My history with Chrono Trigger is so strange. I first played it when it released on DS and I enjoyed it quite a bit. But after I finished all the sidequests at the end, just before you go to fight Lavos, I started doing the new DS-exclusive sidequests. I got so bored that I couldn't bring myself to play the game anymore and before I knew it, so much time had passed that it just wasn't worth me finishing it. Years later, I finally beat Final Fantasy VI and that got me really wanting to give Chrono Trigger another try. So, I started it up and had a wonderful time up until it came time to do the pre-Lavos sidequests. At that point, I guess I was burnt out on SNES RPGs and I ended up not finishing it AGAIN. This month, I finally played it from beginning to end out of a sense of duty. I even went back right after and got the Development Room ending! The game is obviously very good and I feel like if it wasn't for those first two failed attempts at beating it, it would have probably ended up becoming one of my all time favorite games.

Yeah, I should really get back into Grandia. Last thing I need is another Chrono Trigger situation!

I demand that your friend give DQV another chance! It's a masterpiece! The only Dragon Quest games I haven't finished are... 2, 3, 6, 7, and 9 (not counting 10). So like half the series! I put at least a couple hours into all of them over the years though. I'm probably most looking forward to playing VI sometime.

My Lunar boxes are the pride and joy of my gaming shelf! Maybe I should look into getting some of those Working Designs boxes. They can't be too expensive, considering the absurd price I paid for the Collector's Editions of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and Octopath Traveler, two games I didn't even end up liking.

Coincidentally, the last thing I did in Skies of Arcadia was leave Valua and return to the Pirate Isle! Now I wanna get back into it! And I see you're playing yet another game I'm interested in: Baten Kaitos. Both Eternal Wings and Origins have been taunting me from my game shelf for the past couple of years.

I beat Halo 2 on the Microsoft XBOX this evening!

The first game I ever beat for the XBOX when I got it was the original Halo. It was only fitting that the first game I would play is the defining game of the system. I enjoyed though I wasn't too overwhelmed by the game. A few years later and after playing several more XBOX games, I figured it was time to play sequel. I was always curious about the game even though I'd never play it on XBOX live as those servers are long dead. While at my favorite retro game shop, I noticed a Collector's Edition of Halo 2 and decided to pick it up. After sitting on my shelf for a while, I then decided that this would be the year to finish my Halo games. Let's see how the series ends on the original console.

Halo 2 doesn't really deviate from the formula of the first game. You are still mostly walking through small corridors. Eventually, you reach a large room and you fight a bunch of enemies. You then continue walking and the process repeats itself. Every now and then, you'll get some vehicles to control and shoot while some air planes as well. It's fun and plays well for the 10 - 12 hours it took me to beat the game. Nothing ground breaking again, but its pretty much the same Halo game. I do have to say that I was getting caught up in the story. I really liked the characters and I was growing attached to the human characters.

Halo 2's biggest deviation is the fact that you can play as some of the Aliens. This was interesting until you started fighting other aliens. I could never tell my team apart from my enemy and I was shooting my teammates the entire time. Also, they carry you throughout some of the game including the final boss where I maybe landed two hits on him. Also, after playing many FPS games by now, the Halo enemies are either giant sponges or your weapons are terrible. You charge at an enemy and almost have to load an entire clip to get through his shield and then eventually kill him. Considering you only carry two weapons and they don't have many bullets, you are constantly looking for ammo and just wish for them to die.

Overall, I was fairly indifferent to Halo 2. It never really left that much of an impression. The normal game play was much of the same, which is still enjoyable. But, the faults in the game seemed to shine brighter. I enjoyed the first one more, but it's still a fun game. If you liked the first one, the sequel should still be played.

I took a bit of a break from Grandia. I love the game, but man, do some of the areas draaaaaag. It doesn't help that spells take so long to cast... But yeah, I'm still enjoying it nonetheless, so I hope to get back into it soon. Still really looking forward to Grandia II after!

I've been hearing lots of great stuff regarding the Trials of Mana remake, so my desire to play the original is getting pretty strong. I have the Collection on Switch, but there's so many games I wanna play, I don't know when I'll ever get around to it. The Xenoblade remaster is coming out too and I know that's a really well-loved game, so I'm probably gonna end up owning that as well.

Whoever said bad things about DQV is... a pitiable, misguided person. That game is so incredible. I used to tie it with VIII as my favorite game in the series up until XI came along and inched its way up to my number one spot.

Your post on the Arc the Lad Collection got me even more interested in trying it out! Too bad I won't have the box with the extras, since I'll just end up getting it on PSN. I got really lucky with the Lunar series, since I bought a copy from GameStop's website for fairly cheap, expecting to just get the discs in a generic CD case. Instead, I got the original case, the "Making Of" disc, the hardcover manual/art book, and the cloth map. I was so surprised, since I didn't even know about that stuff! Then I ended up loving the game, so it was like fate! Then last year, I just happened to stumble upon the (almost) complete-in-box Lunar 2 just sitting there in the window of this retro game store in the mall. It included everything except the pendant. So now I'm swimming in Lunar collectibles!

Nice Skies of Arcadia theme! Now THAT is a game I need to seriously play. I played a few hours, but I guess I wasn't in the right environment to enjoy it at the time, so I kinda dropped it.

I beat Arc The Lad Collection on the Sony Playstation this afternoon!

When I first go my Playstation 2, I created a list of RPGs & SRPGs that I wanted to play for the PS1 & PS2. The first couple of years of owning the system, I slowly made my way through them while picking up other genres along the way. Eventually, I had hit off all of the games I wanted to play and I was moving on towards other genres. Imagine my surprise when I found out about another SRPG that I missed. Over at Racketboy, they have the best Retro Game Forums and I found out about the Arc The Lad Collection. After some further research, I realized this was a series of games that I overlooked. While walking around a game convention, I found a near flawless copy and I decided to jump into this massive undertaking. After a few months of playing, I finally finished all of the games in the collection.

In Arc the Lad Collection, you have Arc the Lad I, II & III. Arc I is basically a prologue that leads into Arc II. Arc III continues the story from Arc II with a different graphics engine. The graphics in Arc II though are absolutely stunning. The game is in 2D and the sprite work is just beautiful. Arc III changed into a somewhat 3D look and it lost some of the unique aesthetic. What carries throughout all of the games is the fantastic battle system. They are all SRPG's with an emphasis more on the RPG aspect. The battles are fast and quick with most of them being over in a few minutes. There is not a ton of complexity like you would find in the Disgaea series, so it's that perfect blend of lightweight but still enough to make you think. Also, I like all of the games tie into each other via the story. All of the characters from Arc I show up in Arc II as playable characters. Also, the characters from Arc II make cameos in Arc III as well. It's all one big world and the games happen sequentially, so it's a nice touch to bring the characters back.

Overall, I really enjoyed Arc the Lad Collection. My biggest complaint would be that everything takes way too long. Some of the dialogue in Arc II & Arc III go on forever. The humor isn't funny when you have to hear it several times. Also, the leveling curve in Arc II is rather steep, so expect some grinding especially for the final boss which takes hours to beat. Besides those, it was fun to go through a series of SRPG's that I had forgotten. If you love the genre, these should not be missed!

I always love a battle system where I’m not just mashing the A button repeatedly. I just wish they added the option to skip or speed up spell animations in the HD version, then it’d be perfect! I’m looking forward to Grandia II’s short length. It looks like it’s about 20 hours shorter the first game and I always appreciate a shorter RPG since my backlog is so big. What i’m not looking forward to is the shift in art style. It’s not bad or anything, but the first game’s character art is so colorful, cheerful, and just the perfect amount of cartoony, while the sequel looks so… bland in comparison.

I think at this point, I’d probably try out Trials of Mana (the original) before playing Secret of Mana again and hope that one clicks for me. I think I heard the gameplay is slightly different, like you don’t have to wait for the meter to charge before attacking? But yeah, SoM is definitely hard at times, especially the bosses. I think I had to make a save state on the SNES Classic before the wall boss because I kept dying so many times.

Surely you haven’t heard bad things about DQV! That’s one of the most universally beloved games in the series and for good reason! The less you know, the better, since the story is so good with so many surprising moments.

My enjoyment of strategy games varies from game to game. I like classic Fire Emblem and I enjoyed SMT Devil Survivor and the demo for the Langrisser remake, but I simply can’t get into Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics. At the very least, Arc the Lad is dirt cheap on PSN, so it won’t hurt me to try it out. It has a Working Designs translation, right? That alone makes the Lunar fan in me wanna play it!

I'm finally actively playing Grandia and I'm enjoying it a LOT. The battle system is great and it's super addicting trying to level up all of my different weapon and magic types. It's so rewarding every time I learn a new spell or ability! I hear Grandia II is even better gameplay-wise, so I look forward to that once I'm done with the first game.

Once again, my Secret of Mana playthrough got pushed back. It's one of those games that I enjoy while I'm playing it, but I find it hard to get back into. I guess there's just too many other games I'd rather play. I'm sure I'll actually beat it one day though.

Lunar has been remade so many times, it's ridiculous. Some people swear by the SEGA CD version, while others love the PS1 version (which is what I played). Then there's a watered down GBA version (Lunar Legend) by Ubisoft that I kinda wanna play only because I like the spritework. Finally, there's Silver Star Harmony for PSP, which Working Designs had nothing to do with it, so I figure the majority of the original's charm is absent. It looks kind of great nonetheless. I definitely wanna try it out sometime, since it's downloadable on Vita! But first, I've gotta stop being lazy and finish Eternal Blue!

Yes, Dragon Quest IV is fantastic! Such an underrated game. IV and V were both incredible, so I look forward to eventually finishing the trilogy and playing VI.

By the way, how are you enjoying the Arc the Lad games? I've never played them myself, but I've been interested in them for a while.