D.G.M.’s Gaming Life Before Gaming Respawn Part 11

Hey there everyone, this will be a special edition of “D.G.M.’s Gaming Life Before Gaming Respawn” since I will not be discussing a bunch of games that are all part of the same series. Most of the games I will be discussing in this article and the next are part of separate series, I just don’t follow any of them. Without further ado, let the discussion begin.

Battle Arena Toshinden 2 (PS1)

I assume most gamers today wouldn’t even recognize this game. Hell, even I’m having a hard time remembering it since this was the very first PlayStation game I ever owned, even pre-dating the first Crash Bandicoot. One of my cousins owned the first Battle Arena Toshinden before I even had my own PlayStation, and I enjoyed the few times I was able to play it. When I eventually got my own PlayStation, my dad got me Battle Arena Toshinden 2 since he was unable to find the first one. I was initially devastated because I had my heart set on the first one and believed the sequel simply wouldn’t measure up. Thankfully, my shortsightedness didn’t last and I learned the sequel was even better than the first.

Despite the fact my video gaming skills back then were abysmal and I couldn’t pull off combos to save my life until I got a little older, I beat the game with every fighter, so I clearly enjoyed it. And in my defense, the combos were overly complicated. The armored knight with a huge broadsword named Duke B. Rambert was by far my favorite fighter, with sword wielding “pretty boy” Kayin Amoh as a close second. My dad would play the game every once in a while as either the heavily muscled club wielder Rungo Iron or the spear wielding Mondo. Even my little sister, who would normally stick to racing titles on those rare occasions where she would play video games, would play as either tonfa wielding police woman Tracy or as dual dagger wielding fairy girl Ellis (man, I hated that character). If you’re curious about these characters’ appearances and fighting styles, well that’s what Google Images and Youtube are for.

It’s hard for me to score this game because my memory of it is fading with each passing year, so I can’t reliably compare it to all the other games I’ve played over the years. I can’t even remember what I did with the game back in my early teens (I may have sold it in a garage sale or something). In any case, I do remember it wasn’t quite as fun or even accessible as other fighting games I played later on, such as Tekken 3 (which I will discuss very soon) and the many Dragon Ball Z games I played (which I will not discuss in my feature, it would be like talking about the same two games five times). Still, I enjoyed the times I was able to play this game with a couple of my family members. Battle Arena Toshinden 2 gets a score of 75%.

Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

I think it was Kane who revealed this was his favorite Final Fantasy game in one of his top 10 lists published during this site’s early months, and he apparently enjoyed the game even more than Final Fantasy VII, the game that pretty much everyone else finds to be the best in the series. Believe it or not, Final Fantasy VIII is the only Final Fantasy game I’ve ever played, so by default that makes it my favorite game of the series as well. I never got into the other games in the series and I only got into this game as a teen when I saw a friend of mine playing it. I played the game multiple times during my teens and maybe a couple of times during my early 20s, but get this: To this day, I still haven’t beaten the game. I could never get past the very beginning of the fourth and final CD thanks to that bitch of a she-male named Sorceress Adel. I was always severely underpowered when I faced her and she’d destroy me every single time. I think this means I need to spend some time on the side-missions to power myself up the next time I play the game.

I always enjoyed this game each time I played it, and I especially enjoyed its story. All the main characters are likeable in their own ways and the way they grow and change really drives the story forward: Squall is a loner who deals with his fear of abandonment by treating others with callous indifference, Zell is a hothead who proves his loyalty to his friends time and time again, Selphie is the bubbly cheerleader of the team, Quistis is a strong woman who tends to doubt her own resolve at times, Rinoa is the kind-hearted “I love everyone” type who tries to see the best in others, and Irvine is the sensitive type who covers up his vulnerability behind the facade of a playboy with a cowboy hat. Even a lot of the villains in this game tended to not be pure evil and had some redeeming qualities to them…except Seifer, he’s an asshole. The combination of drama and humor in the narrative, as well as the military and fantasy elements of the unique game world, really drew me into this game.

The gameplay was also fun, and this is coming from someone who normally prefers standard combat over turn-based combat. The Junction system used to customize each characters’ spells and abilities is initially rather daunting and seems highly complicated, but in fact it’s easy to get the hang of, especially after you get more powerful spells to integrate in each characters’ arsenal. And I’ve always loved summoning those GFs (Guardian Forces) to teach enemies who’s boss with their explosive elemental attacks. Despite the fact this game is quite long and tends to drag at times, it’s highly addicting and makes you want to keep going. Someday I plan on going back and finishing this game once and for all, I really feel like I’m missing out on not finishing the story. While I have yet to play through the last quarter of the game, I still think it’s awesome and it’s one of my favorite games. Final Fantasy VIII gets a score of 93%.

Tekken 3 (PS1)

Boy, did I play the crap out of this game in my youth. Every now and then I would play a bit of the first Tekken and Tekken 2 when hanging out with my brother and uncle, respectively, but when I finally got Tekken 3 for myself, I almost never stopped playing it. I beat the game more times than I can count, at least one time with all fighters, and a number of other times with my favorite fighters, which were Yoshimitsu, King, Gun Jack, and Jin Kazama. I’m not even a big fan of fighting games, but I really liked how this game played. All the fighters had their own unique fighting styles and learning to master each one was simply a blast.

I also spent a good deal of time playing other modes in the game like Tekken Ball Mode, where two fighters hit a large volleyball with their strongest fighting moves in an effort to damage each other with it. Tekken Force Mode had you take control of a fighter and beat up a bunch of Heihachi Mishima’s Tekken Force soldiers through these Streets of Rage-esque levels. Sadly, I never beat this mode and since I got rid of the game a while back, I likely never will. Honestly, some of the best times I had with this game was playing it with my parents and siblings, which was quite unusual since most of them aren’t really into video games, with the exception of my brother. Even my step-mom, who is strictly anti-video game, kicked a surprising amount of ass with Eddy Gordo (she was still no match for me though).

Even though it’s been well over a decade since I last played this game and my memory of it isn’t where I’d like it to be, this was one of my favorite games back in the day and it brought me much joy during my highly annoying teen years. As I said though, fighting games aren’t my favorite genre and they have limited appeal for me, which keeps this game from getting a perfect score, though it is close. Tekken 3 gets a score of 90%.

Hope you enjoyed this sort of special edition of my feature discussing some of my oldest PlayStation games. The fun will continue with next week’s “D.G.M.’s Gaming Life Before Gaming Respawn” as I discuss some former PS2 games that I enjoyed in the past, not all necessarily to the same degree. In the meantime, celebrate the spirit of Christmas with us by checking out some more of our site’s reading material and helping us rack up those views:

“Candy” Kane has taken it upon himself to provide us with an alternative review of Rainbow Six: Siege. Will this new trend of different reviewers writing about the same games lead to a new age of brotherly cooperation among us Gaming Respawners, or will it open the floodgates to an onrush of disagreements and nerd battles the likes of which we’ve never seen? Looks like a win-win either way, so find out how Kane’s opinion of Rainbow Six: Siege compares to Ian’s by clicking here.

Take a look at this article about a gamer who has himself an unusual accident, but fortunately also has friends who prove this is indeed the season of giving.

It’s more than clear by now that Michael believes the boys and girls at Konami deserve nothing more than giant-sized lumps of coal in their Christmas stockings. But even Mr. Fitzgerald felt that taking a different approach with Konami was in order, so instead of simply putting them on blast, he’s decided to point out the error of Konami’s ways with a point by point list of their biggest transgressions, along with some accompanying solutions. It appears Michael just wants to help Konami improve themselves as a company: If that’s not a perfect example of the holiday spirit, then I don’t know what is. Check out Michael’s Konami-themed “flaws and solutions” list right over here.

Michael also barely holds himself back from asking Street Fighter II Turbo to bear his children in his latest “Retro Respawn”. To again quote Michael, take a “goosey gander” at his entertaining little feature here.