Monday, 25 June 2012

PlayStation... The First Place...


On friday, voni took us on a journey through her personal favourite Playstation (PSX) games from when she was younger, and after looking at her list and thinking about my own, I realised we do not share a single title, so here, for you amusement and mockery are my personal favourite Psx games.

Note, I now own, and have played every single on of these games on another medium, mostly PC but I played them first on the Psx.

Final fantasy 7/8



I'm a big fan of the final fantasy series, but as I have talked about final fantasy 7 before, I’m going to touch on final fantasy 8 this time.

Final fantasy 8 holds almost as sweet a place in my heart as final fantasy 7, true it is let down slightly by the fact that it is considerably easier, and once you know how to use its junction system collectedly, there is no challenge to it what so ever.

It makes up for this shortfall with a great story line, and what is in my opinion the best love story ever told.

Abe's odyssey.



The first game of the Oddworld series, it has a brutal learning curve and is difficult to even complete, let alone save all the Mudokon. Its also one of my all time favourite games.

It has a compelling storyline fantastic, cut scenes and a wicked sense of humour. Its also great fun once of you get the hang of it, and the first time I finished it having saved everyone stands as one of my greatest moments in gaming.

Medievil.



Probably the worse game in this list, it is however one of my favourite games.

The game play has significant flaws, the camera is uncontrollably annoying most of the time and its voice acting leaves a lot to be desired.

What it has in spades however is charm, the main character is a dead knight who died in the first charge of a great battle, but somehow got remembered as a great hero, and after being brought back from the dead the whole game is his quest to prove himself a true hero before going back to the grave.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night



Probably the greatest castlevainia game, and undoubtedly every one since it has been trying to recreate its magic.

In this game you play as Alucard, the son of Dracula in a quest to kill his father and save the world.

Its game play is some of the best on the console, its story manages to throw you for a loop and its RPG style progression was one of, if not the first time levelling up had been used in an action game.

If you have never played it I highly recommend it, it has a HD remake available so you have no excuse.

Metal Gear Solid



Not just a stealth game, THE stealth game. Metal gear solid is a classic example of a diamond in the rough, the metal gear games on the NES and SNES are truly terrible, metal gear solid 2, while a good game started the series on a road that lead to the insanity that was the story line of metal gear solid 4.

But Metal gear solid is a great game, with a story that makes sense, game play that is satisfying and some game mechanics I had never seen before, having a vital bit of in game information printed on the game box, having to plug the controller into the second controller port to beat a boss and I'll never forget the fight against Psycho Mantis when he read my memory card and said “You like Castlevania, don't you?”

Legacy of Kain – Soul Reaver.



A sequel to the original legacy of Kain: blood omen, although I did not know it when I played it for the first time. Soul Reaver is a great example of a action-adventure game. Its story is confusing but good and you will need to play this, and 3 other games to get the full story.

What made Soul Reaver stand out in my mind, apart from the fact you play a soul vampire missing his bottom jaw and on a quest to murder his old vampire clan, was the gameplay mechanic that allows you to switch between the material and spirit world, changing the layout of the levels. A mechanic I have seen many times since, but I had never seen it before.

Soul Reaver also has great gameplay and a combat system that I can't really fault. Its not easy to get hold of now, but if you can, I highly recommend it.  


No comments: