Friday, January 22, 2010

Dragon Quest




Today I'm going to talk about a game series that I'm passionate about. That series is Dragon Quest! Dragon Quest is a fantasy role-playing game series made in the 1980s by Horii Yuuji inspired by Dungeons and Dragons. This game series not only has fantasy elements but tons of real world culture seeped in. And one of the most epic timelines of all time where all the hero's from each game, manga, anime or novel and their tales are all interwoven into a larger story. Dragon Quest is so popular in Japan that the Japanese government had to make a law that Square Enix (or at that time just Enix) couldn't release the games on weekdays due to the release of the third game being during the week and causing many office workers and school children shirking responsibilities to wait in line for the game. When I went to Japan I became so obsessed with Dragon Quest that I bought over 30 volumes of manga, two novels and other paraphernalia. I seriously love this series and recommend it to any of you who have never heard of it..or who used to love the Dragon Warrior series for Nintendo but wonder where it went.

Manga








今日、私は私の大好きなテレビのゲームシリーズについて話します。 ドラゴンクエスト というゲームシリーズは八十年代に堀井 雄二 (ほりい・ゆうじ)によって作られた作品です。ドラゴンクエストは米国の有名なダンジョンズ&ドラゴンズというロールプレーイングゲーム の影響を受けて作られました。ファンタジー の要素が入っていって、色々な現実の世界の文化が含まれています。このゲームシリーズの世界が面白いし、勇者達の冒険は大変すばらしい英雄譚 だし、僕は大好きなんです。
このシリーズの作品の中には様々なゲーム以外の要素物が入っています。例えば漫画、アニメや小説さえ出ました。 私だけがこのゲームシリーズを好きでわなくて色々な世論調査によると日本の人口の80%の人は大体ドラグンクエストのシリーズを知っています。 日本では、ドラグンクエストは有名で政府はドラグンクエストの為に特別な法律を作りました。 この法律の為にドラグンクエストの発売は週末にしか出られません。この法律が作られる前、ドラグンクエスト3 発売されたの時、多くの人が ドラゴンクエストを 買うために 行列を 作りました。  そのに行列入るために 授業や仕事を休みました。最後に言えば私の大好きなゲームシリーズは日本では大変有名ですよ。 

The most popular game besides 3.
ドラグンクエストVは日本の二番人気あるゲーム


Here are some cool links for more information if your interested in the series!
http://www.dqshrine.com/dq/
http://hg101.kontek.net/dragonquest/dragonquest.htm

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Been Done






I like many other ravenous fan boys and girls love Square-Enix (Meaning I love both Square soft and Enix before they were merged). However many people fall under the misconception that Final Fantasy VII was the first major PlayStation rpg and was the first Japanese rpg to incorporate CGI and 3d. I would like to prove this mindset to be invalid.


In 1994 the Sony PlayStation was released. And in regards to RPGs this had a giant impact.

1995: Arc the Lad was released. Being the first JRPG on the PlayStation to use CGI cut-scenes in an FMV style. The game was too short to be considered epic but it's purpose was to pave way for the next two games in its saga both which further utilized CGI cinema. Arc the lad two came out a year later however actual digitized representations of character weren't introduced till the third game in 1999 which of course was influenced by the CGI styles of the Final fantasy crew by that time.





1996: Not only was Arc the Lad II released in this year but also Wild arms was released this year. Wild arms was the first JRPG to have total polygonal 3d graphics the battle engine. (Other games worth noting that came out around this time were Gensou Suikoden, and many others however this lists intent is just to introduce you to a few primary examples.)







And of Course in 1997 Final Fantasy VII was released, thrusting the JRPG world into an ever climbing upward usage of CGI and 3d graphics.
However I felt that it was importaint to reveal to those who aren't in the know already that whenever you think that someone is the first to do anything it has already been done before it.
Yes Professor Chaos the Simpsons did it.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Tales of.......gamerhood



Christmas came and went and my family made off well. My daughter was spoiled to near death and I received some video games. But the one thing that I accomplished gaming wise this Christmas was the was beating Tales Of Vesperia. Vesperia is a very typical Japanese RPG in the line of the tales series but the first one on a next gen console (or current gen rather). However it where it shines the most is the fact that it happens to have the deepest main character I have ever played in any video game. This character is so complex and realistic (to me anyways) that I some times have to do a double take in my awe of his coolness. Think vigilante justice done right. Now I wont ruin the game going into descriptions of what happens story wise. However I will say the world and music are very beautiful and the gameplay is quickly pick up and go and engagingly fun for the most part. But the main Character Yuri Lowell is really what makes this game shine and who I give my game character of the year award too (even if it was released last Christmas!)

今年のクリスマスは終わった。僕たちはいっぱい贈り物をもらえた。たぶん多すぎもらった。特に娘は沢山のクリスマスの贈り物をもらった。娘は必要のレベル感謝出来るか分からない。とにかく僕はゲームをもらった。そうだっても僕の冬休みの喜ばせる事は僕の大好きなゲームを完全まで出来た。あのゲームの名前はテイルズ オブ ヴェスペリアだ。このゲームは普通のテイルズのシーリーズ的なゲーム。でも今回は最初の現代のゲーム機のために出た。このゲームの話は面白いし、世界がきれいだし、このゲームとても好んでいる。でもその良い点なければ主人公が入ったら僕はまだ好めると思う。ユーリ・ローウェルという主人公は本当にかっこよくて、深い人格を持っているキャラクターだ。時々ユリはそんなかっこいいので僕は休みたくないで次の場面を見るためなんだった。最終的に言えば来年の一番ゲームのキャラクターはユリ・ローウェルだ。