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My Top 6 of 2006

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Michael "Macstorm" Cunningham
STAFF EDITORIALIST

It's sad really, but of all the RPGs released in 2006, I've only had time to play six for any amount of time. Of these six, here's my year end wrap up of my 2006 RPGs. I wish I could have worked Suikoden V, Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Final Fantasy III into this list, but I've not put enough playtime into them to weigh them fairly, so just know that had I more time, I would have factored those games into this list as well. For now, let the countdown begin.

This year's follow up to the Square Enix/Disney hit was a major improvement over the original. While that's all well and good, it still wasn't anything fantastic enough to make me want to play it. The hack-and-slash gameplay, though fine-tuned, still left me feeling like the game was never going to end. The main storyline of the game would have been great had I not been subjected to hours of pointless Disney plot in many worlds. Oh boy, I get to play every stage twice. The first time is an ad for a Disney movie and the second time I get actual Kingdom Hearts II plot. It was released at a good time of the year to where it was not overwhelmed by other big name titles. It's a true shame that this overshadowed Suikoden V, which was released at the same time. Suikoden V is still in my backlog, but I have a feeling I will get more out of it than I did Kingdom Hearts II.

How could I put Dirge of Cerberus above Kingdom Hearts II? Easily, where Kingdom Hearts II was a bit of a letdown from what I had hoped for in a sequel, Dirge was much better than I had expected. Honestly, I had expected a piece of trash, but what I got was a flawed, yet decent game. Dirge had a somewhat deep and engaging story with enough plot twists to keep me interested. The gun-based controls were manageable and fasted-paced, so there was never any lag in the gameplay. Dirge also had pleasant voice acting and wonderful graphics, so those helped quite a bit. It was an easy game to pick up and play in bursts, so that was quite helpful as well. While by no means a great game, Dirge was good enough not to be last.

Grandia III was my first new RPG of 2006. The battle system was quite involving and fasted paced. The story and characterization however weren't of the highest caliber. It was a fun playthrough at the time, but looking back on Grandia III now, it just doesn't stand out as an amazing game. I really wish I had more to say about it. I guess I would have to sum it up as being fun at the time, but not very memorable.

While I've STILL not completed Final Fantasy V Advance, I'm close enough to the end to say that this has been one enjoyable remake. The portability factor really weighs heavily on my enjoyment, since I can play it anywhere. The pacing, the translations, and the difficulty are all well balanced and shine as bright as a GBA game can. Though the story is still less than epic, the quality of work that went into the development of Final Fantasy V Advance makes it one of if not the best portable Final Fantasy game available.

It was difficult not to pick the third installment of Xenosaga as my favorite game of 2006. There is nothing that it lacked that really knocked it out of first place. The story finished out the saga in epic fashion. All plot points are tied up and the game drives you through to the end in a grand manner. The battle system was truly enjoyable, being one of the most balanced turn-based systems that I've ever encountered. With so much suspense and drama, I couldn't help but be drawn in by the story. The worst part of this game was finishing it and realizing that it was over. The epic series had ended. While that ending was satisfying, it still left me with a hollow feeling inside, like there should be more to come, but there is not. Farewell Xenosaga, it was a fun ride. You will be missed.

Thankfully, this isn't an official review, so I can overlook all of the flaws of Final Fantasy XII and focus on what makes it my favorite game of the year. This game has been the more fun to play than almost any other RPG ever. No random battles. Yes, say it again with me. No random battles. I'm not upset that the story didn't seem as deep as it could have been, because for this game it was all about the ride, not the destination. I'm more than willing to admit that compared to other Final Fantasy games, the story was not as deep, the characters were not as developed, and the character interaction was not as prevalent as it could have been. I honestly can't imagine the masterpiece this game would have been has those issues been cleared up, but for the first time in a long time, I wanted to explore the world. I wanted to hunt rare monsters. I wanted to defeat the challenging espers. Sure, they were mostly useless once you obtained them, but the fights were so much fun. My whole experience with Final Fantasy XII was fun. Is Final Fantasy XII perfect? No, it has its glaring flaws, but for this list, it is all about the fun factor. Final Fantasy XII truly entertained me.