After a heavy deluge of games these last few weeks, we now find ourselves with a bit of a breather. Now, you could certainly play Helldivers II, CLeM, and HunterX: code name T, but I’m guessing you probably won’t, so….watch this video instead:

Top Releases:

Helldivers II (PC/PS5) – Releases Feb. 8^th

Developed by: Arrowhead Game Studios
Published by: PlayStation Studios

CLeM (PC/Switch) – Releases Feb. 6^th

Developed by: Mango Protocol
Published by: Iceberg Interactive

HunterX: code name T (Switch) – Releases Feb. 6^th

Developed by: Orange Popcorn
Published by: Orange Popcorn

I guess if you were going to play ANYTHING new this week, you might as well check out Resident Evil 4 if you haven’t already. While you’re about one year late, the Gold Edition contains a treasure trove of goodies, including the DLC adventure Separate Ways, which I’ve heard is possibly better than the main campaign.

Oh, and Atomic Heart got some more DLC, it’s called Trapped in Limbo. Knock yourself out.

Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition (PC/PS4/PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 9^th

Atomic Heart: Trapped in Limbo (PC/PS4/PS5/Xbox One/Series X|S) – Releases Feb. 6^th

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 years ago:

The new release slate might be light, but the notable titles are all pretty strong. Not, like, GOTY contenders, but certainly stuff that had a bit of meat to ’em.

First up is 2014’s Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. It’s a little odd that the most maligned, at the time, Final Fantasy game received two full follow-up games, but the game did sell over 7 million copies around the world, so there was money to be made, I guess. Personally, I never understood the dislike of FFXIII, it’s one of my favorites in the entire series, and perhaps that is why it received these follow-up games, it must have struck a chord in some people.

In Lightning Returns, players take on the role of Lightning, the protagonist of FFXIII, as she awakens from a 500 year, self-imposed hibernation in order to try and save the world in its last days. With the world’s end on a countdown timer, players must complete Lightning Returns in 10-13 game days, roughly 20 to 36 hours, depending on various factors. The game’s combat is a mix of FFXIII’s ATB and FFX-2’s dressphere system, called the “Style-Change Battle System”. In other words, it’s kind of turn based and kind of real time action based, a modern Final Fantasy game, basically.

Lightning’s powers and abilities change depending on the clothes she wears, making her fashion a key design element of the game. To create her elaborate outfits, the art team brought in Square Enix artist Toshiyuki Itahana, who had made several of the clothing designs in Final Fantasy XI, as well as one of our other notable titles from this week, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. While Square had wanted to impress critics with the game’s graphics and design, most of them panned the visuals.

In general, critics were mostly unimpressed with Lightning Returns, finding it to be too difficult, too confusing, and too “Final Fantasy“, which at this point seemed to be a franchise synonymous with high expectations and low returns. It’s not surprising, then, that the entire FFXIII trilogy is locked to its original consoles, I doubt many players are clamoring for its return, though we might see that tune change around its 20th anniversary, when we all get nostalgic for it again. If you’d like to play the game today you can pick it up on PC through Steam.

Moving to 2004, we have another Final Fantasy game, the co-op adventure Crystal Chronicles. While the Final Fantasy franchise was made famous on Nintendo’s hardware in the late 1980’s, Squaresoft (now Square Enix) had not released an FF game on a Nintendo home console since Final Fantasy VI in 1994. The release of Crystal Chronicles on GameCube was a big deal, and that it was exclusive was an ever bigger deal. How did Nintendo pull this off? Simple, Square was desperate for cash. The failure of their animated film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within almost destroyed the company, being one of the key drivers behind their merge with rival developer/publisher Enix.

However, while it was exciting to have Final Fantasy on the GameCube again, the game did not play in any way like a traditional turn based RPG. Instead, Crystal Chronicle was a hack & slash adventure game that relied heavily on multiplayer functionality. While the game was designed for solo play in mind, with players entering dungeons where they must protect a vessel that collects myrrh, a type of resource that is highly sought after. This is trickier when played alone, so multiplayer is the key. However, it isn’t as simple as plugging in more GameCube controllers, no. You had to plug in a Game Boy Advance.

If you were around in the early 2000’s, you’ll remember that Nintendo just seemed to have a strong aversion to making their consoles internet friendly. While a game like Crystal Chronicles would have been PERFECT for online multiplayer, Square was forced to rely on local multiplayer, requiring players to bring over their GBA, plug it into the GameCube using the link cable, use THAT as their controller, and read stats and other bits of info on their screens. It’s a cool idea, but would have been so much better over the internet.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was very well received by critics in both Japan and the West, where it received high marks for its unconventional and unique gameplay. However, critics felt that the game could have been a lot better if Square had put a little bit more effort into the game’s pacing and length, calling it both too short and too repetitive. They also, surprise, found the multiplayer requirements far too steep for entry level players, essentially telling players and parents that they would need to purchase three GBA’s to experience the full power of the game (or know at least three people with GBA’s to hang out with you).

A remastered edition of the game released in 2020 on the Switch and PS4 and, yes, this time you could play the game online with friends, though multiple outlets said the multiplayer was changed in such a way to make it nearly impossible to play due to a bizarre matchmaking system that has you joining up with three random players instead of being able to host your friends. Three more Crystal Chronicles games would release on various other Nintendo platforms, Ring of Fates, Echoes of Time, and The Crystal Bearers.

We now head back to 1994, leaving Final Fantasy behind to talk about the SNK fighting game Art of Fighting 2. While you might be more familiar with SNK’s other fighting game franchise, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting is set in that game’s continuity, taking place nearly ten years earlier. In Art of Fighting 2, players get to see the rise and fall of Geese Howard, going from decorated police chief to ruthless crime lord of Southtown.

The game’s fighting style was re-worked to give less emphasis on special moves and more emphasis on direct hits and proper use of your “rage gauge”, a new bar that allows you to unleash devastating hits on your opponent. Critics were very kind to Art of Fighting 2, calling it one the best fighting games to come out in years, feeling as if it surpassed Street Fighter II. While you could get an arcade accurate port for the Neo Geo, at a very steep price, an SNES port never made it West, though it was for the best as it is considered one of the worst ports in SNK’s library. If you’d like to play the game today, you can! It is easily available on all modern consoles as a digital download, so check it out!

Switching gears to notable films, 2014 saw the release of The Lego Movie, something that seemed so bizarre and unnecessary, until we all saw it and went “ohhhhh, okay, that’s a fun movie“. 2004’s notable film is the Disney ice hockey drama Miracle, which tells the story of the 1980 Men’s U.S. Hockey Team and their triumphant victory over Russia at the Winter Olympics. Dubbed the “Miracle on Ice”, the United States’ win over Russia is considered one the greatest sports moments of all time. Lastly, from 1994, we have another Disney film, the family comedy Blank Check.

It’s the very believable story of a tween boy named Preston, who receives a blank check from a gang of crooks and, of course, is able to cash it for one millions dollars. Preston uses the money to buy a bunch of crazy shit and live in a mansion with a hot FBI agent. The crooks eventually catch on and Preston turns the mansion into a Home Alone-esque trap house, making the crooks lives a living nightmare of baseballs to the nuts and bad one liners. The movie sucks, but I love it when I was a kid.

Moving to music, 2014’s notable album is the self titled debut from †††, or Crosses, if you’re trying to figure out how to say †††. If you’re unaware, Crosses is a side project of Deftones front man, and my doppelganger, Chino Moreno. I’ve never listened to it, but people I know that smoke weed think the band is tight. 2004’s notable album should probably be Kanye West’s debut, but fuck him, so let’s give the honor to Nellie McKay’s debut album, Get Away From Me. The British singer spent her formative years in New York City, going to music school and performing in local jazz clubs around the city. Her singing grabbed the attention of record executives and she was signed to Colombia Records. Generating considerable buzz, Get Away From Me turned McKay into a star and saw her opening for Alanis Morrissette and Barenaked Ladies, allowing her to continue to work as a musician today.

1994’s notable album is another important record for the 1990’s punk rock explosion, 24 Hour Revenge Therapy by Jawbreaker. While not as commercially successful as their Bay Area contemporaries, Green Day, Jawbreaker was able to gain notoriety and attention just by being part of the sub culture. After a successful tour with Nirvana, the band went into the studio with acclaimed producer/musician Steve Albini who served as the album’s engineer. Featuring a sound that was less pop-punk and more punk-alternative, Jawbreaker’s sound would probably be best described today as “indie rock”. They were kind of the prototype for the early days of emo, which morphed into melodic hardcore, which is kind of where we ended up with indie rock.

However, Jawbreaker, particularly lead singer/guitarist Blake Schwarzenbach would probably hate all of the labels put on his music and band. The idea of “selling out” was a big topic in 1994 when it came to punk. After about 20 years in the underground, the scene had achieved mainstream status and so, to Schwarzenbach, if “punk” is doing the opposite of what you expect, then maybe “selling out” was more punk than just staying in the gutter and playing shows for 20 people in a small basement. This is most exemplified on the track “Boxcar”, in which Schwarzenbach takes aim at the punk rock scene and basically tells them to fuck off. In the end, Schwarzenbach may have gotten a bit too wrapped up in his success and status, with the band breaking up in 1996 due to tensions between the members.

Schwarzenbach would spend his post Jawbreaker time writing freelance reviews of video games, nice, before going on to form another important emo/indie rock band Jets to Brazil. With the continued rise of pop-punk and emo in the early 2000’s, bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance would cite Jawbreaker as a direct influence, bringing renewed attention to the band. However, it would be over 20 years before Jawbreaker got back together, headlining the 2017 Riot Fest before embarking on various tours. Jawbreaker is probably one of those bands you’ve always heard about but never listened to. Do yourself a favor, check out 24 Hour Revenge Therapy this week, it’s worth the hype.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (PS3/Xbox 360) – Released Feb. 11^th, 2014: Wiki Link

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GameCube) – Released Feb. 9^th, 2004: Wiki Link

Art of Fighting 2 (Arcade) – Released Feb. 3^rd, 1994: Wiki Link

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