final fantasy Archives - Intensive Gaming Diary

Six More Switch 1 Games Now Added to The Collection!

Posted on August 8, 2025 by Viljami

While browsing the web I noticed some Switch 1 games. You must have already figured that Switch 2 is very much compatible with Switch 1 games. All of these games were on some sort of sale and I got them for a pretty neat price. Follow along as we go through every one of these games.

We can actually go just in the order that can be found in the featured image right here in this blog post. The first one of these Switch 1 games is Sega Mega Drive Classics. I have seen these collections all the time. I think the latest I have actually bought was the collection for PS3. I have seen these collections released for PS4, Xbox Series X and so on. What I do find interesting about them is that you can actually play them in the handheld mode and when you are travelling. Just wanted to play these classics on my Switch 2. I really enjoy Mega Drive games.

Pokemon Shining Pearl is a very new game for me. I don’t have, yet, so much experience in Pokemon video games. That’s excactly the reason for me to buy this game. I wanted something recent and also something that could get me introduced more to this franchise. I could have bought some earlier game in the series and I am not 100 percent sure about if this is a game that suits my interests after all.

The next game has its title in Finnish (“Nuuskamuikkunen”). The game is titled “Snufkin – Melody of Mooninvalley” in English. The translation has been made this way so that, obviously, smaller children could also enjoy playing this video game. Also Moomins are actually from Finland. They were created by Tove Jansson, but you can probably find some more information from your favorite search engine. I don’t know what to really expect from this game but I found it somewhat interesting. Also, it cost me just a bit under 30 euros. So, I just went and bought it.

Next up is Final Fantasy XII – The Zodiac Age, This game is very familiar to me. It is a very good role-playing-game that does seem to take forever to play through. I first experinced it on PS2 and later went on and bought it as a remaster for PS4. I wanted to give this game a try once more and to play it on my Switch 2. So, this one was now added to my collection of Switch 1 games.

Turok 3 – Shadow of Oblivion is a “Limited Run” release. This was the most expensive game in this group of Switch 1 games. Turok is a video game series that I have not studied a whole lot earlier. I do remember a friend of mine presenting how the first of these games looked on his PC back in the 1990s. It did look impressive in that particular environment and time. The game has everything to do with fighting dinosaurs. I do have a Turok game also for Nintendo GameCube but I haven’t, yet, played it a whole lot.

The last game in this bunch is Chocobo GP. This game seemed to be a fun one. I definitely know what Chocobos are. I was introduced to them in Final Fantasy VII back in the 90s. Oh, I have so many memories. I am hoping to get to play this game also soon. Lets hope its a good one. I think this game had the cheapest price out of all these six Switch 1 games that I bought and just today picked from the post office.

That’s it! We went through every one these six Switch 1 games that I have just bought. It soon weekend again. Lets see if I get to play these games this weekend. I haven’t yet finished Donkey Kong Bananza, on my Switch 2, but I am working on it. I have played a bit over 15 hours of that game already. See you again, soon!

Getting Into Final Fantasy Origins

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Viljami

There have been many Final Fantasy games released throughout history. Some of them are spin-offs. If we consider the main line of Final Fantasy games and think about its definitive roots you simply cannot forget the first two games that were originally released for NES and/or SNES.

So, you want to play these two games? You have several options. I, myself, went with the Final Fantasy Origins that was released for PS1 in 2003. That seems pretty late for a PlayStation 1 game don’t you think?

What are the other options? Well, you can go with the “pixel remaster” collection that I have been considering also buying. This collection includes all first six Final Fantasy games from I to VI. So these are remakes of these games that graphically seem like some SNES games. Or, at least they come near to that. They are remasters after all.

One option for a hardcore Final Fantasy fan is to go with the original NES version of the first game in this RPG series. Graphically it isn’t as nice as the SNES version of the game. The first game of this RPG series wasn’t published originally in Europe at all and also North America got to see Final Fantasy with a delay of several years.

Final Fantasy as a video game series didn’t get a justified beginning in the PAL region firstly at all but this all changed when in 1997 we got to see also in Europe the seventh FF game to be released for PS1. After FFVII conquered almost every gamers hearth it was acceptable for the gamers in Europe also to see some earlier releases of this famous game series. After all we saw every game that were already a pretty big thing in other parts of the world to get released for PS1 and after that we saw even more games for newer gaming consoles.

This one blog post is too short for us to properly discuss about Final Fantasy as a game series. Instead I am going to write tot you about how I felt getting into the first game of the series. I bought the copy of this game already some months ago. It might be already a year ago or so. I just haven’t had the time to play it, yet.

I was familiar already with FF1 as a NES game. I have tried my hand playing it. This PS1 release includes two games FF I and FF II. It isn’t the most priciest retro game but it isn’t also the cheapest. The way I started to play it was to actually rip these two discs as rom files. After that I transferred these files through Ethernet to the Raspberry Pi 5 based Recalbox. I like to play nowadays my PS1 games this way as it is easier. I do have the hardware, of course, also. It is just easier because you don’t have to mess so much with memory cards or minding of the disc getting scuffed.

The game itself is an adventure type of game meaning you can have conversations and you are trying to obtain some objects that will guide you in your quest. The actual battles are turn-based and they occur at random moments. You have to be in a zone that gives you these occurrences. There are some areas where you don’t have the battles. They are kind of turned off.

The game is also about character development. In the beginning you get to choose four characters with some different character classes. I for example created a group of two Fighters, a White Mage and a Black Mage. I decided to go with a team like this. As you might know I think that there must be someone in the team that can also heal other members and itself also. Fighters are good for fighting and they get powerful combat weapons and armor while Mages can have very powerful attack spells also. It is one point to spot a weakness in monster that are trying to attack you.

Final Fantasy games usually take a long time to finish. I think FF I takes about 16 hours to complete while the second one takes about 22 hours. I think playing Final Fantasy Origins is a good way to deepen your knowledge even more about this RPG that might just be the series that brought these kinds of video games to Europe in the first place.

Final Fantasy XVI Is Released Today (But Only on PlayStation)

Posted on June 22, 2023 by Viljami

My latest consoles that I own are Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch. This means that I am not so excited about FFXVI getting released. What would I play it with. Man, it isn’t even released on PC. What can you expect from this game? I do have a PS4 but I am not so content with its powers, you know. The console is already ten years old technically speaking.

I was excited about Final Fantasy XV when it was released. It’s closest relatives seem to be FFXII and FFXIII. FFXV made some experiments which made playing it to feel more “realtime” and more of an action RPG. It had a huge open world map. It was basically a nice RPG with lots of main and side quests for the player to explore.

This thing about Final Fantasy games is that it takes a lifetime to finish even one of them. I did play NBA2K22 for longer than 140 hours but it isn’t a game with a strong storyline. Also I have this certain appeal on basketball since I have grown up playing it and wathing these NBA and national level games. I have a strong drive to basketball and it is very enjoyable and relaxing to play a game like NBA2K.

What I am not so familiar or a fan of is all these fantasy elements. I don’t read a lot of fantasy boooks. Should I read them? No, I don’t think so. This matter combined to some a bit boring and repetitive content just isn’t something I would spend over 100 hours in to. I am sorry. I know some of you like fantasy. I am more of a science fiction and non-fiction type of reader.

When it comes to Final Fantasy games I did play FFVII and I finished it. It took me a very long time. And for a long time this was the game that I had spent most time playing. I like Diablo games. This brings me to this conclusion that I like to see action in gaming. And in movies, too. I love these Max Payne type of scenes and I also like Matrix and John Woo movies. Feeling enough of a nerd now do you? Well, at least I can say honestly that I am a sort of a nerd, also.

It is interesting to see how FFXVI improves or modifies the concept we have seen on FFXV and also FFVII Remake. I am a bit curious about reviews of this game. Heck, I might even buy it, if it gets released on Xbox Series X or PC. So, we have to wait and see. How long will it take to complete FFXVI? What kind of a story it brings to the table. If you have just bought this game – I wish you luck.