It’s more like 5/12th of a year, since we’re still technically, barely in June. I’ve realized I don’t feel like playing most of the games on my New Year’s resolution list right now. When I made that list, I thought I’d never see my PS2 again, but now that it has miraculously resurrected there’s stuff I want to play on that. Not only that, but some of the games on the list, like Monster Hunter and Tales of Hearts, I wasn’t that keen on trying in the first place. Others, like Star Ocean 2 and Sakura Taisen 2, I still want to play but the first game is still too fresh in my mind. With Dragon Quest 7, there’s a good chance I’ll be able to borrow the remake on 3DS when it eventually gets released in English. And so it goes.
Plus I’ve been tossing and turning in the wind too much lately, feeling I have to play X and I want to play Y and when will I ever find the time to play Z. It’s good to get some semblance of order and create something resembling a rough schedule for gaming for the rest of the year. That doesn’t mean these are the only games I’ll play, of course. It’s more like if I only get these done by the end of the year I’ll be happy. Something like that.
July – UnchainBlades Exxiv (PSP). The prequel, UnchainBlades Rexx, needed a bit of polish in nearly all areas, but I still found myself hopelessly addicted for days on end. That’s all I ever want out of a game. In fact, I think their gimmick of having different character designers create the cast is stupid and only adds unnecessary costs to their budget, but the first game was good enough that it didn’t matter. Here’s hoping for more of the same.
August – Earthbound (SNES) – You ever have someone recommend a game to you so many times that you find yourself really, really not wanting to play it? But I tried about 10 minutes of it the other day and I was… well, it’s too soon to say “pleasantly surprised”, but I liked the atmosphere and the art was cute. I’ll give it an honest, unbiased shot as soon as I can.
September – Dark Cloud 2 (PS2). I was told to skip DC1 and go straight to DC2, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about this, so I’m quite looking forward to it. Back when I first got it, action RPGs used to scare me (my intention was to have someone else play it while I watched), but I think I can manage now. I hope.
October – Devil Survivor 2 (DS). For some reason I don’t quite understand, I’ve gone off the Shin Megami Tensei games and spin-offs in a major way. I suspect I played too many too quickly and made myself sick of them. Still I quite liked Devil Survivor 1. The escort missions were a PITA and the ending I got left a lot to be desired, but it was a good game. This should be decent at least.
November – Final Fantasy Type-0 (PSP). It’s been years since I played any Final Fantasy game. Let’s see, I played Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time in 2009-ish, and FFTA2 some time before that, and I replay FF8 quite frequently, but that’s about it. How much research have I done about Type-0? Almost none. It has a school setting and it has missions and being an FF it probably has some overwrought, overblown story in there. I like the first two elements at least, so it’s worth a try.
December – Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits (PS2). I’ve forgotten which of the PS2 Arc the Lads is supposed to be crap, and I can’t play both back to back, so I’ll pick this one and go for it. I’ve never played an Arc the Lad before so I don’t have any prejudices or overblown expectations.
I have to clear Sakura Note, Tokyo Mono Hara Shi and Arc Rise Fantasia (the battle system is good) off my plate before getting down to business, so that’s what I’ll devote the first week of July to. You never know what will happen from day to day in life, but God willing I’ll get the job done.
