Final Fantasy IV

You can keep your fancy polygons:
16 bit is the life for me.

Before there were cutscenes, and polygonal graphics, and confusing combat systems, and teen angst, there was Final Fantasy IV (or Final Fantasy II as it was released in the United States to avoid then-confusion in exchange for now-confusion).  In addition to the game being simpler, I too was simpler: a boy of 8 or 9, unconcerned with taxes, or mortgages, or whether or not to use an Oxford comma when making lists.  And I was there with FF4, following the adventures of the sprite-like protagonists in - upon reflection - one of the most clear Final Fantasy stories ever.

The fourth iteration of the quite un-final Final Fantasy series told the story of Cecil, a dark knight who begins to question if exchanging his morals for power was all that great of an idea.  By extension, he questions the orders of King Baron for sacking the helpless mages of Mysdia to collect their Water Crystal (which, presumably has power - because it is so shiny).  For questioning orders, you are summarily dismissed on a final errand to deliver a package.

The package is actually a bomb, destroying the village Myst and all of its inhabitants (Summoners who threatened the king's plans) minus one girl who Cecil feels really bad about killing her mother and helps protect her.  In turn your party is complimented by the girl, Rydia, a Summoner; Rosa, your girlfriend; Yang, a martial arts master; Tellah, an old sage seeking vengeance for his murdered daughter, Edward, a spoony bard; Palom and Porom, twin mages from Mysdia; Cid, the first playable entrant of the recurring airship captain; Edge, a ninja; FuSoYa, a ridiculously over-powered mage for which you only briefly have control; and Kain, your former Dragoon companion gone-traitor after his own personal redemption.

Redemption is a recurring theme for FF4 - Cecil seeking redemption for being a Dark Knight (and becoming a Paladin), Edward seeking redemption for the cowardice that killed his fiance, Cid seeks redemption for helping build warships... the list goes on and on.  The story here is complicated, but in the way that epic tales are not simple, not the way that I have no idea what is what without reading an accompanying compendium.  There are the occasional cheap writing techniques, but all-in-all the game plays like a story unfolds: naturally.  And there are plenty an epic moment: becoming a Paladin, Rydia's triumphant return to the party, and flying to the moon.

I'm surprised! at how awesome I thought this looked as a kid.

Battle is active, turn-based, and menu-driven.  It's not quite to the perfected point of future Final Fantasies, but the unique ability sets each character develops are a nice addition.  Some battles are quite difficult without grinding, but they are mostly reserved to optional areas and the final dungeon.  Random encounters abound, but the game almost feels bad about throwing them at you: they start and conclude rather seamlessly with the world map.

And the world is well crafted, and huge.  There is an overworld, a world below, and the mother-fucking moon for you to explore.

The game is available in so many ways, you have no excuse not to be playing it right now.  It is available for the Wii in its SNES dumbed-down for American's version, the GBA re-release featuring additional difficulty (as was intended), the Playstation re-release on the PSN (not recommended due to horrible loading times) and a DS remake with polygonal characters and cutscenes (with voiceovers)!

Harvest Moon

Oh, cows.

Did you know that I used to be a farmer?  Like, I actually farmed things.  Seeds went into the ground, time ellapsed, and then mature fruits and vegetables were picked and sold.  This process taught me three important things:

1. Farming is not a valid career choice for me.
2. There is a point at which you cannot be any dirtier or any sweatier.
3. Video games make things that are chores seem like fun.

There was a time when FarmVille was an insanely popular Facebook game.  Click to hoe ground.  Click to plant seeds.  Click to water.  Click to harvest and sell.  It was a pretty crappy time waster of a game, even for a resource management game, though it probably did teach some basic concepts of profit margins (they game could be even more edu-taining if it had some Drug Wars-esque supply/demand algorythms).  This is not how real farming worked, and whats more, Zynga wasn't the first company to capitalize on the notion of turning farming into a simple point here and do this; it was a Japenese company called Victor Interactive Studio, and localized for the United States by Natsume.

Harvest Moon (or rather, the Harvest Moon series, as there are about a dozen iterations now) was a sprite-based resource management game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1997.  You control a young man who must repair a desolate farm, plant crops, make money, and woo a local townswoman to then be your wife.  Resource management describes games where you must balance a finite set of resources (in this instance, it is mostly time and stamina, although there are some aspects of space and money) in order to acheive your goals.  There is no mini-game aspect for planting: just move to where you want the seeds to go and push a button.

Again, I should iterate that this is not how real farming works.

I devoted a great deal of time that I could have actually have been farming to playing this game about farming, which probably says something about me and my generation, but I couldn't help it: the Harvest Moon formula worked. 

You're an open book, Rick.

I've started to play through Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town - or more specifically, its sequel More Friends of Mineral Town.  The difference between the two is that the latter allows you to play as a female farmer and woo one of the male townsfolk.  The game is the same tried and true Harvest Moon.  Gotta clear the weeds and rubble from the farm, hoe the ground, plant the seeds, water the seeds, harvest the crops, feed the chickens, milk the cows, brush my horse... However More/Friends of Mineral Town is a lot more dating sim than the previous versions.

If you want to try your hand at farming, it'd probably be easier to try the above mentioned FarmVille, but you miss out on the nostalgia and (lite) interactive fiction of the Harvest Moon games.

Staying Old School: GBA Metroid Platformers

I've spent the last week or so replaying games in the Metroid series.  In addition to being an absolute nostalgia-fest, I have been delighted that these games have held up so well.  The games have long held a place in my heart for being easy to learn, but difficult to master: collectible upgrades are hidden in the most unlikely (but fun to find) places, and simple, power-up based puzzles.

Also, your main enemy is a brain in a jar.  How cool is that?

Metroid: Zero Mission is a revamped telling of Samus Aran's first adventure to the planet Zebes, upgraded with Super Metroid-esque power-ups.  The game really shines in its execution of the original Metroid game with the new power-ups.  I was impressed particularly by a sections towards the end of the game that stripped you of many of your power-ups and forced you to rely on stealth.  It was excellently done.

Complete with traditional opening area!

The controls are greatly intuitive, which is excellent considering the Gameboy Advance's limited buttons.  And, given the GBA's capacities, the game is brilliant looking.

For a big departure from Zero Mission, I gave Metroid Fusion a try.  The same Super Metroid mechanics apply, but in this game, Samus is infected with X parasites and it greatly changes some gameplay aspects.  Enemies dispatched release their X parasites which recharge energy and missiles/bombs.  Power-ups are obtained by beating bosses who release specialized X parasites and grant Samus the abilities she once had.

If you are craving a stroll through platform-ville, give either of these GBA games a shot.  Good fun without much commitment whatsoever, you could easily blast through these games within a couple hours.