QCF: Balan WonderWorld

here are developers out there who hold some of the highest prestige in the industry from their work on a few, or even just iconic game—some of these developers have gone on to do great things in the current day scene, and then there are some who are just stuck in the past.

Yuji Naka’s Balan WonderWorld is an indictment of the latter because the new release from Arzest and the Balan Company is seemingly engineered to compete with platformer games released back in 2003 more than anything else. At its core, Balan Wonderworld plays like a pale imitation of the Super Mario Odyssey formula dressed up in a bad NiGHTs into Dreams aesthetic…

I know I started marching my steps strong and heavy with the Poo Poo Parade real early into this review but I honestly can’t help it; for every neat idea the game seems to have, it comes back with three more flaws or design choices that put a big sour on any fun to be found.

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QCF: Secret of Mana

ack when RPG’s were barely beginning to pick up in sales with western gamers in the 16-bit era, there was a humble release from a little-known company by the name of SquareSoft, named Secret of Mana—it revolutionized the genre for years to come.

Even 25 years after its initial launch on the SNES, the game has been ported time, and time again for the modern generation, with waves of new players also falling for its vibrant color palate, sprite work, and timeless action-oriented battle system. Strangely enough though, for all of the re-releases that Secret of Mana has seen, the game has never received a full-fledged remastered release on modern consoles up until now, with Square developing a new 3D rendered-revision exclusively for PlayStation 4, Vita, and Steam.

While the core gameplay from Koichi Ishii’s classic has still managed to have aged gracefully, the game engine’s translation over to a 3D-rendered world and models aren’t anywhere near as elegant as it should be, resulting in an admittedly beautiful, but undeniably underwhelming version of the beloved RPG.

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PPR at the Movies: Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light Review

he impact that a video game can have on any one person and the relationships that they share with the people closest to them is hardly a foreign concept these days, but it’s certainly one that hasn’t had the best representation in films or television that that use it as the main framing artifice for a character-driven narrative.

Whether it’s the light-hearted classic, The Wizard, where a bunch of kids embark on a journey of self-discovery through their shared love of gaming, or Reign over me, a more somber film about a traumatized man who’s coping with the death of his family through his PlayStation 2; this MacGuffin has a storied history of good intentions, and awful execution.

In spite of this checkered past, Square-Enix took on a gamble to collaborate with Japanese media company Oricon to tell the story of a son concocting an elaborate plan to rekindle the bond between him and his estranged father through the iconic MMO, A Realm Reborn: Final Fantasy XIV within an eight episode series.

While the premise sounds like one that’s ripe for gross exploitation, the end-result is thankfully much more heartfelt in its presentation, as Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light strives on to be a touching tale of the human condition that manages to authentically capture the timeless charm of Final Fantasy in the process.

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QCF: I Am Setsuna

he status quo of the modern-day JRPG is getting more, and more polarizing by the year—and a lot of that has to do with the two very distinct audiences that the genre has gradually come to cater to. The term “JRPG” generally triggers thoughts of nostalgia for the genre’s heyday on the original PlayStation and SNES in the nineties, but lately, the definition has expanded into different territories that are now more synonymous with the style, with conventions like relationship building, and permanent character deaths.

There aren’t many earnest options around for the old camp of fans these days, and that’s what makes the original JRPG giant’s attempt to recapture that magic with I Am Setsuna so intriguing, and maybe even a little admirable in some aspects.

The new game from Square Enix is one that spares little time in chasing a legacy that most considered long forgotten, and while some of its methods used to deliver that experience are a bit rough, it still manages to be a memorable love letter that charmingly romanticizes the charms that defined what the genre used to be.

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PPR Presents Play Play: Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

t’s always a joy when the west gets a Final Fantasy game that they originally missed out on, and the deal sounds even sweeter when the game gets an HD facelift to boot; which is why it’s disappointing that this long lost Final Fantasy gem is so disappointing, and violent too.

Like, weirdly violent, if adorably birds being bloodied death doesn’t sound like a good time, then consider this your trigger warning, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD has lots of this shit from the start…

Ser and George attempt to find the fun that the game has to offer, and discuss design elements that they feel would be more ideal for an action RPG title (and they’ll try to find as many as they can in this pretty mess of game too.)

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QCF: Life Is Strange: Episode 3: Chaos Theory

t’s only Wednesday, and already, this week is turning out to be one of the of craziest happenings that you’ve ever lived. Following the aftermath of the life-changing event that the last episode ended with, Max Caulfield is stuck at the heart of the fallout caused from it, and is left with even more questions than answers about her control over the flow of time, but more importantly, she questions just who and what is more important to her as well.

Chaos Theory is the long awaited third entry of the running episodic game of Life is Strange, and while we’re still two more episodes away from the final conclusion of it all; it’s safe to say that this chapter could be the best episode of the series hands-down.

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QCF: Life Is Strange: Episode 2: Out of Time

he last time we saw Max Caldwell, she was coming to grips with confiding the truth about her time bending abilities to the closest friend that she has ever come to know, and the vulnerability on display is one of the central themes at work in Out of Time; the second episode to the saga of Life is Strange.

While a fate bigger than Max hangs over her head and that of Arcadia Bay, this follow-up installment seems to lose perspective on the stage that’s been set into motion, and the result is more baffling than it is effectual.

Without spoiling too much, Max is beginning to get more of a grasp on her situation, thanks to the comfort of sharing her unbelievable situation with Chloe Price; and much of the episode’s content focuses on where they go from there.

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QCF: Life is Strange: Episode 1: Chrysalis

eenage Adolescence is that weird phase that will most likely stick with us in life more than any other period of our existence, the one identity that everyone is most likely to blur in and out of in their adult life, for better, or for worse. Now imagine having the power to rewind back the flow of space and time to cater to your every whim and desire, or a chance to divert back the makings of a teenage crisis that you could never possibly stomach living down—that’s a promising proposition right?

Well, it’s never really ever that simple, and Dontnod Entertainment’s Life is Strange offers a unique twist on the foundation of choice-driven gameplay that emphasizes that one decision isn’t always easier than the other, and the result creates for engaging roller-coaster of discovery and tragedy.

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