As I have probably mentioned before, I like playing games (especially RPGs with a fantasy theme). Although I am mainly a PC gamer and don’t own any consoles, I have found the PC gaming scenario as rather lacking, in this particular genre. I mean there really aren’t that many games out there which are good RPGs with a fantasy theme. So I decided to do something about it. My parents are rather strict with my game-playing and simply refused to buy me an XBox or Playstation. So I had to go for emulation. For those of you who do not know, emulation is when you run a game meant for a certain platform, on another platform (like running a XBox game on a PC) by using a program called an emulator. Emulators are specific for the platform that they will be emulating and the platform on which they will be emulated. As of now most emulators work only on the PC. You can find an amazingly well organized collection of these emulators at www.emulator-zone.com. They have the latest emulators for each platform, which are updated constantly. I naturally wanted to run some Playstation games on my PC like Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden Black, and such titles. But the problem was with finding the ROMs. ROMs by the way are the compressed read-only files that have been copied ROM game chips and cds/dvds by certain people (pirates?), and these files are used on certain emulators to play the game on a different platform. So like I said, I could not find any good ROMs. So I had to bid goodbye to my wish of playing Onimusha, or the others.
But wait! Is my quest truly over? Or do I simply have to look at the problem from a different angle? Thinking of the latter, I decided to approach the quest to quench my thirst for fantasy-RPGs from a different source. Instead of looking to the newer consoles, I decided to opt for some the older ones. How about SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System), or GBA (Game Boy Advance). They have a good collection of titles to their name all the ROMs for which are easily available (you can find the complete collection of GBA ROMs at www.emuparadise.org , check out their ROMs section). So that’s what I did. I scoured the net, got some emulators (NO$GBA is the best for GBA, and ZSNES is best for SNES titles), got some titles and now I am totally hooked. These platforms (especially the GBA has dearth of fantasy-RPG titles, and my thirst is finally on the way to be quenched.
Well now that we are on the topic of fantasy-RPG titles, I think it would be unfair if I did not share some of my experience with my dedicated readers. One of the best titles I have played on the GBA is ‘Fire Emblem’ and its successor ‘Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones’. The two games have different story lines with nothing to link them except for their name and gameplay. Both have been built on the exact same gameplay structure, with the latter having some newer features. For those of you who haven’t already, I would strongly advice that you get these games and play them. I will be glad of your opinion on them. By a strange twist of fate, I got hold of the latter one first and played it and liked it. The storyline is mind-boggling, the graphics are excellent for the platform and gameplay requires brains rather than speed. This is one thing that I really like about these type of games, especially tactics games; the fact that you really have to think rather than just move. It’s almost like playing a chess game. You have to the strength and weakness of each of your characters and must use them wisely at the right time, and against the right enemy. Now I have gotten hold of ‘Fire Emblem’ and am playing through it. The graphics are as good as ever and gameplay is immersive. It is a little different from its successor concerning a few points, which I will let my dear readers find out by themselves.
I plan to write (in this space, of course) the stories of ‘Fire Emblem’ and ‘Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones’. When I say, the stories, I actually mean to say that I will elaborate the stories of these two fantastic titles, spice it up with a few situations and dialogues of my own (keeping the base plot exactly the same), and present it to my readers. It will give me immense pleasure to write on these amazing titles, and (who knows?) I might even end up writing a few poems for it.
But that will have to wait for a latter time. I have my ICSE exams this march and as this will be one of the most exams of my life, I plan to (yes I actually plan to) work hard for it. So I will not have much time for my readers, I am afraid. But not to worry. As soon as April begins, I will really get down to some rapid writing and deliver the best that I can to my readers. So bye bye for now. And best of luck for all those who have similar exams.
Kyle…
