5. Bravely Default Comes to North America
This has been a long time coming. I know many people have been anticipating this game. I myself have been wanting this game since 2011. I actually bought my 3DS because of this game.
But now that it’s here, there’s just one question to ask: Was it worth it?
Hell yeah!
The game has easily become one of my all-time favorites. The city rebuild was a cool idea. Having the ability to assist your friends with attacks and city building was well executed. And the battle system was just incredible. There were a couple of issues but they could easily be overlooked for all the good that was in the game.
I’m reminded of a review that YouTuber ProJared did for the game where he called it “the best Final Fantasy game [Square Enix has] made in over a decade.” That’s a pretty bold statement when Final Fantasy XII, one of 21 games to have received a perfect score from Famitsu (and the 6th to do so), was within that decade. Then again, Final Fantasy XIII-2 was also given a perfect score, so take it for what it’s worth.
But it should be noted that this is another great Japanese RPG to release in the past couple of years. First you had Xenoblade Chronicles, which brought life into the sub-genre by showing what a grand JRPG could look like. Then you had Ni no Kuni, which strengthened this new revival with its excellent visual design, music, and just overall greatness. Bravely Default deserves a spot with the previously mentioned grand JRPGs, which all deserve recognition as three of the best RPGs of all-time.
4. Ralph Baer, Home Gaming Pioneer, Dies
A sad time for the gaming world as the father of home gaming, Ralph Baer, passed away this month.
For those too young to know of a time without home gaming… which pretty much includes everyone that volunteers here and most of the readership… gaming started very modestly. The earliest attempt started back in 1947 with some cathode ray tubes trying to position a dot on a screen with overlays used in place of graphics. Some more attempts at gaming would come around, but you wouldn’t really get a home console until 1972, when Baer’s “Brown Box” became the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home gaming console.
The Odyssey was very rudimentary. You would have 12 different game cards (although only 11 were sold) that allowed for 27 games to be played. The console would only show a couple of dots and some overlays in place of graphics.
But this was just the start of something awesome. As I sit here typing this, I’m looking at my Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PS1, PS2, GameCube, and Wii. Meanwhile, I’m watching videos of gameplay from games on PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U.
The Odyssey may have been primitive by today’s standards, but it was a major milestone that lead to the consoles we have today. And if you’re in the Washington, D.C. area, you should head to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History and see Baer’s Brown Box prototype.
Coming up next, we have a couple of Nintendo-flavored moments.
