great soundtrack – Page 9

Happy about: Psychonauts 2

01/02/2022 01/02/2022

Ah yes, Psychonauts 2. The game that no one expected to happen, but many hoped. Psychonauts, the very first project of Double Fine as a studio (even though a lot of its talent had prior industry experience), was a game released in 2005 and despite positive reception it was a big commercial failure. Yet, as years went by, more and more people came to love and praise it so when the studio was able to purchase back the rights for the game, the first rumors of a potential sequel started circulating. But it wasn’t until 2015, when the crowdfunding for the project was announced. And after 6 years, with a VR-only mid-equel Rhombus of Ruin released released in 2017, the game was released.

Was it worth the wait? Well, only if you’ve been among those who’ve waited.

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O tempora: Syberia I & II

23/01/2022 24/01/2025

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Twenty years ago in 2002 when Syberia was released, the point and click adventures were on a decline. It wasn’t like the genre didn’t have any recent fantastic examples, The Longest Journey being from a few years before. But otherwise, it felt as if nobody really knew at the time what to do with the genre and how to approach it. And to be absolutely frank, Syberia itself oftentimes felt like it didn’t really know how to approach the genre either, yet it so elegantly stumbled through its beautiful locations with its wonderful magic realist story that it pretty soon became a critical darling at least in some circles. And also started a short, but pretty decent run of adventure titles made by Microïds that ended around the time of the Sinking Island.

While I have played both Syberia and its sequel when they were new, and did enjoy them (the original more than the second game), I haven’t replayed them ever since until now.

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O tempora: Final Fantasy IV (Pixel Remaster)

13/01/2022 13/01/2022

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Final Fantasy IV has not been the first Final Fantasy I played. But it is the only title in the franchise so far that I’ve played more than twice. In fact, this Pixel Remaster playthrough has been the… fourth playthrough, I believe. As I’ve previously played through the original “Final Fantasy II” release, the unofficial translation of FFIV, the Final Fantasy Chronicles release on PS1 and the Final Fantasy IV Advance version on the GBA. I’ve also attempted to play the 3D remake for DS, but extremely disliked the visual style and changes to the game. Hence, why I was so excited about the Pixel Remaster version coming – hopefully the “ultimate” remaster of the original version of the game, available for generations to come. And this version is pretty much exactly that.

In love with: Exo One

07/01/2022 07/01/2022

I remember seeing the Kickstarter for Exo One back in 2017 and being confused and inspired at the same time. On one hand, an idea about an exploration game where you use a spaceship marble to explore planets sounded extremely fun. On another – very limited and hard to imagine past the concept stage. Four years later Exo One is finally here to disprove my doubts. I mean, sure, it is still quite limited in potential. But what it does is still far more than I could ever expect.

O tempora: Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster)

18/12/2021 18/12/2021

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Of the three NES Final Fantasy titles that I tried playing years ago, FF3 was the one that get me hooked. I still dropped it at around a quarter of the story in, but I was planning to return someday. I even gave the 3D Remake version of the game a chance, even though I really disliked the style and approach to those DS Remakes. But it wasn’t until now that I’ve finally finished Final Fantasy III. And I really liked it.

O tempora: Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster)

29/11/2021 29/11/2021

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

While my attempts to play the original Final Fantasy usually failed because of how hard and outdated it was, while also having a really simple story, Final Fantasy II in addition to the difficulty and chunkiness was also really weird. All of my attempts quickly hit a wall and every time I’ve tried to check on some guides to help me start, I’d read about some bizarre but seemingly necessary tricks where you’d grind for a few hours by hitting your own party members. With the Pixel Remaster version I was finally able to give the game a proper look and appreciate what it tried to be. Even though it still has some questionable decisions.

O tempora: Castlevania Advance Collection

17/11/2021 23/08/2024

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

Well, this was unexpected. After spending years locked to Game Boy Advance, a console that most people nowadays probably don’t have or use anymore, Konami has decided to release the Castlevania entries made for that console for modern platforms and most importantly PC. Oh and the SNES port of Rondo of Blood as well, for some reason. Unfortunately, this isn’t some extremely complicated NightDive Studios remaster or what Square Enix did with the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection. This is just a collection of original game ROMs, wrapped in a nice emulation package with a few extras thrown in. Luckily, it’s a well made collection and playing these titles is a joy.

O tempora: Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster)

12/11/2021 12/11/2021

O tempora is a series of retrospective posts where I play games from ages before to see if they stood the test of time.

How many times have I tried to play the original Final Fantasy… I’ve tried the original NES game, the Final Fantasy Origins version on PS1, Dawn of Souls on GBA… But I’ve never actually finished it until the Pixel Remaster release. It’s strange to finally play the very first game in such a huge and influential franchise to completion. And it’s especially strange to realize that despite being so quaint by modern standards, even with so many improvements Pixel Remaster version brings, there’s still a place for a title like this.

Happy about: GRIS

24/10/2021 24/10/2021

GRIS is a wonderful example of when a game doesn’t do anything extraordinary or anything new, yet what it does it does really well. It looked so “seen it all before” in trailers and bits of gameplay, that I didn’t consider playing it myself. And now that I have played, it’s not like my expectations were completely off. Yet, I enjoyed this game quite a lot.

Happy about: NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…

12/10/2021 12/10/2021

I’ve tried playing NieR (Gestalt) when it first came out years ago, but just like it happened with Drakengard even earlier, I got bored with the game. So it wasn’t until slightly later that I’ve learned about how inventive the storytelling in NieR becomes, how the game twists your perceptions with the second playthrough and just how intentional a lot of the boredom I’ve felt was. Years later, NieR: Automata came out and was absolutely fantastic, doing a lot of the same concepts, but in a much more fun way. And given its success, I expected that it was only a matter of time NieR will get a modern re-release. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139… turned out to be much more than a simple re-release.