Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal

Building on the successful model of the first two, the third R&C in 2004 merely changed around a few weapons and added in a multiplayer mode, both on- and offline. The graphics were a little cleaner, the maps a little larger, but for the most part the winning formula remained the same.

When Ratchet hears that his home planet of Veldin is under attack he rushes back to help with the defense. After being mistaken for a new sergeant by the Galactic Rangers and helping to clear out the initial attack it's revealed that it's been organized by an old enemy of Captain Qwark: Dr. Nefarious. Clank, having been confused with his TV personality, is recruited by the Galactic President to find Qwark so they can figure out how to defeat Nefarious at long last. Since Nefarious is threatening to turn all biological life into robots, though, Clank's loyalty comes into question. Could this be the end of the Lombax/robot team?

Images:

Ratchet & Clank
Secret Agent Clank!
Dr. Nefarious
Courtney Gears has a thing for Clank
Four-person, offline, multiplayer mode
Who doesn't love a Plasma Whip?
Opening movie

Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando

Returning in 2003 with new weapons and gadgets, improved game mechanics, and a more likable hero, Going Commando was a solid and very popular entry in the ongoing Ratchet & Clank series. While the game was easily accessible to a new player, a fun feature was the free acquisition of classic weapons with the presence of a save file from the first game. Also nice was the fact that you didn't have to retread the same ground, as is so often the case in series games: items like Clank's upgrades and Ratchet's grind boots did not need to be reacquired. The best addition, though, is probably the upgradable weapons. The more they're used, the better they work, holding more ammunition and dealing more damage. Once again, the weapons range from the silly (the Sheepinator, which is exactly what it sounds like) to the deadly serious (the Zodiac, which will take out any- and everything visible on the screen in one hit) and everything in between.

Everything is pretty anti-climactic after saving a galaxy, but while Clank's content living a quiet life, Ratchet's hungry for more adventure. That's why when Abercrombie Fizzwidget, CEO of Megacorp in the neighboring galaxy, offers a job recovering a stolen experiment, Ratchet's only too eager to accept. Things heat up when Clank is unwillingly dragged into the mess, but it's just the beginning. Between a mystery thief, Thugs-4-Less rental goons, and a furry problem of gargantuan size, Ratchet and Clank have their hands full, but when an old enemy rears his head, it gets difficult for Ratchet to keep his.

Images:

Ratchet shows off his shiny new Plasma Coil
Clank leads a small army of robot slaves
Fizzwidget shows off his new experiment
The shadowy thief
Sheepinator aftermath
Who couldn't use a mini-nuke?
Trailer

Ratchet & Clank

When Insomniac produced a game intended to rival Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter, they had no idea that 2002's Ratchet & Clank would eventually outstrip the competition in popularity. Built on the same engine, the two titles have a similar feeling in gameplay, and even possess much of the same tongue-in-cheek humor, but the astounding arsenal of weapons caught public interest, from the sheer silliness of the Morph-o-Ray to the overpowering destruction of the R.Y.N.O. (Rip Ya a New One), and planted the seeds of desire for further comic destruction in the future.

Fresh from the factory, a tiny robot stumbles over plans of galactic destruction and runs off to enlist the help of the biggest superhero around, Captain Qwark. Instead, he finds Ratchet: a self-centered Lombax handy with a wrench and eager to get away from his home planet. The newly-dubbed Clank is willing to take whatever help he can find, so the two of them join up in order to find Qwark and stop Chairman Drek of the Blarg from destroying planets while building a new one to replace his own polluted world.

Images:

Ratchet and Clank
Qwarktastic!
Chairman Drek
The Morph-o-Ray in action, making chicken dinners fun
Sometimes, you just need a decoy
Gameplay that runs you right up the wall
Opening movies

Jak X: Combat Racing

Throwing the numbering system into Arbitraryland, 2005's Jak X also discards a number of other things from the previous games, i.e. everything but the racing aspect of 3. Still, the game makes no bones about what it is: a minigame gone big time. As such, it's perfectly serviceable, and a welcome continuation for those craving more Jak stories.

Jak and compatriates are invited to Kras City for the reading of a will. Krew (see Jak II) has invited a number of his former employees and contacts to join his daughter for a celebratory drink in Krew's honor. Unfortunately, the wine is poisoned and the only way to get the antidote is to win the Kras City Racing Championship. Their lives may be on the line, but the competition won't take anything lying down, as the control of the city's crime syndicate is also up for grabs. Facing off against the shadowy, never-seen crime lord Mizo, his top racer Razer, and constantly in the public eye courtesy of television personality G. T. Blitz, Jak and co. will need more than luck to pull through.

Images:

The requisite new 'do
The slimeball's lovely daughter
Razer can be intimidating...
... but G. T. Blitz is always annoying
Just another day at the races
Opening movie

Jak 3

Increasingly idiosyncratic in its naming conventions, 2004's Jak 3 is the "final" game in the series, despite having two more titles come out after it. Perhaps realizing that the doom and gloom approach of II was a bit heavy-handed, publisher Naughty Dog went back to a slightly more carefree overall feel, which is a bit odd considering the lingering darkness of plot. With an even heavier emphasis on racing than previous installments—this time with four-wheeled vehicles rather than the motorcycle-like zoomers—and a change in voice acting that relegated designated love interest Keira to little more than a cameo role, 3 alienated a number of fans, although the gameplay as a whole was a little more manageable and the over-arching story is brought to a conclusion of sorts. The locations in particular brought a nice balance back to the games, alternating between a vast desert and a scaled-down version of the city from II, harkening back to the open spaces of the first game while embracing the challenge of the second.

Jak may have defeated the metalhead leader and saved Haven from destruction, but the populace—carefully lead by the scheming Count Veger—doesn't trust him and, after a new attack, Jak is held responsible and exiled to the Wasteland. Picked up by Damas, king of Spargus—a city of exiles and an oasis in the harsh desert—and embittered by the betrayal of his adopted home, Jak sets about building a new life for himself and his faithful friend Daxter. In between proving himself to Damas, dealing with the outright hostility of the local monks, and deciding whether he should answer Ashelin and Torn's call to help Haven again, Jak also picks up some new light eco abilities and finds out just why his friend Sig was haunting Haven in the first place. The answer will end up changing Jak's life forever.

Images:

Jak and Daxter, v. 3.0
Dark Jak is still alive and kicking
And Light Jak joins the party
Veger supervises Jak's exile
Damas and Jak enjoy a heart to heart
Ashelin asks for help
Torn is pleased to see Jak again
All in a day's work
A leisurely desert cruise
Game intro movie

Jak II

Jak and Daxter may have been a light-hearted game, but 2004's Jak II turned the brightness down by a spectacular amount. The bright, pastoral openness of the first game is hedged into an enormous but dark, dirty, run-down city. The platform aspects remain the same, but the addition of a variety of guns add shooter to the genre list. More than the appearance darkens in this game, as the bright-eyed, silent Jak of the original gains a voice and turns anti-hero, with a predilection for hijacking vehicles and mowing down pedestrians caught in the crossfire. The darkness is also an indicator of depth, however, as the plot is more intricate and the characters more detailed than before.

When the investigation of a Precursor relic on the behalf of Samos and Keira goes amiss, Jak and Daxter find themselves alone in a strange city, but not for long: Jak is captured by the Krimzon Guard while Daxter runs off, promising to rescue his friend in no time. Two years later, Jak's a prisoner, undergoing near-constant torture and infusions of dark eco. Daxter finds him in the nick of time, as Baron Praxis, the ruler of the city, issues the order to have Jak killed off that night. Jak utters his first words before transforming into a uncontrollable monster and only barely changes back before killing his best friend. Thus begins an effort to get revenge on Praxis, whether it be joining Torn and the Underground to overthrow the Baron or working as hired muscle for Krew, the city's biggest mobster. Throw in the fact that the city itself is under assault by Metalheads, the true heir needs protecting, Keira and Samos are still missing, and the captain of the KG has a burning desire for Jak's head on a plate, the Demolition Duo have their work cut out for them.

Images:

J&D, the new look
Tall, dark, and gruesome
Erol, KG captain and Praxis' right hand man
Jak is a little too pleased with his new weapon
Torn is less pleased with newcomers
Ashelin, KG spy, is also a tad suspicious
Krew may be scum, but he's powerful scum
Sig, Krew's main enforcer, is surprisingly decent, though
Things may be bleak, but there's always time to relax
Game opening movie

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Seamless loading of a massive map is the major hallmark of this 2001 release. In most respects a fairly typical platformer, with a set amount of health that never increases, the only "power-ups" being new colors of eco (an energy source with different effects depending on the type), and some driving sequences, Jak and Daxter still garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews. While there was nothing especially innovative in the gameplay, story, or characters, the classic elements of a silent protagonist, obnoxious sidekick, and standard jumping and collecting puzzles merged together to create a wonderful, light-hearted, and fantastically fun game.

The ever-silent Jak and his best friend, Daxter, have disobeyed orders—as teenagers tend to do—and gone out to Misty Island. After witnessing a gathering of Lurkers and being attacked by a guard, Daxter is knocked into a pool of dark eco and transformed into a little orange critter dubbed an ottsel (half otter, half weasel). Samos, the Green Sage, tells them that they must travel across the continent to the Dark Sage in order to have Daxter's condition reversed. Trouble is, there's an awful lot of Lurkers between their village and the Dark Sage...

Images:

The titular duo
Samos, pontificating at length
Keira: Samos' daughter and mechanic extraordinaire
Hanging around the seaside
Spinning through the jungle
Fighting a Lurker
A little dance of victory
The game trailer

Xenosaga

This massive, three-part game (Der Wille zur Macht, 2003; Jenseits von Gut und Böse, 2005; Also sprach Zarathustra, 2006—North American release dates) bears a number of similarities to its spiritual predecessor, Xenogears. Although many of the creators were the same, the company changed, and so the concepts were revisited in a new light without directly connecting the two. The changes continued in the saga, however, as any number of people involved in the creation changed from episode to episode, resulting in occasionally inconsistant character design and some fogginess of overall plot. The conversion from Japan to North America also brought changes in some of the scenes: censored for blood or violence in order to reduce the rating. Also prone to change were the voice actors, resulting in at least one character going from a light tenor to a mellow baritone. Retaining from Xenogears the themes of gnosticism, philosophy, and psychology, Xenosaga heavily references Nietzsche and Jung in everything from the game titles to character names. Much like Xenogears, Xenosaga features long cinematic scenes that occasionally interfere with the feeling of gameplay, but fans tend to overlook the flaws in favor of the incredibly complex story and character relationships. Fortunately, there's an in-game database to help keep people, places, events, and terminology straight. It's a testament to the intricacies of the games that the database is necessary.

Major characters

Shion Uzuki: Lead developer for Vector Industries on project KOS-MOS, a brilliant young woman. I II III

Jin Uzuki: Shion's estranged elder brother. A gifted swordsman, but aimless in life. Professions have included medical doctor and bookstore owner. IIa IIb III

KOS-MOS: An experimental battle android with a fierce loyalty to Shion that trancends her programming. I II III

chaos: A mysterious young man with a gentle disposition that belies his abilities. I IIa IIb III

Jr.: Apparently a boy of about twelve, captain of one of the galaxy's most powerful battleships, and evident successor to the prestigious Kukai Foundation. I II III

MOMO: A prototype Realian—an artificial human—in the form of a young girl. I II III

Ziggy: Zigguraut 8, a cyborg charged with MOMO's protection. His price for taking the mission was to be allowed to die. I II III

Margulis: A fierce opponent and swordsman on par with Jin. They have a shared history.

Albedo: A white-haired, virtually immortal psychopath with a fixation on Jr.

Gaignun Kukai: The titular head of the Kukai Foundation. His relationship to Jr. is not immediately apparent, although the similarity of appearance is marked.

Broken down by individual game, all beyond the first entry will contain spoilers for the previous installments:

Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht

Sometime this century, an archeological expedition in Kenya uncovers a golden monolith known as a Zohar, with catastrophic effect. Fast forward a few millenia, to where humans populate over 500,000 planets, but no one knows the location of their original home, now known as Lost Jerusalem.

About fourteen years previously, Shion's home planet of Miltia was ravaged by malfunctioning combat Realians and lost in space-time following the emergence of the Gnosis—extra-dimensional creatures with the ability to crystalize organic life on contact. KOS-MOS is designed to combat Gnosis, but she's untested and unable to repel the attack on their ship which happened to be transporting a Zohar. Shion, KOS-MOS, and a couple of others are the only survivors, picked up by a salvage ship owned by the Kukai Foundation, of which chaos—retained for his ability to dissolve Gnosis with a touch—is a crew member. Along the way they pick up Ziggy and MOMO, the latter having been rescued from Margulis and wanted for the data encoded in her. When Jr.'s battleship is framed for the destruction of Shion's transport in an effort to claim MOMO, they must all work together to get themselves in the clear. Pursued and opposed by any number of factions that want possession of both the Zohar and MOMO, this is, to say the least, no simple task.

Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse

Continuing immediately after the events of the first game, this episode features largely around Jr.'s history. Jin Uzuki is introduced in the beginning in a flashback of the destruction of Miltia, where he meets chaos (physically the same as he is fourteen years later) and a Realian named Canaan, who are trying to find the source of the planet's troubles. Jin manages to give Margulis his distinctive scar at this point, Canaan stores encoded information in his brain until it can be extracted later, and they stumble over and rescue a couple of injured boys: Nigredo and Rubedo, A.K.A. Gaignun Kukai and Jr. In the present time, familial discord abounds as Rubedo and Albedo fight each other over the information still locked inside MOMO, Shion holds Jin to blame for the death of their parents, and chaos is revealed to have a connection to one of the galaxy's major players.

Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra

A year after the death of Albedo, Shion has left Vector and is working with an underground group of saboteurs known as Scientia. While looking for information about her father's possible involvement in the destruction of Miltia she's called upon by old friends. A section of Lost Jerusalem has appeared, floating in space, but was pulled into an anomaly along with the ship that rescued Shion the previous year. In an effort to save them, Shion and the others finally discover the whole truth behind the destruction of Miltia, the existance of the Gnosis, and the path of destruction that humanity has been nudged along for thousands of years.

Final Fantasy XII

Following the release of FFXI as an online, mulitplayer game, 2006's XII came back to the console with some of the MMORPG elements incorporated. The battle system, rather than being some form of turn-based combat as all previous incarnations had been, was changed to a modified AI system where you can pre-set conditional actions that will happen without you dancing attendance on them, although you may use direct input at will, resulting in a game that, at times, literally plays itself. While this upset a number of people, it also made others very happy by removing the tedium of random combat and levelling by streamlining repetitive actions. Mechanics aside, the story has generated a lot of controversy among fans. Those who like the game enjoy the broad story that deals more with the politics of nations than individuals, the fact that the main playable character is not the central focus of the story, and that there isn't a romance shoehorned into the mix. Those who dislike the game cite the same examples.

A trio of countries used to stand between the empires of Archadia and Rozarria, but the Republic of Landis has been absorbed by Archadia, Nabradia is a ruined wasteland, and Dalmasca is occupied territory. Vaan, a native Dalmascan with a grudge, invades the palace during a banquet to "welcome" the new governor, Lord Vayne of Arcadia. His efforts to steal back something for the people are stymied by a run-in with a sky pirate and his partner who are after the same treasure. Eventually this leads to meeting up with the deposed—and presumed dead—princess of Dalmasca, and the man who supposedly betrayed the country and assassinated the king. The web of deceit is tough to untangle as factions in Archadia play against each other for control, Rozarria is alternately courted and provoked, and Dalmasca and her people are once again caught in the middle.

Images:

Vaan with his friend, Penelo
Balthier, the sky pirate
Fran, his Viera partner
Ashe, princess of Dalmasca
Basch, reputed kingslayer
Vayne Solidor
Al-Cid Margrace of Rozarria makes nice
Opening movie: The fall of Nabradia; Ashe is wedded and widowed
Vayne, the politician
Vaan meets the sky pirates

Final Fantasy X

The transition to the PS2 meant a lot of changes for Final Fantasy. FFX, released in 2001, heralded a shift to the highly cinematic, brought voice acting to the series, and completely altered the traditional leveling system. The modified turn-based combat system allows for greater strategy than previous offerings have had, and the ability to change characters in battle makes for greater flexibility. The minigames, particularly blitzball (the sport of choice in this game's world) come in varying levels of addictive, and add spice to the atmosphere. These technical aspects, along with its dramatic, character-intensive story that is lauded among fans, make for its wide regard as one of the best games both in the series and outside it, and it is the first FF to spawn a direct sequel.

Tidus is having a rough time of things. In the course of an evening he's gone from being a famous blitzball player to seeing his city of Zanarkand destroyed and being a refugee in a world where he's regarded as crazy if he mentions his home. Lacking anything better to do he falls into a position of guarding Yuna, a summoner on her pilgrimage to defeat Sin—the creature that appears about every ten years until a summoner takes it down. Guarding Yuna is an interesting job, between random monsters, assaults from Sin, kidnapping attempts, a budding war, a prospective marriage, and the puzzling temples that are stops on her voyage. The truths that unfold about the nature of their journey, the Aeons that summoners call on, and the history of both Zanarkand and the church that dominates the world of Spira are tragic, and really put a cramp in the already difficult process of falling in love.

Images:

Tidus
Yuna
The playable cast from left: Kimari, Yuna, Wakka, Tidus, Rikku, Lulu, and Auron
Transition to battle
Game opening: blitzball and destruction
Yuna dances for the deceased
Yuna summons a classic; Shiva's new look

Kingdom Hearts II

This sequel to Kingdom Hearts was released in 2006, again for the PS2. Picking up the story about two years after the end of the first game, KHII answers some questions left open in the previous game, as well as asking some new ones, including some ponderings on the nature of existance.

The game opens with Roxas, a friendly, happy boy enjoying the last days of summer with his friends in Twilight Town, but who has strange dreams and visions of someone else's memories. He is plagued by creatures, and the occasional black-cloaked person, attacking him and making cryptic comments about remembering who he is. Roxas' story soon gives way to Sora's as Sora wakes from a long sleep with no memories following the end of the previous game. He is quickly embroiled in a new adventure, faced at every turn with the secretive Organization XIII, Heartless, and Nobodies—the shell left behind when a Heartless is made. Sora, Donald, and Goofy must once again travel the different worlds in an effort to save them, visiting both familiar ones (Olympus Colosseum, Agrabah, Halloween Town) and new worlds (The Pride Lands, Land of Dragons, Port Royal) alike. Familiar characters put in an appearance alongside new ones as the search continues for the elusive King Mickey, Riku, and the leader of the group bent on the eradication of all the worlds.

Images

Roxas and friends
Sora's new outfit
Riku's changed, as well
And an older Kairi rounds out the trio
Sora and Mickey in Timeless River
Axel, of Organization XIII
A cloaked Organization XIII member
Game intro movie

Kingdom Hearts

In 2002, this unlikely collaboration of Disney and Squaresoft resulted in a compelling game for the PS2, blending favorite Disney characters, popular Final Fantasy characters, and original characters in a massive, multi-world quest.

Sora and his friends, Kairi and Riku, live on the idyllic Destiny Island, yet dream of going to other worlds. Donald and Goofy have been sent on a mission by the now-absent King Mickey to find and follow the Key. Maleficent and a mysterious, cloaked man are trying to unlock a power known as Kingdom Hearts, each using the Heartless—creatures which have had their hearts taken and now hunger for the hearts of others—in different ways. When the Heartless come and darkness destroys Destiny Island, the friends are cast onto different paths. Kairi is missing, Sora is granted the power of the Keyblade and joined by Donald and Goofy, and Riku falls in with Maleficent, who grants him his wish for power. Can Sora save his friends and all the worlds?

Images:

Sora
Riku
Kairi
Sephiroth!
Game intro movie

Shadow of the Colossus

The creators of ICO released this PS2 title as a spiritual successor in 2005, capturing every ounce of its predecessor's staggering beauty and adding even more grandiose majesty. As with ICO, the lack of characters is made up in the personality of the environment, and the openness of the story allows for nearly any interpretation.

Your nameless character arrives at a desolate, ruined temple bearing the body of a young woman. You betrayed a trust, stole a sacred sword, and entered a forbidden land in order to strike a deal with the collective power imprisoned there, known as Dormin, to destroy the sixteen colossi sealing them, and, in return, have them bring the woman back to life. You and your loyal horse, Agro, must explore a vast, breathtaking land in search of each gigantic creature in order to destroy them. Meanwhile, the pursuit from your village closes in, intent on reclaiming the sword and stopping the release of Dormin.

Images:

You, compared to a colossus
In the temple of Dormin
You and Agro
Chasing down a colossus
Another sense of your comparative size
Game introduction

ICO

This 2001 game for the PS2 was an underground sensation. It was never a massive commercial hit, but the sheer, lyrical beauty of it swayed a devoted audience.

Ico is a young boy, born into a village that periodically produces a child with horns; the child is regarded as a curse and is taken to a castle to be entombed alive. Ico escapes his death due to the decrepit nature of the castle, but the hundreds of similar tombs speak to the fate of the horned children that preceded him. He finds a strange girl called Yorda locked in a cage, who speaks an unknown language, and together they must work to escape. Ico must defend Yorda from the shadows that pursue them and seek to capture her, and Yorda is host to a mysterious power that, alone, can unlock the path to freedom. Neither can leave without the other, and their alliance is the only spark of hope amidst the vast emptiness of the hostile edifice.

Images:

Ico being brought to the castle
Ico and Yorda
The castle courtyard
Light through the windows
The game trailer