Decreasing Quality of RPGs

Playing through recent RPG's has become tedious to me for some reason, and the more I think about it, the more I can pinpoint the reasons. I never want to be wherever I am. "Puzzle"-ridden castles/dungeons that have me going in circles fighting the same enemies for 3 hours straight with a battle system that requires me to press the action button until the battle ends is just unimaginative. And by puzzles I mean don't get lost looking for all four buttons that open the door at the end. RPG's have become less and less worthy of my dollar over the years. Battle systems that require no effort to win battles, or are just time consuming to use are also a considerable issue. The attack button shouldn't be the only button you press during a battle. Attack, attack, attack, heal, repeat doesn't exactly cut it either.

MMOs: The Right Way

      Many MMORPG's have released, only to flop. You may think to yourself, other, more popular games are to blame. [sarcasm] (Not talking about WoW) [/sarcasm] Forgive me, but I'll be referencing WoW several times in this article. Truth be told, games like WoW aren't hurting other MMO's but more than likely helping them.  How many newer gamers without any MMO experience, would pick up a subscription based game without any previous experience? WoW provides a way for newer online players to experience an MMO that's done properly. It touches on a lot of areas players enjoy, such as dungeons, socializing, uniqueness, custom events, and polish.

Final Fantasy XIV: The Making of

    As you may know, Final Fantasy XIV is coming out next month, as a previous player of Final Fantasy XI, news of this release was nothing short of exciting. My largest concerns about FFXI were the lack of quests, and large amounts of time it took to do even the smallest things, considering the battle and movement speeds. I remember trying to do one quest with a fellow linkshell member that literally took all day, and even after putting so much time into it, we still didn't manage to complete it. But not to worry, from the looks of the newest Final Fantasy, my problems should be alleviated, from the faster, stamina based battle system, to the guildleves supplying more quests instead of large amounts of grinding. With any luck, I should be able to get you a preview sometime soon.

If you're interested in the developer's journals, you can find links below to hold you over until that preview finally arrives.

The Making of a Realm 1: Character Customization
The Making of a Realm 2: Monsters
The Making of a Realm 3: Equipment
The Making of a Realm 4: Background Concepts
The Making of a Realm 5: Cutscenes