The rise of simulated fantasy is all around us.
Sometimes I want to play games where I can summon Ifrit and fight enemies on the sides of buildings. Other times I want to leap across moving platforms, flatten enemies with my butt, and collect shiny stuff. But then there’re times when I want to play a game where I get dysentery and have to crawl through the woods inch by inch following the sound of buzzing flies to a dead body so I can loot it for supplies.
Hesitant about FF XIV? Understandable, but you may be surprised....
It's unprecedented for an MMORPG to get a second curtain call, but that's exactly what's happening with Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. It's an almost completely rebuilt version of the disastrous original that is going to get a second chance at life next month. After playing a good amount of the Phase 3 beta, I’m ready to believe that the game could right all of the wrongs of its 2010 release.
I don’t even know what this game is, but I love it.
Nostalgia is a powerful force, pulling you towards memories of your youth that seem so charming and innocent. It’s something we love to bask in and dream about for hours. Hearing someone wax on about their own tales of yore can be less than thrilling, though, if you grew up in a different time or a different culture. We’ve all been stuck – bored – listening to endless droning about someone’s glory days that we just couldn’t relate to. Which is why I am completely baffled that the 1970s Japanese summer vacation nostalgia trip, Attack of the Friday Monsters, kept me engrossed from start to finish and filled me with the same warmth I feel when I look back on my own childhood memories.