Its hard to believe that its been 20 years since Final Fantasy XII came out on PlayStation 2. Final Fantasy XII was developed and published by Square Enix and it was arguably one of the best installments from the 00’s decade aside from FFX. The Final Fantasy franchise was still one of the most popular video game franchises during the 00’s despite the series arguably reaching its peak during the late 90s with FFVII. Final Fantasy XII moved away from the MMORPG that Square Enix used for FFXI and went back to traditional RPG gameplay. In terms of gameplay mechanics the features that stood out the most in FFXII was the Active Dimension Battle along with the Gambit System. The gameplay for Final Fantasy XII more advanced and seemingly had a steeper learning curve than Final Fantasy XII. The story for Final Fantasy FFXII involved two warring empires known as Archadia and Rozarria in the fictional land of Ivalice.

In Final Fantasy XII main character Vaan along with Princess Ashelia and the rest of his crew create a resistance movement against the Archadian Empire after it annexed the kingdom of Dalmasca. The most interesting thing about the story of Final Fantasy XII was that it kinda felt similar to Final Fantasy XVI which came out back in 2023. The concept of politics, kingdoms and warring factions made Final Fantasy XII intriguing especially since it made the game’s plot feel more mature than previous entries. Vaan as a protagonist seemed decent but he was not nearly as iconic as other names in the Final Fantasy series like Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart, Tidus, The Gullwings or even Lightning. While the story and structure of Final Fantasy games are essential having a memorable main character is also one of the most important things to include in RPGs. As a protagonist Vaan in FFXII feels almost as forgettable as Clive Rosfield from FFXVI despite both games being critically acclaimed and having decent sales numbers.

In fact, Final Fantasy XII is considered to be more popular and has managed to sell more than FFXVI reaching more than 7.7 million on the PS2. Ever since, Final Fantasy XVI came out in Summer 2023 it only managed to reach over 3.5 million in sales across multiple platforms like PS5, PC and Xbox Series X. Final Fantasy XII felt more political and story-driven than entries came before it. Also, FFXII was probably the last major installment Square Enix produced before the series started to decline in popularity around the late 00’s-early 10’s. While Final Fantasy XIII Part I from ’09 was a commercial success the game received a polarizing reception and was followed by the disastrous FFXIV launch in 2010. Final Fantasy XII ended up being one of the best video games to come out of the mid-2000’s. Final Fantasy XVI ended up becoming an afterthought following its release mainly because there were so many high profile video games to come out of 2023. Final Fantasy XII was still popular about a decade later following its launch after it was remastered and re-released by Square Enix for the PS4 back in 2017. While some believe FFXII is overrated others feel that its one of the best entries in the series.

When it comes down to 2D fighting titles of the 00’s Blazblue: Trigger Calamity was probably one of the most underrated games of the decade.  Blazblue: Trigger Calamity was developed by Arc System Works and released for multiple game consoles including PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 in 2008.  The cool thing about Blazblue: Trigger Calamity  was they the graphics and gameplay looked highly similar to some of the Guilty Gear games that were released earlier in the 00’s.  When you look at the graphics and in game mechanics for Blazblue: Trigger Calamity one of the few games that instantly comes to mind includes Guilty Gear XX was also developed by Arc System Works and released in 2002. Blazblue: Trigger Calamity was not only impressive visually but it had some cool game modes including arcade, story, versus and online multiplayer.  The story mode was very special with the inclusion anime cutscenes which really added to the overall quality of the game. Each character in Blazblue: Trigger Calamity had their own story which made the game very interesting.   The character designs and the in game mechanics in BlazBlue Calamity Trigger were fantastic.  The 2D sprites used in this game looked highly detailed and the 3D stages seemed flawless. 

The developers had also included a robust combat system that allowed players to pull off various types of actions including Super Combos, Barrier Bursts, Rapid Cancels and Distortion Drives.   Blazblue: Trigger Calamity was quite possibly one of  the coolest fighting games of 2008. However, Blazblue was overshadowed by the likes of Street Fighter IV & Soul Calibur IV which were two fighting games that were also very popular in 2008 following their respective releases.  When it came down to the fighting genre of gaming 2008 was a very competitive year.  However, it was great to know that the fighting genre was slowly staring to revive itself and with games like Blazblue: Calamity Trigger during that time period.  Even though, Blazblue was not as popular as Street Fighter IV or Soul Calibur IV its still a very solid muti-platform 2D fighting title.  Despite, having a small cast of characters the gameplay and game modes included in Blazblue: Calamity Trigger significantly contributes to the high replay value of this title.  

The Scott Pilgrim vs The World movie was a cult classic that was released back in 2010. Since its release Scott Pilgrim vs The World has been highly regarded as one of the most popular video game movies of all-time. Despite, Scott Pilgrim movie had a budget of $85 million and earned $48.1 million in the box office the film was praised by various critics for the comedy & excitement the writers brought into it. The concept of being able to rewinding certain parts of the movie after losing a life seemed very creative. Also, the idea of the main character Scott Pilgrim battling Ramona Flowers various exes while seeing a bunch of clever video game references throughout the movie was highly entertaining in the eyes of many. The video game based on the film adaptation of Scott Pilgrim vs The World was also ores special. The Scott Pilgrim video game was developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft during the Summer 2010. In August 2010 the Scott Pilgrim game appeared on the PlayStation 3 along with Xbox 360. One of the most unique things about the Scott Pilgrim game was that it paid homage to the old-school 16-bit beat em up era of the late 80’s- early 90’s in terms of visual design and gameplay.

The inclusion of 2D pixel art and sprites in the Scott Pilgrim game added to its overall appeal especially in terms of giving retro gamers a strong sense of nostalgia. The Scott Pilgrim game was a beat em up that allowed up to four players with various characters to choose from. Players had the option of selecting the likes of Scott Pilgrim, Ramona Flowers, Kim Paine, Stephen Stills along with DLC characters Wallace Wells and Knives Chau; while NegaScott was an character that could be unlocked within the game. Similar to just about any other beat em up game players defeat enemies and collect coins in order to increase their overall score. However, the Scott Pilgrim game had some interesting in-game mechanics for a beat em up such as reviving other players using money and sharing currency. Also, the Scott Pilgrim game was a beat em up that had additional game modes outside of Arcade including Boss Rush and Survival Horror. Even through, the Scott Pilgrim game was released over a decade ago for older generation game systems it still holds up pretty well today. In fact, Ubisoft has decided to bring the Scott Pilgrim game to PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows and Stadia in Q4 2020. While it guaranteed that the Scott Pilgrim game is going to appear on multiple consoles in 2020; many are questioning whether or not the movie will ever receive a direct sequel in the future.

When it comes down to memorable 3D fighting games of the 90’s one of the many titles that instantly comes to mind to some people is Bloody Roar which was developed by Eighting  & Hudson Soft and published by Sony Computer Entertainment back in 1997.  When the original Bloody Roar game was released in the late 90’s many people were impressed by various aspects of the game including the graphics and fast paced gameplay it had to offer.  One of the most unique things about Bloody Roar was the fact that characters had the ability to transform into zoanthropes during the middle of battles after filling up their Beast gauge and entering that mode.  The gameplay in Bloody Roar also impressive because looked and felt smoother and faster than other 3D fighting titles that were popular at the time such as the first two Tekken games and along with the Virtua Fighter series.

In fact some people would probably agree that the Virtua Fighter series looked generic in comparison to the Bloody Roar in general.  Those who have played the arcade version of Bloody Roar would probably argue that the game was just as good for the PS1 following its release.  As cool as Bloody Roar was in the late 90’s the game did not sell as much as other popular 3D fighting titles such as the Tekken series worldwide.  But just the sales for Bloody Roar paled in comparison to other 3D fighting titles does not mean that the quality of the game itself was not as good.  The original Bloody Roar game along with the second installment in the series probably deserved way more credit than it got back in the day.  Shockingly, since its release back in the late 90’s there was never a remake to the original Bloody Roar game which some would say is a shame considering the fact that it was one of the most exciting 3D fighting tiles for the PS1.

When we think about big action adventure games from the late 00’s there are various titles that instantly come to mind such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Assassin’s Creed II, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots and others that are all considered to be classics. While the games just mentioned were all high profile titles during the late 00’s time period there were also others from the action-adventure that were almost as memorable. An example would be the Prince Of Persia game developed and published by Ubisoft which came out back in 2008. Prince of Persia was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows in December 2008 and was a game that was mainly well received by both critics and fans alike. The story for the Prince Of Persia was very intriguing especially considering how the setting for the game revolves around divine concepts such as ancient gods along with the belief of Zoroastrianism. In this game players controls a nameless Wanderer called “Prince” after learning about the imprisonment of a dark god named Ahriman by Ormazd who is a god of light in the center of the city-state known as Persia.

It turns out that Ahriman was responsible for spreading corruption along conquering various countries around the world prior to a cosmic battle with Ormazd who was revealed to be his brother. Towards the beginning of the Prince Of Persia players soon discover that Elika and Mourning King are key characters within the game after they arrive in a forbidden mystical land sustained by the Tree of Life. Elika travels alongside Prince during his journey to heal the fertile grounds throughout the game he eventually learns some dark secrets regarding her past. It was revealed that Elika’s mother and the Mourning King’s wife had died shortly before she did herself. Unable to deal with the agony of losing his wife and daughter Mourning King had struck a deal with Ahriman. Mourning King had promised to free Ahriman from imprisonment in exchange for Elika’s resurrection which is exactly what had happened. After cleansing fertile lands sustained by the Tree Of Life both Prince and Elika proceed to purify a temple where they are opposed by the corrupted King and Ahriman. After both Mourning King and Ahriman are defeated Elika successfully manages to heal the Tree Of Life then sacrifices herself in order to seal the dark god away permanently. However, while Elika was alive Prince had grown attached to her leading him to undo the progress they made together by cutting the trees in the desert along with the Tree Of Life to bring her back to life. In the process the main antagonist and god of darkness Ahriman returns to life as well leaving players with a cliffhanger ending.

Even though, the plot for The Prince Of Persia seemed basic and lacked depth it was still very interesting and had pretty cool gameplay. Players had to complete their quest as Prince using aerobics, combat and puzzle solving solving skills as they traversed throughout various Persian areas within the game. Also, Elika’s magical abilities are very useful to Prince in this game because they can be used to keep him from dying and there is no limit on how many times she can do it. The open-world environment in Prince Of Persia looked magnificent thanks to the Anvil game engine which has been used a majority of Assassin’s Creed games since 2007. Since its release Prince Of Persia had managed to sell roughly around 2.2 million copies worldwide within two months. Ever since its release Prince Of Persia has been among the few action-adventure titles from ’08 that some gamers are still quite fond to this day. Despite, its level of success the game has not been remade or remastered for the PS4 or Xbox One since late-2008 and its something many people probably would not mind seeing the near future.

Square Enix is best known for its affiliation with some of the most memorable role playing games that many people around the world have ever seen.  The original Kingdom Hearts game released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002 and since its release many people were anxious to see what the sequel would be like.  When Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories was developed by Jupiter and released in 2004 many people were interested in the fact that the game was released for the Game Boy Advance.  Releasing Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance seemed like a risky thing to do in the eyes of many people especially considering the fact that the original game was released for the PlayStation 2.   The gameplay, graphics and visual effects of the 128 bit PlayStation 2 console was far superior than the 32 bit Game Boy Advance.  However, just because the quality of the Game Boy Advance was not as great as the PS2 it did not mean that Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories did not make for a very exciting game.

There was so much creativity that when into the development in Chain of Memories in terms of gameplay especially concerning the battles.  Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories had featured a unique card based battle system which included characters having the ability to execute attacks in real time.  The battle system for Chain of Memories looks a bit complex at first but the great thing about this game is that there are tutorials towards the beginning that explains how everything works in detail.  Another great feature about Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories includes the 2D isometric view that is utilized in the game during travel along with various scenes that feature in game dialogue between characters.   The 2D isometric view was a pretty cool feature because it was reminiscent of some older RPG titles such as LandStalker, Final Fantasy Tactics and Super Mario RPG which were also very fun games to play back in the 90’s. Along with having so many great features Chain of Memories had featured several characters that were in the prequel including the main protagonist Sora & Riku along with familiar names from Disney such as Donald Duck, Goofy and King Mickey Mouse.

The CD soundtrack for Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories was a work of art because it featured songs such as “Dear Beloved” which was simply beautiful.  Another great track had included “Castle Oblivion” which was simply amazing because you can feel the emotion of this track along with the fact that it blended in nicely with game itself.  The final boss theme in this game was pretty epic however many people despised battling Marluxia from Organization XIII.  Even though the final boss battle was tough it was also fun once people really got into Chain of Memories and progressed throughout the game. Following its release Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories had reportedly sold over 100,000 units in Japan within its first week and has sold over 1.8 million units worldwide since its release in late 2004.  While some people enjoyed Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories for the Game Boy Advance many people thought that the PlayStation 2 remake was even better when it was released in America during late 2008.  Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories is considered to be one of the most memorable RPG titles of the 2000’s by some people around the world.   Even though, the gameplay for Chain of Memories was significantly different from most RPG titles during its time the amount to creativity that went into the development of this game was impressive.

When it comes down to underrated classics from the early 00’s that appeared on Nintendo GameCube one of the few titles that comes to mind is legendary shooter known as Ikaruga. For those who do not know Ikaruga was developed by Treasure Co., Ltd and was initially reached back in ’01. Ikaruga had multiple publishers depending on which port of the game one owned; since Ikaruga also appeared on Dreamcast, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows and the PlayStation 4. It should be noted that Ikaruga started out as a arcade game in ’01 before it was ported to Dreamcast exclusively in Japan back in ’02. The GameCube port of Ikaruga was the first to be released outside of Japan in countries like America in ’03. One of the reasons why Ikaruga was so significant following its release was because of its genre. By the early 00’s the shooter genre in general was starting to become very popular; especially with 3D titles such as Halo 1 & 2 along with the first Unreal Tournament titles. Even though, Ikaruga was not a 3D shooter title it was still an enjoyable shoot em up game nonetheless. In fact, Ikaruga was a 2D shoot em up game that was played from a top down perspective opposed to being regular side scroller.

The storyline for Ikaruga revolved mainly around revenge as the main character known as Shinra attempts to end Tenro Horai’s reign of terror over various nations. Tenro Horsi is considered to be the main antagonist of Ikaruga since he uses his newly acquired divine powers known as Ubusunagami Okinokai to conquer anyone or anything that gets in his way. Horsi and his forces had battled a rebel federation force known as Tenkaku which Shinra was initially apart of before they were ultimately wiped out. Shinra gains access to a new ship from a village known as Ikaruga after his plane crashes in it after being shot down while flying. Ikaruga was a game that looked somewhat similar to that of the older R-Type games from late 80’s-early 90’s visually; which added to its appeal despite the fact that 2D shoot ’em up games had declined in popularity by the early 00’s. If there was ever any older games from the shoot em up genre that critics would recommend Ikaruga would probably be in many people’s top ten list. Aside from the outrageous level of difficulty Ikaruga has to offer the art styled sound design were both considered to be strong positives in this critically acclaimed shoot em up classic.