Lord Spencer's Gaming (and other stuff) Blog

While the name and tank-style controls may suggest a Resident Evil -like Survival Horror game, Fear Effect in fact has more in common with the cinematic action games Naughty Dog likes to produce today. This is a relatively short game that spans a massive four discs, and that's because of the vast amount of cut-scenes and the fully voiced dialogue. Normally, for a PS1 game, that would mean a game that aged terribly, with ugly polygonal graphics and cheesy voice acting. However, Fear Effect is preserved in its original cinematic vision, which was highly competent at the time, and still great to see today. #64(S): Fear Effect: Year: 2000. Genre: Action Adventure. Publisher: Eidos Interactive. Developer: Kronos Digital Entertainment.

Klonoa is different from the other mascots introduced in the late 90s in that Namco balanced the edgy style of the era with a classical Japanese focus on cuteness and personality. That saved the character from being as dated and cringy as some of the other B-Tier mascots of the time. However, an arguably more drastic departure was Namco's insistence on remaining within the tried and true 2D Platformer genre instead of going for the 3D trend. That ultimately worked in the game's favor, as this is a really very good 2D platformer at its core, with the added bonus of having a nice story and some good graphics. #65: Klonoa: Door to Phantomile: Year: 1997, 1998. Genre: 2D Platformer. Publisher: Namco. Developer: Namco .

The PlayStation 1 had such a massive library of games that it is impossible to do it justice with a simple top 100 games list. As such, I decided to supplement my usual review of a top 100 games list (this time, I used the top 100 PS1 games list from Retro Sanctuary ) with other games picked up from different lists. This parallel "Additional List" is not numbered in any ordered way, so the quality of the titles theoretically varies from top to bottom with no rhyme or reason. Of the eleven games included in this report, I have reviewed nine of them. There are a couple of games that can be considered hidden PS1 Gems such as Vanguard Bandits and Saiyuki: Journey Wes t. Also, of the two cult favorites in Squaresoft's SaGa series, I found the second one to be significantly better. All of these games are better than some of Retro Sanctuary's selections and can probably stake a claim at being in the top 100 PS1 games list. The rest are not worth it in my opinion. Here is ...

Seeing the recent remaster of SaGa Frontier anyone might think that it's evidently both a better game and a more regarded title. That can also seem the case if you consider the vast amount of love for the first game compared to a relative indifference to the second. Having played both, I can see why the first game may have more of a cult following. It's an uneven and poorly designed game, but it had a lot of ambition (that I think it failed to even remotely meet). In contrast, SaGa Frontier 2 is a significant departure that tones down the most ambitious and non-linear aspects of the first game but offers a tighter and better-designed experience. In my opinion, it is a far superior game and is unfortunately forgotten to some degree compared to other Square games. #A61(S): SaGa Frontier 2: Year: 1999, 2000. Genre: JRPG. Publisher: Squaresoft. Developer: Squaresoft.

2024 ended terribly for me, but in a way that leaves room for optimism. After months of suffering silently with major depression, it finally got bad enough that I had to have medication and counseling, which made things markedly better. However, before things could improve in my personal and work life, I survived a major car accident. That's where the room for optimism lies... I survived. Frankly, the accident was mostly my fault given I was too tired to drive safely (should have pulled over and had a nap), but so many things could have happened that would have made the accident much worse. Gladly, only my car was totally destroyed while I got away with a minor shoulder injury that kept me from the gym for a while. After the accident, and thanks to the medication, I finally started feeling things again. Gaming was fun again, and the time spent with family and friends felt precious. Time, once again, became my most scarce resource, and that shows with me playing less games this year...

Despite routinely selling and scoring less than average for a Squaresoft JRPG, the SaGa series continued to be developed by the company since its inception as the second Final Fantasy game. That must mean that the series has some really dedicated fans. That's the only explanation why SaGa Frontier , a game that is incomplete in many ways, opaque in others, and generally deficient in structure, is so loved by many. Honestly, when the game clicks, I can see something close to greatness here. However, that moment is often hidden in a cloud of anxiety and frustration that encompasses most of the game. #A61: SaGa Frontier: Year: 1997, 1998. Genre: JRPG. Publisher: Square, Sony. Developer: Square.

Whisper of the Heart was the first full-release Studio Ghibli film not directed by either Isao Takahata or Hayao Miyazaki, with longtime Ghibli animator Yoshifumi Kondō taking the helm. It is difficult to watch this film without feeling a sense of loss and regret that Kondō passed away three years after his directorial debut, both at the loss of the man and what he could have achieved as a director considering the promise he has shown in his first film. Based on a "Girl's Manga" by Aoi Hiiragi, Whisper of the Heart is a slice-of-life romantic movie about two adolescents falling in love. Yet, when that simple premise is given the full Ghibli treatment, it no lo longer remains simple and the whole material is elevated. Instead of a simple love story, it becomes a tale about youth becoming the protagonist of their own stories and the associated difficulties with achieving a semblance of their dreams. The two protagonists, Shizuka and Seiji are defined as much by their pass...

Saiyuki: Journey West is one of the rare titles that deserve the "hidden gem" classification since it fulfills both parts of that qualification. It is hidden in the sense that few people have heard of it, with fewer actually playing it. It is a gem because it is a really solid game. It is a Tactical RPG made by Koei, the masters behind the massive strategy series Romance of the Three Kingdoms , that is inspired by the Chinese epic, Journey to the West. With decent gameplay and a surprisingly good combination of story and characters, there is much to love about Saiyuki . Yet, despite that, the game doesn't pull as much as it should. I don't feel compelled to continue going forward and feel I have to force myself back to the game. That lack of a pulling factor ultimately keeps the game from being a particularly shiny gem, but it is a gem nonetheless. #A62: Saiyuki: Journey West: Year: 1999, 2001. Genre: Tactical RPG. Publisher: Koei. Developer: Koei.

One common mistake used when discussing the Clock Tower series is to claim that it is a derivative of the Resident Evil games, which is false both from a chronological and gameplay perspective. This series actually started on the SNES, and it plays nothing like Capcom's marquee franchise. For starters, this is an Adventure-Horror game with point-and-click gameplay. However, it is true that the first game on the PS1 owes much of its success to the interest in Survival Horror games that was generated by the first Resident Evil . I can't imagine many of those who punted on the looks and feel of this game were left satisfied. #A63: Clock Tower: Year: 1996, 1997. Genre: Adventure Horror. Publisher: ASCII Entertainment, Human Entertainment. Developer: Human Entertainment.

Studio Ghibli, in my humble opinion, is not only the greatest animation studio of all time, but one of the greatest movie making studios of our age. Their work in Japanese animation is not limited in scope or artistry to the typical "anime" genre, but instead is universal in nature, hallmarks not only of animation but world cinema as a whole. I think that far in the future, some of their movies would stand the test of time and be considered masterpieces equal in importance to the best movies and the books of the 20th and 21st centuries. In short, Studio Ghibli do not only make sublime "animation", which many time is used a pejorative; they make sublime movies. Established in 1985 after the success of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the Studio was founded by three animation visionaries: longtime animation directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata , and producer and anime magazine editor Toshio Suzuki . All three had long careers in the animation industries, but...