I would love it if they completely overhauled the combat system. I really hate the current DPS paradigm that is used in MMOs these days.

I dislike F2P games, just because it seems that the quality isn't as high as other games, but IMO F2P is the newest iteration of arcade games. For a time, the arcade game model was replaced by consoles and PCs. The mobile game market seems to support this, as well.

FFVII. My friends bought and loved it, but something about the game just bored me to tears. From the ugly character models to the characters (I tend to hate sword fetishes and stereotypes and this game featured two huge swords and a character that was blatantly offensive). I just could never muster the interest to…

Who is judging a culture based on anime?

It does look pretty stupid, but I've never been a fan of the car-themed sentai or Transformers, so it might just be a style thing on my part.

Is the female anime character penchant for being knock kneed and covering up at every opportunity a part of a certain type of fetishism?

I agree. I still don't want a handheld, and I grew up with a GameBoy. I'm a pedestrian so I generally walk or take public transportation. When I take public transportation, I'm either paying 100% attention to what's going on around me or reading a book. Your method of gaming is entirely up to your schedule, what makes…

It could also be that it got cold, and a breeze blew into her face.

I think a lot of players overlook this point. In most games, magic is the only action with a resource management aspect and many RPGs don't penalize physical attacks as much. I think most games simply aren't designed with interesting magic systems. By the end of FFT, most of the special classes and skills like counter…

What great artwork! I wonder if they'll release a book of concept art. So many good examples of drawing are lost because most studios own the rights and never release them. "Star Wars" did quite a few times, and I bought many editions. That helps spread an artists' name and generates profit. BTW: goes on a…

I appreciate that Jason made sure to be as objective as possible to avoid the criticisms of nostalgia-tinged glasses that have been flying around. Let us know if it's worth it!

Yes. As soon as I saw that, I thought the same thing. Also: 20 second clips consisting of fast-paced shots now sets off my alarm bells.

I wonder if Lightning's design was inspired by 'Alice', the character from the "Resident Evil" movies.

We'll see! I think SE needs to hire better writers that are willing to create multifaceted characters. Most of their characters seem to be designed by committee nowadays, so that they appeal to certain demographics. It's hard to base a franchise around a cipher that has no real emotion or forward progression - they…

I think it has to do with a lack of understanding of what "next gen" meant combined with a lack of desire to achieve what "next gen" should be. IMHO, more advanced AI and adaptive narrative structure would more closely approximate a "next generation" experience, but it is a lot easier to focus on graphics since the…

I think Romancing Sa-Ga was originally Square's series that allowed them to experiment a lot more than the Final Fantasy brand.

Exactly. Different advantages depending on the game design vision.

Nintendo and good genre indie developers share something in common - the ability to nail a gameplay mechanic or concept and base an entire game around without necessarily needing story, character development or enhanced graphics. I would argue that characters really aren't what makes Nintendo games special - it's the…

I have the opposite opinion - I prefer photorealism because the added element of reality makes the game world feel more solid to me. However, I think stylized art works for certain types of games. It depends on the designer.

This was a charming bit of marketing, but the plot, character design, battle system and art direction still left me cold. Video game characters over-emoting when I have no connection to their plight or character development isn't entertaining.