Portable Games Roundup

I just wanted to say a few words about some portable games that I haven’t finished but want to talk about.  I’m not sure

Final Fantasy 4 DS

I finished the game back when it was called Final Fantasy 2 and I was playing it on the SNES, but I had absolutely no memories of it when I started up the DS remake.  I’m about 3/4s of the way through the plot and I think I’m suitably impressed with the storytelling.  Yeah, the gameplay very old fashioned and grindy, but the tightly focused linear gameplay is made up for by a strong story with well developed characters.  It even does the Metal Gear Solid thing of using gameplay – specifically the battle engine – in some of its cutscenes.

The World Ends With You

Another fascinating JRPG if only because the combat is an interesting mix of old school JRPG combat and ARPG combat.  Of course, the most interesting part of the game is its setting – an afterlife mirror image of Shibuya.  In a genre that’s mostly defined by fantasy, science fiction or in a pinch science fantasy, it’s just nice to see a roleplaying game set in a contemporary city with contemporary characters and situations.  The Japanese interpretation of death and the afterlife is interesting as well.

Final Fantasy Tactics PSP

The seminal SRPG.  Again, it’s been so long since I’ve played the PS1 original that I have no idea what happens in the game, but the classic “war of the roses” type storyline mixed with some elements of Japanese fantasy makes the storyline interesting to follow.  Like the early Final Fantasy games, it also uses gameplay to tell the story – in fact, most of the game’s story is told through the game engine.  The new voiced and beautifully animated cutscenes also help develop the characters and move the story along.  For whatever reason, the linear tightly focused and novel-like development of the characters and the plot just make the stories in these games very interesting even though in other games I find it mostly disappointing.

Anyway, time to gear up for Fable 2, Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2!