is that there is some replay value in the game because of the variety of choices that you get to make as you play.  My wife watched me play the majority of the game and is still interested in playing it herself with a very different character making completely different choices.

The graphics is Fable 2 are very good and really take advantage of the XBOX 360.  However, because of the limited draw distance and the large amount of “backdrop” versus true, far off locations to which you can walk I found that this game was much less likely to find me walking to a great vantage point and staring off into the distance exploring the landscape and enjoying the view which I often do in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Dragon Quest VIII.  But the graphics were still very good and enjoyable and did a great job of pulling you into the game.

One of my favourite aspects of Fable 2’s extensive gameplay is the option to invest in real estate.  This is an aspect of the game that I expect is ignored or partially ignored by most people who play the game but I found it to be very enjoyable.  You are able to save up and buy houses and businesses.  A house you may choose to rent out to earn some money or you can leave the house empty and move into it yourself.  You can keep a single house for yourself or have several all over Albion.  Sleeping in different houses provide different bonuses to your character so they can be used strategically as well.  Some quests only become available when the player owns certain properties and others can be simplified by owning the right house or business.  Some properties only become available to buy (or only exist at all) after certain quests have been completed (or possibly completed in a certain way since there are multiple outcomes in the game.)

Houses can be increased in value by upgraded furnishing as well (all homes are sold furnihed in Fable 2.)  This adds yet another area of the game in which a player can choose to focus or to completely ignore.

Sidequests vary from the very short and simple (stopping a hand of slavers and freeing some slaves) to extremely long and intertwined with the main storyline (Gargoyles or The Archeologist.)  Some can be played over and over and some can only happen once and may require waiting for the main quest to advance before more parts of them become available.  My favourite quest was Gargoyles which required carefully exploring the realm going into all of the nooks and crannies that might otherwise remain unexplored and forcing you to explore the scenary and to appreciate a lot of the extra work that went into the game that is often missed by people rushing through it.  Gargoyles alone probably took me more time to complete than the main quest did.  It is a very long quest.

Fable 2 also offers a jobs system allowing the character, Sparrow, to earn a living by working as a blacksmith, woodchopper, bartender, bounty hunter, etc.  As you improve in your job you can make more and more money allowing you to buy better equipment, potions, food, books, real estate, etc.   The jobs are basically very simple mini-games that are highly repetitive to make the money earned really feel as if you are earning the money.  They can be quite time consuming and several hours could be added to the game if the player is really dedicated to earning a lot of money in this manner and wants to master several of the jobs.

Fable 2 also includes highly detailed character interactions with just about any person that you will encounter throughout the game.  Depending on what you do throughout the game will change how people perceive you.  You have a range of expressions that you can “perform” to make people like, dislike, fear you, etc.  Make the right people fall in love with you and marriage becomes an option.  Children are also an option.  You can buy your spouse a house and raise children in it for special family bonuses although be prepared as your family will need a generous allowance to be able to live well.

Some characters that you will encounter can be convinced to give you free gifts if they like, fear or respect you enough.  Having characters like you might reduce the price of goods if that characters owns a shop at which you shop.

One of the most interesting aspects of Fable 2 is your trusty dog.  Your dog joins you while on your very first quest component and remains with you throughout your adventure although you will need to take care of him, reward him, play with him, give him treats, etc.  Eventually your dog will aid you in some quests, find you buried treasure, warn you of impending attack, help finish off wounded enemies and more.  No matter how many people like or dislike you, whether you are good or evil, corrupt or pure your dog is always your faithful companion helping and sometimes guiding you along.  Strangers might even walk up to your dog and talk to him.

Like most XBOX 360 games, Fable 2 uses achievements which interact with systems external to the game itself.  Achievements are viewable on your XBOX Live account and add to your overall gamer score.  The achievement system also encourages you to try a lot of tasks within Fable 2 that might easily be ignored otherwise such as attempting a long-distance chicken kick to earn the “Chicken Kicker” achievement.  Attempting to obtain all achievements will definitely increase game play time but generally add relatively little to the game’s enjoyment.

A new feature of Fable 2 that did not exist in the original title is the “golden path” – a sparkly yellow line which appears to help lead you to your next task.  This system works amazingly well.  You use your quest/jobs menu to tell the game which quest or job you would like to currently pursue and the game will guide you to your next location as long as it is in an area or a region in which you have been previously.  This helps speed the game along while reducing pointless wandering but can lead to missing hidden items because it is so easy to ignore anything that is off of the main path.  This feature can be disabled but, overall, is pretty enjoyable.

Action within Fable 2 is simple and straightforward.  Three control buttons are assigned for battle so there is always a dedicated “swing melee weapong”, “fire missile weapon” and “cast readied spell” button available for use.  This makes battles fast and easy and not unnecessarily complicated.  This lowers the barrier of entry as there are many people who find the battle systems in RPGs overly complicated.  Sparrow is updated through the use of better weapons but armor is non-existent in the game which allows for upgrading without the large time spent investigating armor and weapon options common to other RPGs.  Fable 2 really focuses on the gameplay and character interactions and development and minimizes stats and equipment systems making them simple and straightforward.

Stat development in Fable 2 happens through a unique experience gaining system where experience is gained through strength (melee), skill (missile and speed) and will (magic) areas plus a general experience pool.  Then the player can select how experience points will be spend within each area.  It is very easy to learn and get using right away.  I really like the experience system because it allows for a certain amount of player choice in development whenever enough points are accumulated but also skews development towards areas which the player uses in actual combat.  Ergo, if a player always uses their melee weapon then experience will be accumulated in that area primarily.  So to grow in all areas a player needs to utilize different combat methods.

While the initial game is rather short with roughly ~40 hours of gameplay depending on play style there is also downloadable content planned for Fable 2 which, at the time of this writing, is due to arrive in January, 2009.  The first bit of downloadable content, the Knothole Island expansion, is expected to add one new region to Albion taking the world from 13 to 14 total regions and adding three additional complete quests to the game along with new characters with whom to interact.  How much extra content will be available in the expansion waits to be seen.  It could be as low as about two hours of extra gameplay or as much as about ten.  I will review the expansion as soon as it is available.  There are rumors that there will be expansions to the Gargoyle quest and Silver keys achievement but nothing has been confirmed.

Hopefully, in the future, additional downloadable areas will become available.  Fable 2 has a lot of potentially to be a great platform for continuing gameplay.

Fable 2 offers so many different ways to enjoy the game that I think that a very wide variety of people will find it a lot of fun even though few people generally enjoy RPGs.

For those wondering, I completed Fable 2 having found all Gargoyles and achieving both Mayor and King.

Fable 2 is a fantasy action console role playing game (Fantasy JRPG) with many aspects brought in from adventure gaming.  The graphics on the 360 are astounding.  Possibly the best of this style that I have yet seen on a console.  Quite impressive.

For my first impression, I manage to play Fable 2 for approximately two hours and made it through the “tutorial” section of the game.  The game does a great job of making the introduction to the game simple and fun and introduces new control concepts in an almost transparent manner so that the game begins immediately and goes straight into the story with the player able to begin taking part right away.

In Fable 2 you choose to play either Sparrow or Rose, who are brother and sister.  Unlike many RPGs, you do not spend a lot of time customizing your character at the beginning of the game.  You simply choose to play the boy or the girl and from there your character is modified by the decisions that you make within the game.  I like this approach as it lends itself to better story telling and makes the growth of your character more natural.

Fable 2 is an action RPG but the action is handled in a very fun, smooth way that I think will appeal to a lot of players.  I really appreciate the ease of having your melee weapon readied under the X button, ranged weapon under the Y and a magic attack under B.  This method is very quick to learn, easy to use under pressure and not so complicated as to make the game not fun for those of us who tend to prefer our RPG’s without an action element while still providing a lot of fun for those who do.  I really like the blend.

Overall, my first two hours with Fable 2 were completely enjoyable.  It is not often that I am this thrilled with a video game the first time that I have played it.  I am very excited to spend some time just exploring the game world, Albion.  The Fable series is known for having a short main plot with extensive potential side quests, missions and projects.  I’m sure that in Fable 2 I will be looking for opportunities to spend as much time in the game world as possible.

One feature that I really appreciate is the integrated “cut scene” system.  I have not yet seen a game using this particular innovation and it is a great way of handling traditional cut scenes.  The way that it works is that the scenes themselves are built into the game world and rendered just like the regular game.  When you approach an area with a “cut scene” you get a little symbol telling you that a “cut scene” is available.  You can choose to watch the scene with the use of one of the left buttons.  As long as you hold the button the camera zooms in on the action in which you should be interested.  As soon as you no longer want to watch simply release the button and the action continues from your normal perspective.  It works beautifully.

In many ways, Fable 2 appears to play a lot like a more traditional adventure game with a strong, integrated plot.  Character development, from a skills and spells perspective, is much less central to the game than in a more traditional RPG.  From my initial perspective, the game seems a lot more focused on real, engaging gameplay than on game mechanics that bog down so many otherwise entertaining titles.  Fable 2 has enough story line and little enough interruption that my wife, Dominica, even enjoys just watching me play.

The voice acting is quite good as well.  Much of the beginning of the game has constant narration which really provides the feeling that you are playing a movie.  The mix of narration, voice acting and the integrated cut scenes really pulls you into the game.

My first impression is that this is an extremely interesting RPG title for the XBOX 360 and has justified the intense anticipation which it has garnered recently.  If you are looking for an innovative and enjoyable RPG on the console platform definitely check out Fable 2.  I hope to review it again when I have completed the game.

Children of Mana is saddled with a tradition of being an action RPG which is always a difficult role to live up to. Action RPGs are, by their very definition, not very “RPGish” and have two distinct conflicting personalities that are nearly impossible to integrate well. CoM does far worse than that though by using an archaic “Legend of Zelda” style of action interface which is cludgy and extremely unrefined. It feels like a cheap afterthought or, more likely, just old code borrowed from some late NES-era game.

The graphics of the non-action portions of the game are amazing but few and far between. The backgrounds are the best I have ever seen on the Nintendo DS and top anything I ever saw on the SNES. But a few amazing backgrounds only go so far. The sprites are okay but don’t mesh fluidly with the background being of a distinctively different quality and style. And the moment that you step foot into a “dungeon” you will get the impression that you have gone into a different game altogether.

RPG and Console RPG fans will be significantly disappointed in this game. The RPG elements are weak approaching non-existant. In fact, calling this game an RPG at all is truly misleading. If anything this is an action game with a strong storyline. The really unfortunate thing is that the action is so poorly executed. There is nothing wrong with an action game with a strong storyline but CoM’s action elements are by far the weakest portion of the game. The action is boring and juvenile.

Overall, unless you are a serious Mana aficionado I would suggest avoiding this title. Children of Mana is not going to live up to your Secret of Mana expectations. One would think that the series would have covered some ground since the early 1990s but apparently it hasn’t.

In the end I gave up on attempting to play CoM.  I found that just by attempting to force myself to work through this game it made me no longer have any driving desire to play the Nintendo DS and it was keeping me from playing games that are much better.

Lunar Legend is a very linear and “standard” jRPG – you will find very little new in this game.  But that isn’t to saw that Lunar Legend isn’t good.  It is, in fact, quite enjoyable.  LL is a great early jRPG for introducing new players to the genres, especially children who will find the games highly linear gameplay but engaging storyline easy to follow and fun.  The character development is good and the interaction between the characters is interesting.  There aren’t any big surprises in the game, no unforeseen twists and turns, but the game is true to form and enjoyable.

Exploration is relatively easy and gameplay takes place in the traditional top-down 2D style reminiscent of the Super Nintendo era of jRPGs.  The game play is not overly involving and is perfect for casual play – as casual as you can be with any RPG family game.  The game is not long and is well suited to younger players who will find the youthful protagonists to be identifiable and the overall quest to not be overbearing.

Overall Lunar Legend is a fun jRPG.  Nothing groundbreaking or new.  This is a classic game from 1993 that has become portable.  The game is fun and well suited to children and fans of the genre looking to play a piece of history that they can carry around with them.

I didn’t grow up with access to the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) so I wasn’t introduced to the Dragon Quest (aka Dragon Warrior) series until later in life when I played the released titles on the Game Boy Color. So Dragon Quest VIII was the first “new” DQ game that I got a chance to play (Dragon Quest IV – VI were not released in North America and Dragon Quest VII is relatively rare.) I was drawn to DQ8 as my starting point on my Playstation 2 odyssey for several reasons.

The Dragon Quest series has long been one of the most popular in Japan where the genre has its home. The genre isn’t known as jRPG for nothing. And even here in the United States DQ8 has received some of the highest accolades for any game on the PS2. The reviews mostly echo the same sentiments: Dragon Quest VIII is the best traditional jRPG ever made – from gameplay to story to graphics to soundtrack to scale this game is well balanced, fun, paced and just “right”. With reviews like this you just have to try it out for yourself. So I did.

Dragon Quest VII and VIII are the first two “stand alone” titles in the Dragon Quest series. The first six games were grouped into two trilogies (Dragon Quest I-III and IV-VI) but these later games do not depend on earlier games in any way which is important because Dragon Quest VII was the only game of the series available on the Playstation and Dragon Quest VIII would appear to be the only one that will ever be available on the Playstation 2. The upcoming Dragon Quest IX is slated to only be released on the Nintendo DS.

Dragon Quest VIII supports old-school “standard definition” televisions but also has a widescreen setting so that it doesn’t look awful on modern monitors. It doesn’t support any advanced resolution settings though but the PS2 only has so much power so we take what we can get. DQ8 goes for the “cell shaded” style of graphics which I really enjoy. Cell shading provides the “living in the cartoon universe” feel that you just can’t get from other techniques. These graphics help to make the game even more engaging because they feel more “authentic” because of their similarity to hand shaded cell animation.

The story of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King begins outside the small rural village of Faebury where you, the Hero, are introduced (in the game) to your traveling companions. The game’s backstory involves a beautiful faery tale castle which is attacked by an evil jester who uses magic to curse the castle and to turn everyone living in it into a plant. The king and the princess manage to avoid the same fate as their subject but are turned into a little green monster (King Trode) and a pure white horse (Princess Medea.) The only subject of the entire kingdom who has avoided the curse entirely is you – a low ranking and young castle guard – but no one can explain why you were spared. Now you alone must track down this evil jester and reverse the curse laid upon your sovereign.

Everything that I had heard about Dragon Quest VIII was totally true – this very well may be the greatest jRPG ever made. There isn’t anything particularly ground breaking in this installment of the classic genre but what it does is it gets everything right. All of the pieces come together for a perfectly balanced game that is just a lot of fun to play and there aren’t any glaring weak spots. Traditionally a game will have lots of good parts and then some parts that are incredibly weak and ruin it for you. But definitely not in DQ8. This game is rock solid from beginning to end.

The game is long too. You can easily rack up ninety hours or more in this involved game world. I really appreciate the games open-ended feeling. You can run around and explore to your heart’s content once you are into the game. The landscape is designed to force you onto certain general paths without making the game feel overly linear but this drops away, for the most part, and eventually you can wander at will over the landscape. The world is big with lots of interesting places to explore and many characters to interact with.

One thing that I really appreciate about the Dragon Quest series is how child friendly it is. Instead of killing lots of monsters you simply “defeat” them and convince them that you aren’t worth attacking anymore. Even the “boss” battles always clearly end with the “boss” being defeated but definitely not dead. Normally a significant victory triggers a conversation with the defeated enemy. This makes for a lighter, happier style of gameplay. There are some dark sections of the game and a few characters will die in movie sequences but not by your hand and the deaths are important parts of the plot and lend drama. While jRPGs have a tendency to be very child friendly in general this title is moreso than the average jRPG.

I also appreciated that DQ8 tends to avoid “stumper” moments – those times in the game when you just have no idea what to do next. Instead there is almost always something useful that you can do to advance the story and move on to the next thing. And losing a big battle and having your entire adventuring party “expire” is not the most dramatic setback ever but is handled in a reasonable and balanced manner that keeps the game from becoming overly frustrating when things get tough. Casual gamers and younger gamers will appreciate these aspects more than the hardcore jRPG set but the overall feel of the game is light and fun. It draws you in and tells you a story. You want to complete the game because you want to uncover more and more about the characters.

One interesting aspect of the game that players can choose to explore or to ignore is the idea of the “alchemy pot.” A short way into the game King Trode introduces this item to the Hero and explains that by mixing different ingredients gathered during the course of the game together in the alchemy pot it is possible to create new items. This adds a level of complexity to the game that can be used casually, focused on heavily or ignored completely adding to the non-linear feel of the game. Throughout the game the player can discover recipes and half-recipes and suggestions for making new items using an alchemy pot. It is a fun twist making the game a little more unique.

The music in DQ8 is phenomenal although any music played over the course of one hundred hours will become monotonous. The soundtrack lends an air of sweeping epic and pastoral comedy. The overarching feel of the environment will almost make you feel like you have stepped into a Studio Ghibli animation like <em>Kiki’s Delivery Service</em>.

One interesting twist that DQ8 provides is a double ending feature.  You can first complete the game having skipped a large portion that includes a significant amount of backstory and does not tie up many of the “loose ends” of the game.  Once you have completed the game in this way you are able to go back and play more – about twelve hours more – to reach the true ending of the game.  This extended portion of the game includes the toughest villains and the most “filling in” of missing plot items.  In order to reach the very end of the game I put in approximately one hundred and twenty hours.

In the end Dragon Quest VIII is nearly flawless and must rank as a cornerstone of the jRPG / Console RPG genre. DQ8 clearly has earned its place on any “must play” list. It has my hardiest recommendation.