Video Games

17. Dragon Quest II

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Dragon Warrior II NES Front Cover

Developer: Chunsoft
Publisher: Enix
Year: 1990
Platform: NES, Gameboy Color, SNES (Japanese only)

In 1990, America was still behind on the RPG front as this game took three years to get here from Japan.  Final Fantasy took the same amount of the time to cross the pond and was released a few months before this game.  That game probably hurt any momentum Enix hoped to gain with the Dragon Quest/Warrior series, especially since graphically Enix seemed to be way behind. Still, this is a solid, if not always memorable game.

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Video Games

18. Dragon Quest

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Dragon Warrior NES Front Cover

Developer: Chunsoft
Publisher: Enix
Year: 1989
Platform: NES, Gameboy Color, SNES (Japanese only)

The first RPG I was ever exposed to, and also one of the first America was exposed to.  Considering it took three years for this classic to make it over from Japan, it’s obvious it took this side of the Pacific longer to warm up to gaming that didn’t involve hand-eye coordination.  While the game is slow and painful at times by today’s standards, it has so much damn charm that the game can still worth playing today, especially the updated ports (packaged with Dragon Quest II) that fix several of the game’s issues, detailed below.

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Video Games

20. The Final Fantasy Legend

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The Final Fantasy Legend Game Boy Front Cover

Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Year: 1989
Platform: Game  Boy

The first game in the SaGa series was the first ever handheld RPG and sold incredibly well, thanks in part to rebranding it as a Final Fantasy game stateside. However, there is really no reason other than nostalgia to play this game, partly due to its difficulty but mostly due to the general ennui the game elicits.

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Video Games

21. Final Fantasy II

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Final Fantasy II NES Front Cover

Developer: Square
Publisher: Square
Year: 1988
Platform: Famicom; Wii; GBA, Playstation, Playstation 3, PSP, Android, iPhone

Final Fantasy (and frankly, all RPGs) was hugely popular in Japan but the series didn’t reach the states until the 90’s. While the first game did become a hit over here, Nintendo held off on publishing anymore until the fourth installment. While I’ve heard good things about FF3, I don’t blame Nintendo for bypassing this game.

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Video Games

Ranking Every Turn-Based RPG I’ve Played

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From approximately 1989 to 2004, I was an ardent fan of role-playing games. I loved the relatively low-stress engine that didn’t require me to mash buttons on my controller, and I also loved entering names of me and my friends in the roles of the heroes (and occasionally, a love interest). I eventually lost interest in modern RPGs, partially due to their size and endless sidequests, but mostly due to getting older and preferring casual games. Now that I have a family, I can’t see myself dedicating the time it takes to win an RPG. So this list may wind up being static.

As mentioned in the title, this list will only include turn-based RPGs. This is opposed to RPGs that require some dexterity with hand-to-hand combat, like Zelda and Secret of Mana.

It looks like I have played 21 of these games, for the NES, SNES, Gameboy, and Playstation. Tomorrow we’ll start with #21.

Uncategorized

2013 in review AND the All New DbT!

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2013 was another successful here for the Troggles. Despite a baby muncher entering the picture, the Troggles continue to pump out daily posts as well as tripling their subscribers. And to kick-off 2014, they completely redesigned the site!

Notes

  • I wanted multiple posts visible at a time for those who don’t come every day or have an RSS feed. With pictures for each post, I think you’ll find it more attractive.
  • We couldn’t help but keep the white text, but at least now it’s on a gray background rather than black!
  • You’ll notice there’s no sidebar on the main page. No worries. If you click on any individual post, the sidebar will appear.
  • I realize the top menu is not symmetrical. Unfortunately, I cannot change this unless I upgrade to a paid site. Maybe someday.

Below is the annual report regarding the site. Enjoy and feel free to comment on the site redesign too!

Here’s an excerpt:

Your most commented on post in 2013 was Andy & Lana Wachowski

These were your 5 most active commenters:

Click here to see the complete report.

Miscellaneous

Happy Holidays!

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As mentioned earlier, Death By Troggles will be taking a break through the end of the year. If all goes well, you should be welcomed by a fresh new site design at the beginning of 2014. Depending on when you visit, you may see me tinkering with things. I’ll make an official announcement when everything’s up and ready.