Fatal Frame III: The Tormented [Now Playing]

I have a weird relationship with horror games. I really like horror theming and scary stories in general, but I'm also a candy-ass when it comes to actually playing horror games. Every playthrough is like a battle between my appreciation of the expertly crafted atmosphere and the shriveling that's occurring in my balls. In the end though, I do love playing them.

A particular favorite of mine is Fatal Frame III: The Tormented. This is a game I played a very long time ago, when I was in high school. At the time, I was merely trying to be done with it (because I was terrified) so I figured I'd give it a serious playthrough now that I've grown a few more chest hairs.

Fire Emblem: Awakening [Now Playing]

It's been a long time coming, but I finally got myself a 3DS. Now, to be honest, I actually thought very poorly of the 3DS when it was struggling during its launch. But as the years went by, the library of games started stacking up and I found that all of the games I was interested in were on the 3DS. As soon as I got money coming in, I confident enough to buy the device and a handful of games immediately.

My first game? Fire Emblem: Awakening. I was intrigued by the enormous amount of praise it was getting, so I bought into the hype and let this be my introduction to the 3DS. I've actually never played a Fire Emblem game before this, but I'm a huge fan of strategy RPG's so I knew I would click with the series immediately. Now, I recently completed the game...

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen [Now Playing]

I've been home doing nothing for the past few weeks, so out of an intense need to keep myself busy, I decided to look for an addictive RPG to play. My choices ranged from Skyrim to Dark Souls, but for whatever reason, I ended up buying Dragon's Dogma. I ignored the original release, so Dark Arisen (the expansion) ended up being my first taste of the game.

I've played through the game once already, and I've got to say, I really like this game. I'm close to platinuming it, and I wasn't even trying to. I was just having fun trying out different things and completing all of the quests. I think the main thing I love about this game is its replay value. You're able to replay the game via New Game Plus an infinite number of times, so you're able to enjoy the game exactly how you want to each time whilst retaining your level and all of your gear.

The boss battles are also amazing. I'd say they're the best in any game of this genre. Like many people have said, it's like a cross between Dark Souls and Shadow of the Colossus. The way you climb up on giant monsters while epic music is playing is just exhilarating, to say the least.

A lot of people disregard this game as being "not quite as good as Skyrim", but I'd rather avoid comparisons like that. Dragon's Dogma has its own list of merits and charms, and I'd recommend it to anyone with a love for fantasy rpg's (and a lot of time).

[Now Playing] Final Fantasy Tactics

I've been COMPLETELY obsessed with Final Fantasy Tactics lately, its the strangest thing. I've had a weird relationship with this game. I bought it way back in 2003, when they were still selling PS1 games. My first play-through was painful; I had such a hard time with this game. I didn't know much about the strategies and character skill setups, so I just kept getting owned. I remember I got to one battle filled with summoners, and I kept losing so badly that I stopped playing the game for over a year.

I randomly decided to start playing again after like a year and a half of neglecting it, and I finally managed to beat it. Its weird that after literally YEARS of not touching it (went through all of high school and half of college without re-playing it) I started my second play-through. This time around, I learned absolutely everything there is to know about the game, and I discovered how freaking easy the game gets when you raise super powerful characters. I went through all of Deep Dungeon, equipped each character with the best equipment, setup their skills properly, and leveled past 80. Now, its just rude how easy the final battles become.

But my point is, I have a new-found love for this game. It took this long for me realize how deep and fun this game can get. It doesn't get the love that the mainstream Final Fantasy titles get, but I can see why it has such a strong cult following. I encourage you to give it a try too, there's always the re-make on the PSP too.