Forget what you learned in history class: Princess Anastasia was a feisty princess that traveled the world defeating monsters, and Rasputin sold his soul to a demon in exchange for magical powers and a sweet fortress. Also, the catastrophic casualties of World War I can be blamed on a secret society that unleashed “malice” upon the world from a building at the Vatican.

Brave Fencer Musashi is a treasure trove of delightful oddities. First, there’s the amusing food obsession with locales such as Grillin’ Village and characters named Princess Fillet and Ginger Elle. Next, there’s the pint-sized hero, Musashi, a pre-teen samurai with a very high opinion of himself. Factor in other odd things, such as collectible action figures and the presence of Vambees (half-vampires, half-zombies), and you have the makings for an interesting ride. Combined with the e...

Bilbo Baggins, as many of us know, is a typical hobbit. He’s portly, laid-back, and perfectly content with never leaving Hobbiton. However, due to his recruitment by a wise wizard and a bunch of dwarves, Bilbo sets out on a quest where he encounters some awkward camera angles, many boring stages, and a final couple levels that hint at what could have been a much better game. So much for the epic journey I expected.

I’ve played Final Fantasy games involving cute “slam dancing” animals, a stupid creature called NORG, and implied man-on-man action in a notorious place called the Honey Bee Inn. What I haven’t experienced is a Final Fantasy game as insanely difficult as the fourth installment. Perhaps the first couple games featured on Final Fantasy Origins were the most challenging, but those PSone incarnations were on a glorious easy setting that made things a breeze. This isn’t the ca...

In some regards, Ico is the antithesis of most macho console games. There’s little in the way of narration aside from a couple cutscenes, but the mysterious plot is one of the most intriguing aspects of Ico. There are no health bars and the simplistic combat often has the young protagonist armed with only a wooden plank. There aren’t any bosses aside from the final enemy, but there is plenty of hand-holding and puzzles. All of these things come together to form a unique and memorable ...

A boy on a quest, an attractive love interest, and a world in peril certainly aren’t original RPG themes, but Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete contains all these clichés. Originally for the Sega CD, and later making appearances on the Gameboy Advance and Sega Saturn, this dated game shines on the PSone for a variety of reasons despite the lack of any real innovation. Honestly though, can you expect anything other than old-school goodness from a classic originally released back in 1992?...

People are always complaining about the lack of originality in videogames. Playing what is essentially the same game over and over again seems almost impossible to avoid considering how few unique titles there truly are. Legend of Mana takes some stabs at originality, but the original features are what makes this game far less enjoyable than it’s predecessor, Secret of Mana. Who says creativity is always a good thing?

No, this game does not span multiple discs. No, the graphics aren’t 3-D. Ok, ok, the box art is horrible. And yes, I’m not exactly sure how to pronounce the name either. However, none of those things mean that Suikoden is a bad game. Suikoden is actually a delightful little gem that never exactly reached a wide audience. Hidden beneath the horrible box art and crude graphics is an admirable RPG with plenty of heart and emotion, not to mention enough characters to sink a battleship...

A few years ago, I was one of the many people who assumed Silent Hill was just going to be another Resident Evil. Turns out I was wrong, and Silent Hill actually turned out be a truly scary game with an original storyline. Sure, the storyline was confusing as hell (pun intended), but the atmosphere is where the game shined despite some spotty graphics and “collect the keys” gameplay. With Silent Hill 2, the graphics have been upgraded, the storyline is coherent, th...

After playing so many role playing games, they start to become more and more similar. That’s not to say that they’re bad, it’s just that so many follow the same formula and use similar conventions, so things become stale at times. Once in a while a game offers original gameplay only to be crippled by a substandard plot, or vice versa. Surprisingly enough, Valkyrie Profile is one of the most entirely original RPGs I’ve had the pleasure of playing in a long time.