Best Game About Expanding Green Target Grids EVER
Quietly arriving on PS1 back in 2000 and coming with a demo disc was Squaresoft’s sleeper hit Vagrant Story. As soon as the game begins, the player is greeted with an engaging cinematic prologue thick with atmosphere and featuring a Western-flavored art style rarely seen in games coming out of Japan. And no wonder - character and background designer Akihiko Yoshida once stated in an old interview that Vagrant Story had been designed based on many non-Japanese influences. Accompanying Yoshida and long time collaborator was director Yasumi Matsuno. The two worked together and are largely responsible for the excellence of such titles as Ogre Battle, Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Final Fantasy XII.

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A battle rages as the Embryon and Vanguard tribes fight for new territory in the Junkyard. You are Serph, Leader of the Embryon, and battling along side you are your lieutenants Argilla, Gale, Cielo and Heat. The battle is cut short by a falling object from the sky that crashes in the center of the battlefield. Just then a transmission from the Karma Temple, the governing body of the Junkyard, is sent to the Embyon and Vanguard tribes. They are to destroy the pod or face the consequences. Before they can act, the pod opens and light streaks across the battlefield giving everyone in the Junkyard the ability to turn into demons with an uncontrollable hunger to feed. And so begins one of the best RPGs on the PS2, Digital Devil Saga.

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Best Game About Exploding Penguins EVER! Welcome to the Netherworld, a spooky land of demons and indebted souls, where everyone is trying way too hard to be evil. The main protagonist is an anti-hero demon named Laharl, Prince of the Overlord. The Overlord is pretty much God in the Netherworld. Unfortunately, he died – choked on a black pretzel. So now, Laharl has to prove himself as a capable Overlord. At Laharl’s side is Etna, his number one vassal and dominatrix-like employer of the Prinny Squad. From the overly clean and sparkly land of Celestia comes the timid angel trainee Flonne, and from Earth comes the overly-dramatic space marine Gordon. The Netherworld is filled with would-be Overlords who take it upon themselves to challenge Laharl’s inherited throne. Each of the main characters is developed nicely with a unique personality. Now this is not a blockbuster story. While there are, to a certain degree, messages to be conveyed, it’s nothing too profound. This game will NOT motivate you to: respect your elders, be free of your fear of death, dissolve your ego, love your planet, or resolve to be a better person. What it WILL do is make you laugh, dood.

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Tales of Symphonia begins in the dying land of Sylvarant. The land is slowly losing its mana which supports life and is the source of its magic. The only hope for the people is the chosen one who must complete the Journey of World Regeneration and cure the world. Her name is Colette Brunel and it is your job, Lloyd Irving, to see that she completes her quest to save the world. In order to complete the Journey of World Regeneration you and your party must travel to the different continents in the world and awaken the Summon Spirits. Each spirit summoned helps transform Colette into an angel that will have the power to regenerate the world.

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On the way to visit your sick teacher at Shinjuku Medical Center, you fall asleep on the subway and dream that the world is coming to an end. You awake when the train stops to an empty subway station. You finally make your way to the Shinjuku Medical Center only to find it is also strangely empty except for your friend Chiaki Hayasaka waiting in the lobby for your arrival. When you finally reach your teacher you witness the destruction of Tokyo. During the destruction you black out and meet a small boy who gives you the key to survival in this new world. You have been given the power of a demon and it is now time to prepare the world to be reborn. And so begins the dark epic tale of Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne.

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