Eternal Poison - PS2

Another one of Atlus's RPG's for 2009. It's rare to be playing PS2 games in 2009, but I still find it entertaining. The cover dissuaded me from picking this one up because it seem like the kind of game that guys with Lolita fetishes would buy. I ended up trying it out anyway with some reserve. They bundled it with a soundtrack, but I got it used at the Game Stop and unfortunately I didn't get the CD along with the game.

The game starts with a young sorceress, the one dressed in gothic attire on the cover, Thage and her wolf companion Raki. They are Majin (magical creatures I suppose) and they are seeking the power of the "Eternal Poison" to either resurrect the legendary princess or destroy the world. Early in their travels they take up a young boy that got lost along the way named Retica. He is a half-breed between Majin and Human, so like many stories, he is conflicted between good and evil. They both battle monsters and unravel a story that intertwines with the other major characters.

So here's the deal-breaker for this game: you have to play all five story-lines to get the true ending. I hate games like this. I actually was able to complete the Thage story in about ten hours, but do I really want to go through it again? four more times? I will have to make that choice soon. This game reminds me of Saga Frontier, where you have to complete all seven quests. And yes, I did complete it all but I had a lot more time when I was a student.

Dragon Quest 4: Chapters of the Chosen - NDS

I began playing this game to ween myself away from Civilization again. It seems like every time I reinstall a new computer I install Civ. 4 and try to give it another go. It's an addiction, or perhaps it's just delusions of grandeur - we all want to rule the world.

But back to Dragon Quest 4. This is probably my favorite Dragon quest game. The idea of putting the main character four chapters later into the game was novel at the time. We spend like ten hours playing through four quests and we haven't invested any time in the main character yet. It was a breakaway from the first three Dragonquests, especially as it no longer talked about Edward. Playing it again after 17 years (it came out in 1992), I find it remarkable that I remember so much about it. I still love the Taloon quest, and so did many other fans because Taloon created some franchises out for himself in Japan. I am amazed at how smooth it runs on the NDS, nothing is lost, but a lot is gained. The game will not live up to the action packed RPG's of today, but it's definitely for nostalgia's sake. People who played this one before, will love it. The music would literally time warp you back to the time you played this on your NES.

I spent about six hours on it and got through the first three chapters. Now I'm playing the fourth chapter with Meena and Maya. It's a matter of time before I get to the end of that one. There seems to be a relative ease on game settings, because I'm able to get through them with relative ease. Hopefully I don't lose my edge in the coming dungeons.