Games Revue

Baroque was yet another game I reviewed earlier this year, and it holds the distinction of being one of the darkest non-Shin Megami Tensei-related RPGs I’ve ever played. Not that the intro doesn’t clue you in to that: it starts with a Rorschach test turned cancerous, ends with a bloodstain turning becoming an portentous geometric symbol, and in-between, takes every opportunity to flash ominous text and worrying smiles at the viewer. Meanwhile, the title theme is the charmingly named Sinful Eyes. No, this isn’t a cheerful game at all, is it.

It also gives away at least one major plot twist if you know what you’re looking for, but, like every character here, in a way, that’s neither here nor there.

Baroque was yet another game I reviewed earlier this year, and it holds the distinction of being one of the darkest non-Shin Megami Tensei-related RPGs I’ve ever played. Not that the intro doesn’t clue you in to that: it starts with a Rorschach test turned cancerous, ends with a bloodstain turning becoming an portentous geometric symbol, and in-between, takes every opportunity to flash ominous text and worrying smiles at the viewer. Meanwhile, the title theme is the charmingly named Sinful Eyes. No, this isn’t a cheerful game at all, is it.

It also gives away at least one major plot twist if you know what you’re looking for, but, like every character here, in a way, that’s neither here nor there.

There’s a thin line between challenge and frustration. Knowing that you died because you fucked up, as opposed to a cheap shot is, simultaneously irritating and gratifying – yeah, you died, but at least you can improve. If any game personified this line, it would be God Hand, hated and adored in equal measure for its almost crushing difficulty. If you ‘got’ it, it was a stupidly fun OTT beat-em-up, a modern-day relic of a simpler era. If you didn’t, it was too hard, the graphics were shit and too stupid to bother with (see: the feckless idiots at IGN.)

Aside from it’s difficulty, the other thing it’s famed for is its sense of humour. Almost nothing is taken seriously, and in an age of generic bald space marines who take everything super serial, that’s only a good thing. Its developers, Clover, died after releasing a scant four games, each and every one a burst of colour and life in a brown and grey world.

Today’s offering is the closing theme from God Hand. If you’ve never played it, this is a great example of what to expect. If you have, you’ll probably know the words by heart.

There’s a thin line between challenge and frustration. Knowing that you died because you fucked up, as opposed to a cheap shot is, simultaneously irritating and gratifying – yeah, you died, but at least you can improve. If any game personified this line, it would be God Hand, hated and adored in equal measure for its almost crushing difficulty. If you ‘got’ it, it was a stupidly fun OTT beat-em-up, a modern-day relic of a simpler era. If you didn’t, it was too hard, the graphics were shit and too stupid to bother with (see: the feckless idiots at IGN.)

Aside from it’s difficulty, the other thing it’s famed for is its sense of humour. Almost nothing is taken seriously, and in an age of generic bald space marines who take everything super serial, that’s only a good thing. Its developers, Clover, died after releasing a scant four games, each and every one a burst of colour and life in a brown and grey world.

Today’s offering is the closing theme from God Hand. If you’ve never played it, this is a great example of what to expect. If you have, you’ll probably know the words by heart.

If I could say any single game changed my life, it would be Secret of Mana. This was the game that kickstarted my love of RPGs in general, and probably the single best game on the SNES for my money. I still remember the day I got it, taking it home, switching it on and hearing this, the opening theme. At the time, aged 13, it was the most amazing piece of music I had ever heard in my life. Now… even now, it’s still a front-runner.

Honestly, I don’t have the words. See for yourself.

If I could say any single game changed my life, it would be Secret of Mana. This was the game that kickstarted my love of RPGs in general, and probably the single best game on the SNES for my money. I still remember the day I got it, taking it home, switching it on and hearing this, the opening theme. At the time, aged 13, it was the most amazing piece of music I had ever heard in my life. Now… even now, it’s still a front-runner.

Honestly, I don’t have the words. See for yourself.

The Dark Spire was a DS game released this year aimed almost solely at the old school market. And by ‘old school’ I mean ‘so old, they refer to single-celled lifeforms as newbies’. Probably the most harder-than-hardcore dungeon crawler I’ve played since Nethack, The Dark Spire, unsurprisingly, failed to catch on almost anywhere. Which is a shame, since it has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack that demands a wider audience. That the game itself is fun (if obtuse as all hell) is a bonus, really. This is the more sedate Shop theme, a counterpoint of sorts to the standard battle theme, and probably the single most relaxing piece of music in this list.

The Dark Spire was a DS game released this year aimed almost solely at the old school market. And by ‘old school’ I mean ‘so old, they refer to single-celled lifeforms as newbies’. Probably the most harder-than-hardcore dungeon crawler I’ve played since Nethack, The Dark Spire, unsurprisingly, failed to catch on almost anywhere. Which is a shame, since it has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack that demands a wider audience. That the game itself is fun (if obtuse as all hell) is a bonus, really. This is the more sedate Shop theme, a counterpoint of sorts to the standard battle theme, and probably the single most relaxing piece of music in this list.

Doing things slightly different again today. The Protomen are a Canadian group currently working on a three-part rock opera based on… Megaman. The first part, Hope Rides Alone came out in 2005, with the second, The Father Of Death following this year. You’d think it’d be difficult to adapt the story of the original Megaman games, what with them being so complex and sprawling, and damn near impossible to make it worth listening to on its own merits, but in my opinion, they’ve succeeded admirably.

This is the title track and opening song off their first album, chronicling the rise and fall of ‘the first son of Doctor Light’: Protoman. Trust me on this one: it just gets better from here.

Doing things slightly different again today. The Protomen are a Canadian group currently working on a three-part rock opera based on… Megaman. The first part, Hope Rides Alone came out in 2005, with the second, The Father Of Death following this year. You’d think it’d be difficult to adapt the story of the original Megaman games, what with them being so complex and sprawling, and damn near impossible to make it worth listening to on its own merits, but in my opinion, they’ve succeeded admirably.

This is the title track and opening song off their first album, chronicling the rise and fall of ‘the first son of Doctor Light’: Protoman. Trust me on this one: it just gets better from here.