Wednesday, February 09, 2011

Pixelated (or polygonal) apocalypses?

Here's something you probably couldn't have guessed about me: I'm a big fan of apocalypse novels. I just finished reading one, in fact: Susan Beth Pfeffer's This World We Live In.

The completion of that novel got me to thinking: Why haven't I played any post-apocalyptic games? The answer, sadly enough, is that I've never thought of it.

Even if I had, though, I wouldn't know where to start. After all, the only post-apocalyptic game I'm aware of is Namco's Fragile (aka Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon, below), a Wii game I have every intention of picking up at some point.



Other than that game, though, I'm stumped.

Have any of you played any worthwhile post-apocalyptic games--especially RPGs--over the years? If so, which ones?

18 comments:

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Well FF6 is sort of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic...as is Chrono Trigger.

Other than that, though...

Anonymous said...

The Fallout series.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, I forgot about FF VI, Justin. The second half especially, right?

I haven't played through Chrono Trigger in *years*, and even then I didn't play it through to completion. (Yes, I am a bad, bad gamer!). Might have to rectify that soon...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Sunatic: You're the fourth or fifth or sixth person to recommend the Fallout games to me. (All of the others did so via Twitter.) Guess I'll have to give this series a try sooner rather than later!

A few folks also suggested Wasteland, which I'm also going to try at some point.

IvaNEC said...

Two that I can think of for the PC Engine are Energy and Last Armageddon, but I wouldn't exactly recommend either of them. Energy was very poorly made, and Last Armageddon is sheer torture.

Otherwise, FFVI came to mind for me as well, as did the various Fist of the North Star releases. I'm kind of drawing a blank on this, unfortunately. :(

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ah, yes, Last Armageddon! I remember reading about it in the pages of GameFan and TurboPlay back in the day. I also remember hearing horrible things about it :( Which is worse, in your opinion: Last Armageddon or Astralius?

BTW, your recent review of Burai II has me intrigued. I remember salivating over that game in the past, too. Sounds like it may be worth a shot?

IvaNEC said...

Astralius is worse, but not by much. Both of them are truly hellish.

There are quite a few PCE RPGs that are better than Burai II, but it's pretty good, and it shouldn't cost much. It's not very difficult but you will need a guide--I can link you to a good Japanese one (just run it through Babelfish or something).

Bryan Ochalla said...

For some reason it surprises me to hear you say that Last Armageddon is at all better than Astralius.

Anyway, it seems Burai II can, in fact, be picked up pretty cheaply, so I may have to buy it soon. So, if you do know of a good Japanese guide I'd definitely love to have a link to it.

I'm sure you're right, of course, that there are far better PCE RPGs out there, but there's something about the graphics of this one that really appeals to me.

BTW, backing up a bit -- what do you think are the best PCE RPGs?

IvaNEC said...

Here's the link to the Burai II walkthrough:

http://cm.rdy.jp/mal/game/br2/br2-01.html

Looking at things as "objectively" as I can, I'd say Seiya Monogatari (Anearth Fantasy Stories) is the best PCE RPG and quite possibly the best all-around game for the system, period. There's an excellent page (in English) dedicated to it here:

http://www.m1sz1.com/

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks, IvaNEC!

I'll definitely be checking out that link to the Seiya Monogatari info -- and the game itself, too.

What are your top 5 PCE RPGs, if you don't mind me asking?

IvaNEC said...

Well, my personal favorites are probably Ys Book I & II, Madou Monogatari, Dragon Knight II, Tenshi no Uta, and Cosmic Fantasy 2. If you count Shape Shifter as an RPG, toss that one in there as well.

But again, those are just my own personal favorites, not necessarily the ones I'd say are the "best." Deciding which five RPGs are the strongest out of so many excellent ones would require too much thought for me at the moment, haha. I want to cover every single one of them on Duomazov, though, so I hope the reviews will be more helpful than I'm being right now.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks again, IvaNEC! I didn't want you to put too much thought into it, I just wanted to hear your initial/immediate thoughts.

I've never heard of Tenshi no Uta before now, by the way. Or, rather, I've heard the name but always thought it was a digital comic or simulation game, for some reason. Anyway, you've put the game on my radar as of now.

Hopefully you'll review it at some point, as well as games like Princess Minerva and other PCE RPGs I know little about :)

Viewtiful_Justin said...

Step away from your computer. Go find Chrono Trigger in some form. And play the shit out of it until you finish it. Seriously. You're dong yourself a HUGE disservice.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Oh, I will Justin -- and soon. Maybe after I finally complete FF: The 4 Heroes of Light?

Urban Pumpkin said...

Well there is a ton of games that are set in post-apocalyptic Chrono Trigger, Nocturne (Really good game), Fallout series, Devil Summoner, and of coarse Fragile Dream. I have to admit Fragile Dream is a pretty sad game. So is Fallout just because you pity them, and in a sense, it's pretty much seen as what the world WOULD be like if World War III started and ended.

Bryan Ochalla said...

Thanks for the comment, Urban Pumpkin! I definitely need to check out Chrono Trigger (I know, it's a crime that I've never played it) and Fragile Dreams soon. Fallout sounds quite interesting, too!

Anonymous said...

Well...Theres Borderlands (Cartoony...XD), Left 4 Dead,Dead Rising, Fallout New Vegas... I could keep going on but if you could excuse me...I need to finish my Halo Reach match...

Bryan Ochalla said...

Ha! Well, thanks for the help, anonymous. Hope you enjoy that Halo Reach match :)