Eight old games I'm going to play (and hopefully finish) in 2018

I don't often set goals for myself regarding how many games I want to play or even "beat" in a given year, but I'm making an exception in 2018 in the hopes it'll push me to dillydally a bit less than I did in 2017.

The thing is, all but one of the titles listed below are RPGs, which means I'm unlikely to finish all of them even if I do somehow manage to start them by the end of the year. As such, let's just say I'll give it my best shot, OK?

At any rate, here are eight "old" games I'm planning to play (and hopefully) finish between now and Dec. 31, 2018.

Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon (Wonderswan)--Between March and July of last year, I published seven "Welcome to WonderSwan World" posts. I've published zero since. To get back into the swing of things, I'd like to play a WonderSwan game that doesn't tax my brain too much. I'm not entirely sure this Chocobo no Fushigi na Dungeon port fits that bill, but I'm willing to give it a go anyway. No matter what, it should prove to be less of a challenge than the WonderSwan versions of Makai Toushi SaGa (the first Final Fantasy Legend in North America) and Romancing SaGa.



Fragile Dreams (Wii)--This is yet another of those games I've meant to start for eons but have yet to get around to for all sorts of reasons. Granted, I was Wii-less for most of 2017, and that put a real damper on any plans I may have had for this intriguing, post-apocalyptic RPG. And then when I was reunited with my Wii, I used it to play Opoona and Tabemon rather than Fragile Dreams. Well, I doubt I'll ever finish Opoona, and Tabemon is the kind of game you put an hour or so into now and then when you crave something light and frivolous, so my Wii's disc slot should be free to accept a replacement.

Last Window (DS)--I wasn't sure what to expect when I started my way through Hotel Dusk back in the summer of 2015. After just a few hours with it, though, I was smitten. Combined, its atmosphere, characters, soundtrack, and aesthetic add up to something akin to perfection if, like me, you enjoy a good whodunit. I desperately wanted to gobble up its sequel the second I was finished with Hotel Dusk, of course, but I moved on to another game instead and have yet to return to my European copy of Last Window. Maybe I'll stick its cart into my 3DS as soon as I wrap up my Miitopia playthrough.

Mother 3 (GameBoy Advance)--In 2014, I finished EarthBound for the very first time. In 2017, I finished that game's predecessor, Mother, for the first time. Given that, I shouldn't be expected to finish Mother 3 until 2020. I don't want to wait that long, though, so I'm going to do my best to fit it into 2018. To be perfectly honest, I'd prefer to play the game in English, so I'm desperately hoping Nintendo finally sees fit to release a localized version of Mother 3 via the Switch eShop sometime soon. If not, I guess I'll have to break down and tackle the Japanese cart I've owned for a good while now.



Sekai wa Atashi de Mawatteru: Hikari to Yami no Princess (PSP)--If Sekai wa Atashi de Mawatteru doesn't ring a bell, maybe My World, My Way does? Hikari to Yami no Princess basically is an updated version of that Atlus-published (outside of Japan) DS RPG that puts you in the shoes of a pouty, landscape-altering princess. I'm always up for giving my PSP some love, and I thoroughly enjoyed the 10 or so hours I put into My World, My Way a couple of years ago, so I figure checking out my Hikari to Yami no Princess UMD over the next few months may well wind up being the best of both worlds.

Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS)--OK, so this isn't really an "old" game, but it seems like I've owned (and ignored) it for ages now, so for me it deserves to be included here. If I'm to be honest, I'd say the main reason I've dragged my feet on playing Shin Megami Tensei IV for so long is that all of the online chatter about the game being a bit of a nightmare has me spooked. Still, I spent good money to buy the damn thing, so I'm going to play it even if it kills me. On a semi-related note: I also want to boot up my long-overlooked copy of Bravely Second at some point in 2018.



Suikoden (PlayStation)--Konami's Suikoden series has never really been on my radar. To be frank, the visuals of its PS one releases, especially, never appealed to me, and that's basically prompted me to steer clear of them. At least, that was the case before social-media mutterings and PSN sales collided and convinced me to pick up digital copies of Suikoden I and II via my beloved Vita. I've read that Suikoden II is the better of the two games, but it just seems wrong to me to begin a series with its second offering, so I'm going to start with the original.

Super Mario RPG (SNES)--Can you believe I've never played this one? Hell, I can't believe it myself. And I can't even tell you why I've never played it. I recall being excited about it when it was announced, but I have no memory of why I failed to buy it after it hit store shelves. Maybe it was too expensive? Or maybe a bunch of other appealing SNES games came out around the same time and I forgot about it once I was done with them? Whatever the case may be, I really--and finally--want to experience what Super Mario RPG has to offer before 2019 arrives.

Are there any old games you want to put at least some time into by the end of this year? If so, share their names, and why you want to play them, in the comments section of this post.

Help me blow my hard-earned cash on some un-translated Japanese PSP RPGs

I've now published two posts about the PSP in two days--what's the world coming to, right?

Actually, the fact is that I've had Sony's first PlayStation Portable on the brain since Jess, the proprietor of the Kiblitzing blog, bought and sent me this sparkly purple PSP-3000 system a couple of months ago.

Combine my renewed interest in this console--and its surprisingly fabulous games catalog--with my renewed interest in learning the Japanese language (yes, I'm back to that, and having a better time of it than my last go-round), and you've got the makings of a full-blown PSP obsession.

Specifically, I'm more than a bit obsessed with the idea of playing through a few Japanese PSP RPGs sometime soon. Oh, I don't yet know enough of the language to understand even 20 percent of what's sure to be thrown at me when I play these games, but I should be able to translate a good portion of the menu tabs, weapons, armor, items and magic spells that pop up--along with a few other words and phrases, I hope--and that's good enough for me at the moment.

Given all of the above, I thought I'd ask all of you if you know of any un-translated Japanese PSP RPGs I may enjoy playing.

Three such games that I'm already giving serious thought to picking up as soon as possible are:

Antiphona no Seikahime--This Nippon Ichi-made game is some sort of spin-off of the company's Marl Kingdom titles. I'm not sure why that matters to me, actually, as I haven't played any of that series' entries (although I've owned the related La Pucelle Tactics for years). I guess it has something to do with the fact that I like the aesthetics in these releases. At any rate, this one's definitely on my radar right now.

Sekai wa Atashi de Mawatteru: Hikari to Yami no Princess--If you've been coming to this blog for at least a few weeks, you've likely heard of this game's DS-based counterpart, which made it to North America as My World, My Way. Hikari to Yami no Princess is more than a simple up-port of that title, by the way, as it throws a second selectable protagonist into the mix (a dark version of the original's spoiled princess), among other additions.

Tengai Makyou: The Apocalypse IV--Speaking of ports, this is a port of a game that initially was developed for the Sega Saturn. If you've never heard of it, this is supposed to be a really wacky RPG that's set in a wildly skewed version of the United States. Also, it's a sequel to two other Japanese RPGs--Tengai Makyou: Ziria and Tengai Makyou: Manji Maru--that have intrigued me since I was a kid.

I'm also curious about a game called Ore no Dungeon that was made by Climax Entertainment (of Shining in the Darkness and Shining Force fame) and published by Sega.

With all of that out of the way, please feel free to let me know (in the comments section below) about any other Japanese PSP RPGs you think might trip my trigger.

#ADecadeofDS: My World, My Way

Amount of time devoted to this game in the last week--Six hours, 44 minutes.

Most recent boss toppled, location reached or milestone achieved--In order: I defeated the Succubus Queen that laid in wait at the bottom of the straightforwardly titled Succubus Field Dungeon, after which I sashayed into Bonfire Town and fulfilled its mayor's inane quests (I put up with them because they netted me the Merchant's License I was so desperately seeking at the time) before moving on to the Underground Farm Dungeon, where I mowed down all of its creepy comers.

Overall comments on the experience--As I mentioned in my very last post, this Atlus-published DS RPG (it was developed by a company called Global A) shows right from the start that it's going to do things a bit differently by focusing its story on a princess who's basically a spoiled brat. She's also pretty darn stubborn, a character trait that's put on display nearly from the get-go when Elise (the afore-mentioned princess) decides to exchange her beautiful tresses and her comely dresses for the more practical and utilitarian wares of an adventurer--all so she can attract the attention of a mysterious and not easily impressed stud.

As you can probably imagine, it's a nice change of pace from the tried-and-true, straight-faced fare that serves as the backbone of your typical Japanese RPG, and it certainly put me in the mood to tackle its pastel-hued adventure.

Has it lived up to all of that early-game hype? In many ways, yes, as I've come to absolutely adore its puerile protagonist and its silly story. I'm nearly as fond of the couple of unique contributions it offers to the RPG genre, with the main ones being its much-ballyhooed "pout system"--which allows Elise to alter the landscape that surrounds her as well as attract additional enemies to an area and more--and its weird, board game-esque overworld.

That last component is kind of off-putting at first, I have to admit, but after a while it feels something akin to refreshing. After all, if you're anything like me, shuffling back and forth across an RPG's seemingly endless map screen is thrilling at first but quickly loses its luster, and this alternative--every area is made up of anywhere from 12 to maybe 30 squares, and players can traverse each one in a single step--is a lot more streamlined.

Aside from all of the above, the only other aspects of My World, My Way that are worth mentioning are its battles, which are decidedly mundane but not altogether boring thanks to their zippy nature, and its soundtrack, which is banal to the point of being completely forgettable.

Will I continue to play this game in the coming days, weeks and maybe even months?--Absolutely. Actually, I plan to complete it--assuming it doesn't overstay its welcome by taking up more than, say, 20 or 25 hours of my time.

Do I recommend it to others?--Yes, but not without a few reservations or words of warning. After all, as thoroughly as I've enjoyed playing My World, My Way so far, I still get the distinct impression that many gamers will be bored silly by it. Yes, the writing often is silly (in a good way), and the much-touted "pout system" is unquestionably unique, the remaining components of this portable RPG are far less riveting. In fact, some are sure to find its graphics to be downright ugly and its Dragon Quest-esque battles to be snooze-worthy. Both of these aspects ended up growing on me mightily over the course of my multi-hour playthrough, though, so maybe the same will be true for other folks (especially those with fairly open minds), too?

Next up--Nothing, as I'd really like to play My World, My Way for one more week before moving on to another DS game.

See also: previous 'A Decade of DS' posts