Many PS1 RPGs with heavy Anime aesthetics had dating sim elements in the game. Yet, very few of them were ever localized west. Thousand Arms, which was published by Atlus, is one of few such games that was ported West.Honestly, if this...

2020 sure was a shitty year. The entire planet was engulfed in a pandemic with never-before-seen consequences. My heart goes to the many people affected by both the health and economic impacts of COVID-19. I was lucky in only being con...

Vanguard Bandits, known as Epica Stella in Japan, is one of those obscure quintessential Japanese games that would have never been released West if not for companies such as Working Designs which thrived on porting them. It's a Tactica...

With the massive success and revolutionary impact of Super Mario 64, it was natural for more 3D Platformers to be developed. Platforming was proven to work in a 3D environment. However, most of the early attempts at 3D Platformers outs...

Released relatively late in the PS1 life cycle, Dragon Dogma was touted as an Action RPG with some relatively decent graphics and combat. I don't know if that genre classification is what caused it, but the game was considered to be a ...

In a telling signal of its diminishing legacy, several reviews of Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare suggested that it was heavily inspired by Capcom's Resident Evil series, which is obvious to anyone looking at both games in the con...

The PS1 proves to have a strong library with a pretty solid top 80-71 games according to the Retro Sanctuary List. However, the list continues to select poor titles among those that deserve the honor. Of the below game, two are outrigh...

(Since I just finished my reviews of both Breath of Fire III & IV, I decided to repost my "Where the Hell is Breath of Fire?" blog with some modifications, the original post was nearly five years ago on 11/29/2015) In many ways, th...

I don't think either fans or Capcom itself would have predicted that Breath of Fire IV would be the last traditional game in the series. After all, it was released with a lot of love from Capcom, and it looked like it was setting up th...

Both on the SNES and the PS1, Capcom’s Breath of Fire series was rarely considered as examples of the system’s best RPGs. In many ways, they felt too formulaic and safe to be contenders for greatness. On the PS1, where grap...

For those reading one of my DS review blogs for the first time, here is the basic concept: The DS is one of the greatest consoles ever, and it had a massive games library. Despite playing a lot of DS games a huge number of great under-...

The retirement of the space-based JRPG franchise, Phantasy Star, allowed for another to shine in its place. For many people, the second game in the Star Ocean series is a true masterpiece. Yet, it is rarely considered as one of the top PS1 ...

In many ways, Matrix Software's Action-Adventure games were invariably inspired by and compared to The Legend of Zelda series. In fact, the original Alundra was heavily inspired by A Link to the Past both in its look and structure.Carr...

Alundra is widely considered a spiritual sequel to the great Genesis game, Landstalker. Yet, other than the clear A Link to the Past (ALttP) influence, the game is nothing like it.It has a much more serious story, and the gameplay loop...

The PlayStation 1 had such a massive library of games that it is impossible to do it justice with a simple top 100 games list. As such, I decided to supplement my usual review of a top 100 games list (this time, I used the top 100 PS1 ...

The first Blaster Master game was released in the second half of the console's life cycle, a little after most of its iconic early games have already been released. It managed to gain critical acclaim and a dedicated following because ...

Imagine The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past but with much less charming graphics that didn't age very well, an unimpressive soundtrack, and some painfully slow gameplay and animations. Then, put in a by-the-books character in an un...

Initially, I thought that Eternal Eyes would be a hidden gem. It starts with an intriguing murder and a promise of a gritty and serious story. That is soon dashed by the introduction of a bunch of interchangeable kids right after. Stil...

Here is a game that is obviously the passion project of someone. It has a unique world, with unique gameplay, and a lot of passion behind it.Tail Concerto starts really well, showing a world consisting of islands in the sky that invoke...

After the debatable qualities of the top 100-91 games on Retro Sanctuary'stop 100 PS1 games list, the selection was only going to get better. Surprisingly, it got better by quite a bit. While I actually reviewed only one game in t...

While they are not a very well-known developer, Treasure managed to carve a well-regarded niche for themselves. They are known to make all kinds of solid action shooters from Shmups like Radiant Silvergun to Run 'n Guns like Gunstar He...

As to be expected from the bottom-placed (in this case the higher numbered) games in a top 100 list, there would be debatable quality. Except, this really shouldn't be the case for a console with the massive library of the PS1. I am af...

Made by some of the same people responsible for the Earthworm Jim series, Wild 9 already had a pedigree for zany worlds and unique humor behind it. Yet, that didn't transfer in any meaningful way to the game.In fact, this actually expo...

I remember playing Roll Away (known as Kula World in Europe) as a kid. Even then, I thought this was a demo game that just came in with the PlayStation console. It looked like something to showcase the 3 capabilities of a system while ...

Right on the tail (HA) of the last Gex game, Crystal Dynamics were busy crafting a sequel that would push the boundaries of the PlayStation console while opening new ground with their reptilian mascot.It's arguable if they succeeded wi...

Of all the video game mascots born in the 90s, Gex has always been the one that most embodied the spirit of the decade. With his sarcastic humor and misuse of parody as a style, he was as obnoxious a 90s star as you can get.Other than ...

Disruptor is a competent Doom-like FPS with little to deviate it from the scores of such games. It is worth remembering only as a footnote in the development history of Insomniac Games, which started with this unremarkable game and the...

With the release of the 5th generation of consoles, videogames leaped into a new dimension. 3D games were now fully possible, and 2D games were looked at technically regressive and were lampooned as such in much of the gaming press. No...

Now that I completed my Sega Saturn reviews series (reviewing around 30 games and playing over 50 games), I am ready to make my own Top 10 games list. My top 10 is widely different than Retro Sanctuary's list, with only three games bei...

Finally, we are down to the supposedly top 10 Sega Saturn games. At least, this is the top 10 according to the Retro Sanctuary list I have been using all this time. Since I already played enough Saturn games to make my own top 10 ...