The Halo series is a huge part of the current gaming culture. While you may find gamers who haven’t touched it, you would be hard-pressed to find one who hadn’t even heard of it. As the game that single-handedly established Microsoft in the gaming world, Halo was very important in directing current trends and exposing tactics of certain companies. Halo’s past is riddled with cheap (though unsurprising) tactics, disappointment and endless delays. It also harbors monsterous release numbers and one of the strongest fan-followings of any game.

When the first Halo title was announced back in the summer of ‘99, the game was set for release for both Windows and Mac OS. The game was an immediate hit amongst journalists who had had a chance to preview game earlier in the year at E3. Halo was seen as the title to bring gaming to the Mac in a way that it had not seen previously. It was only a year later, though, that the hopes of this killer Mac title were destroyed when Microsoft announced that it had purchased Bungie Studios (developers of the Halo series) and would make the game a Microsoft exclusive. As if this wasn’t enough of a blow, the game would no longer be initially released on PC, but on Microsoft’s new game console, the Xbox. This transfer of platform severly changed the development of Halo and when Bungie rewrote the engine, it changed from a 3rd Person title to a First Person Shooter. While the end product was considered inferior to the game displayed that first year, it still found success and aclaim as a console title. The control scheme and many of the methods of gameplay used in the Xbox version of Halo became mainstay parts of console FPS titles for years to come.

I give the history of the original title for a reason. Halo has one of the more interesting pasts for a game series and it shows in the games themselves. While original title felt almost incomplete on Xbox and the second felt stunted, both titles, for as flawed as they were, hold a special place in many gamers hearts. That place could be one of absolute love or utter hate, but no matter what it is, Halo is known to everyone. It is with this and on the back of the biggest game release in history (Halo 2) that Halo 3 will make its appearance.

The second title, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (what the fuck is with these titles?) is going to appear on the PSP. Birth of Sleep will be a prequel to the series, occurring before the events of Kingdom Hearts and will center around earlier Keyblade masters; namely Xehanort. Fans of the series will know Xehanort as the fake Ansem who was the main villain (at least his alternate forms were) in both PS2 games.

The third and final game, Kingdom Hearts: Coded is going to be on the mobile platform. There’s not as much info about this title as there are the first two, but from what is known it seems to take place parallel to the PS2 games. It will feature Sora as the main character and be a basic dungeon crawler.

While I’m a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, I’m not really too excited two more hand-held titles for the series (don’t expect Coded to ever be released here). Though I’m interested in playing 358/2 Days, I really want to find out the history of Xehanort, but of course it’s on the hand-held I don’t have. The chances of me picking up a PSP in the future, even with some titles I want to play, is very slim. If they did something like the Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix + release with the two titles included in Kingdom Hearts III, that would make me very happy. Of course, there’s no guarentee that the game would come out in America should they do that.

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can move on to other things. Like stories. More importantly, video game stories.

I’ve always been a big fan of a good storyline. I feel most games can benefit from a well-thought-out storyline (barring certain genres like sports that don’t really require it). It seems, though, that the tales the current games weave are becoming increasingly unoriginal. Sure, they may use different names or settings, but you can only tell the same story so many times before it becomes old.

One series that has been my beacon for good storytelling has been Final Fantasy. Since I started playing the series many years ago, I had always been enthralled with the complex tales that seemed to go on forever. Unfortunately, even Final Fantasy has been slipping in this regard. With the release of X-2 and XII, the story department has been lacking. Whether it be a completely ridiculous sequel or simply the lack of any real overlying plot, Final Fantasy has been losing ground. Instead, it has been the Indie titles that have impressed me. Games like Pyschonauts and Indigo Prophecy show that original and interesting storytelling is still available, you just have to find them. There are more mainstream titles that feature some quality storytelling, such as Bioshock, but those are becoming rare. I’m just hoping that Final Fantasy XIII will be better.

MUSIC

Kenichiro Fukui – Warning Einhänder Original Soundtrack

Norihiko Hibino – hope and courage Elvandia Story Original Soundtrack

Silicon Knights – Black Rose Eternal Darkness ~ Sanity’s Requiem Sound Track

I am a fan of System Shock 2. A very big fan. Since I am a fan, I was more than excited when Bioshock was announced. I waited, almost patiently, for the release of what could be the greatest FPS RPG title released since SS2. Upon release, however, as impressed as I was by the game, I couldn’t help but feel as though I was just playing SS2 with a new theme. It was almost as if they had re-skinned the original game, slapped a new prefix to “Shock” and dumbed down the difficulty. I could go on about it but I feel that Zero Punctuation said it perfectly in the following video:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/65xKfBBopK4oGkyot" height="322" width="400" /]

On another note, I want to talk about RPGs. More specifically, Japanese RPGs. Yes, I know, it’s a touchy subject. JRPGs is like the Euro Metal of the gaming world. Everyone had probably played one or two, but only the nerdiest of the nerdy (myself included) really enjoy them on higher level. So if you are not a fan of them, I would say skip on down the post. Anyway, my issue is with the evolving battle systems in the games. More and more are JRPGs going to a real-time battle system and straying from the turn-based style that it was birthed with. I don’t necessarily dislike this trend, it’s simply that the transition has been very rocky. More often than not, I have found myself playing a real-time system that has been not only exceedingly dull, but also very contrived and not even very well executed. Only a few titles have really stood out as having excellent real-time systems or variations thereof (Star Ocean, Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy XII). There has also been a growing pressure on classic turn-based franchises to shed their ways and go to the new style. Series like Dragon Quest, games that have built their popularity on the solid turn-based gameplay, are feeling the pressure from other series who have jumped ship and embraced the new system. This I am not happy with.

I grew up playing turn-based games, and I would rather not see series I have loved change something that drew me into it in the first place. A Dragon Quest title that is not turn-based seems almost blasphemous. I do understand that turn-based systems can be overwhelming or sometimes needlessly convoluted. Games like Magna Carta that featured hybrid systems that were so overly complex that playing the game was no longer fun ruins the image of turn-based titles.

Another nail in the turn-based coffin is the random encounter. So often are old titles associated with this bastardized version of exploration that it becomes synonymous with tedium. Games have been starting to stray from that concept, but it still rears its ugly head every now and then (Rogue Galaxy).

In the end, I feel that Final Fantasy XII has done the best job so far of combining both schools of thought into one extremely coherent and entirely enjoyable game.

MUSIC

As the title implies, today is the day of the D. No, I am not talking about Tenacious D, I am talking about tracks from games who’s name begins with that lovely letter D. Below you will find music from Dragon Quest, Devil May Cry, and Dead Rising. Enjoy.

Koichi Sugiyama – Overture Dragon Quest VIII Sorato Umito Daichito Norowareshi Himegimi Symphonic Suite

Shawn McPherson – Cerberus Battle Devil May Cry 3 Original Soundtrack

Hostile Groove – On a Mission Dead Rising Original Soundtrack

Update: Since you can now hear the song live, there is no real need to put the genre.

Guido – Outskirts of Time Chrono Trigger The Brink of Time

Satoshi Ise – Theme of GOUKI remix Capcom vs. SNK 2 Millionaire Fighting 2001 Original Soundtrack

Michiru Yamane – Prologue Castlevania Original Soundtrack

Now that that is over, on to the music.

Yoshino Aoki – Endings and Beginnings Breath of Fire IV Original Soundtrack
Classical

Misao Senbongi, Shusaku Uchiyama – Final Battle biohazard 4 Original Soundtrack
Classical

Noriko Matsueda & Takahito Eguchi – Volt Krueger The Bouncer Original Video Game Soundtrack
Metal/Electronic

Tetsukazu Nakanishi – EXCALIBUR Ace Combat Zero The Belkan War Original Soundtrack Though the soundtrack may not be the first thought to enter your mind when you think of the Ace Combat series, it is not a thought that should be lost. The soundtrack has a Metal sound to it, which is exemplified in the names of the songs. What is more Metal than a mythical sword? The song itself is great. It’s very powerful, and joystick or no, makes you ready for battle.

Junya Nakano – Dream Cat Another Mind Original Soundtrack While the game itself may have never found its way past the Japanese shores, the soundtrack has. The music is different than a lot of soundtracks, which can be a good or bad thing, based on your own personal tastes. One track, “Dream Cat”, exemplifies the odd nature of the soundtrack. The underlying melody is there, though obscured by the almost random compositions for some of the instruments in the track. I do enjoy the song, but can see very well how it may not work for others.

Tetsuya Shibata – Feasible… Auto Modellista Original Soundtrack What can I call this other than “driving music?” The music doesn’t try to be inventive, it just tries to stir the feeling of speed and excitement out of you as you fly around turns and past other cars in this racing game. In the same way Initial D relies on the quick beats of Euro-Dance, Auto Modellista turns to the fast nature of Guitar Metal.

Previously I said I was going to post 6 songs to make up for the delay. However, this won’t happen. Instead, I’m going to post 100 tracks. That’s right. “How?” you may ask. It’s simple. In honor of the newest Final Fantasy and the game that has stolen my soul, I’m going to post the entire FFXII soundtrack. So I hope you all enjoy.

Hitoshi Sakimoto – Final Fantasy XII Original Soundtrack (475MB) This is the first numbered Final Fantasy Soundtrack that Nobuo Uematsu has nothing to do with (X-2 excluded as it’s not a real game). However, it’s an amazing accomplishment and stands as one of the best soundtracks in the series, in my opinion. Sakimoto had a lot to live up to when he took the reigns of this beast, but he pulled it off, and in the process produced some tracks that quickly have joined the ranks of my favorite songs of all time.

Shiro Hamaguchi/Shinko Ogata – Fisherman’s Horizon Final Fantasy VIII: Piano Collections Already a beautiful track from the original soundtrack, the piano rendition is wonderful. The soft, whimsical tone puts you at ease quickly. It captures of feeling of relaxing on a dock with a fishing pole and the warmth of the sun very well.

Masashi Hamauzu/Aki Kuroda – Traveling Company Final Fantasy X: Piano Collections Like Fisherman’s Horizon, this song is a soft, atmospheric track. However, instead of intending to capture of feel of fishing, its purpose is to create a peaceful enviornment inside a shop. A simple task, but Traveling Company exceeds in all categories.

Reiko Nomura – Tina Final Fantasy VI: Piano Collections This piece is nothing short of a classic. From the last Nintendo Final Fantasy until Crystal Chronicles, the music in VI was phenomenal, and this theme was no exception. It has a very epic feel to it. Though some of it is lost in the translation to solo piano, it still holds up as a wonderfully performed and composed piece.

Shiro Hamaguchi/Seiji Honda – One Winged Angel FINAL FANTASY VII: Piano Collections Another classic Final Fantasy track, this piano rendition does a great job of keeping the dark tone. The piece never lets up, and unfolds like any great epic song would. For those of you who have heard the original, you can almost hear the choir chanting “Se-phi-roth” in the background as the hammers of the piano slam against the strings with a great intensity.

All tracks originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu except “Traveling Company”, which was composed by Masashi Hamauzu.

Hirokazu Tanaka – Title BGM (Metroid) Famicom 20th Anniversary Original Sound Tracks Vol. 1 Featuring many different classic NES titles on this album, this is one track that I’m sure many older gamers will recognize and are sure to love. Being the first gimpse into the world of Metroid, the track quickly sets the mood with a dark tone and a rather minimal approach. Instead of trying to push the NES’ musical capabilities, Hirokazu, instead, made something that was more atmospheric than melodic.

Sixto Sounds – Made in the USA (Ken Stage) Blood on the Asphalt: Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo As a tribute album to the music of Street Fighter 2 Turbo, the people of OCRemix put this album together with some of the best versions of the tracks ever created. Sixto Sounds’ version of Ken’s Theme is one of the greatest, though, as it completely captures the feel of the character by combining the solid melody of the original with an almost Survivor-esque sound, making the track what that fine line between cheesy and great.