Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss the games that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I’m a self proclaimed pack-rat and collector, but if I ever had to sell my gaming collection to feed my family these are the games I’d hang onto. If my wife let me, anyway.

I never realized it until I played this game, but I’m a sucker for SRPGs. I’ve always had a soft spot for turn-based RPGs but the slightly puzzle like structure and chess piece maneuvering of a good SRPG will keep me utterly enthralled. Jeanne D’Ac was actually the first game I bought for my shiny new PSP two years ago, and thankfully I got enough quality gameplay out of it to tide me over during the initial lull in games the little system suffered at launch.

Jeanne D’Arc had all the hallmarks of a good RPG: the underdog heroine fighting for all that is good and pure, the wolfish rogue destined to win her heart, the loyal warrior protecting her back, etc. However, this game tossed up a few unexpected twists that really kept me pushing through to see how the story would unfold. And all along the way it did so with excellent hand drawn graphics, some sweet anime style cutscenes, and still some of the best SRPG battles I’ve ever played. I still replay this little handheld gem, there is an entire post-completion dungeon to finish with über gear and a special unlockable character, whom I really missed when I lost her in the main storyline. Whenever I travel with my PSP, this game travels with me.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss the games that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I’m a self proclaimed pack-rat and collector, but if I ever had to sell my gaming collection to feed my family these are the games I’d hang onto. If my wife let me, anyway.

I know, you’re asking yourself, “why the hell it this game a Keeper?” C’mon people, it’s a Star Wars fighting game! Need I say more? Outside of Vader and Yoda in Soul Calibur IV, this is the only chance you’ll ever have to pit Luke Skywalker against Chewbacca, or Princess Leia vs Boba Fett. Heck, you can even play as Mara Jade, how cool is that? Ok sure, the graphics were rough even by PS1 standards, and the characters are horribly imbalanced (Boba Fett is way overpowered) but I still chuckle like a fanboy at ComiCon when I revisit this game. Plus, now that I have a PS3 I can enjoy all of Slave Leia’s 200 polygons in 42″ HD glory. I think this game is more of a Keeper by novelty than quality, but that’s what having a collection is all about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to practice Luke’s Jedi Precision Slice on this Gamorrean Guard.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I’m a self proclaimed pack-rat and collector, but if I ever had to sell my gaming collection to feed my family these are the games I’d hang onto. If my wife let me, anyway.

Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 is one of those games that no one saw coming, and then no one bought it. For those that did though, they found an amazing SRPG with some gameplay twists never before seen in the genre. Think of the standard grid based SRPG and then think about controlling your characters and combat like a FPS, and you kind of have the idea. On top of that you add gorgeous watercolor styled graphics, an engaging storyline with tons of characters you actually care about, and you have what I feel is the best SRPG ever made. I have been slowly replaying this game on Hard mode to earn all of the medals, characters and in-game achievements. Sega has also released two brand new DLC campaigns that have kept me coming back to this game nearly a year after I finished it for the first time.

Sega will also be releasing a PSP-bound sequel next year and there is a pretty decent Anime to be found on the YouTubes if you’re interested (subtitled of course). I’m really looking forward to adding both to my Keepers shelf in the future.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I’m a self proclaimed pack-rat and collector, but if I ever had to sell my gaming collection to feed my family these are the games I’d hang onto. If my wife let me, anyway.

Ah, the good ol’ days of the Dreamcast. My fondness for this system knows no bounds, as it was responsible for introducing me to the “next gen” of gaming back in ’99. Pretty much all of my favorite genres today were introduced or refined for me on this system: racing, sports, fighting, platforming and MMO’s.  Yes, you read that right, MMO. Phantasy Star Online was the first MMO I ever played and it was my gateway drug to EverQuest, City of Heroes and the mighty World of Warcraft. I suppose these days you’d call PSO more of a Co-Op game than MMO, since your parties consisted of only 4 people, but you could log in over SegaNet (I loved Sega’s ISP, it was so much better than AOHell) and interact with hundreds of other people in the game’s lobbies before landing a party and setting off for adventures. I have great memories of dungeon crawling with friends until late hours of the night, grinding out XP and hunting for rare weapons and upgrading our MAGs.

I still fire this up on my second Dreamcast (connected to my PC monitor via VGA adapter) and play my 71st level HUcast. Graphically the game still looks nice and is a lot of fun even if you can’t play it online anymore. Someday I’ll hit level 100 and then retire the game for good. Or start a new character and let the grindfest begin anew.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

When I first started writing the Keepers column, I looked through all the games on my game shelf and made a list of which ones I thought deserved to be written about. I am now at the end of that list.

And so the final game on my list has finally come up: Beyond Good and Evil. Call it a magical Turkey Day special surprise. Or something. It’s difficult to talk much about it without repeating things I’ve already written many times before. Suffice it to say that I have an uncommon fondness for the game. I love it. And I’ve already played the game start to finish five times, the last time being when the vintage game club played Beyond Good and Evil. I’ll say it one last time – if you haven’t yet played the game, buy it here. Ten dollars.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

Because of the emphasis on its high-end hardware requirements, I didn’t try Crysis until long after its initial release. When I finally did, I found that while it wasn’t as amazing a game as its predecessor Far Cry, it was still an excellent game. The jet-piloting and zero-G segments were fairly terrible, but were also mercifully brief. I had a lot of fun with the game, and I’m ready to dub it a keeper.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

With Starcraft 2 slated for release in early 2010, you don’t hear much talk about Starcraft anymore. But when I look at my collection of older games and consider which I’d like to replay, Starcraft is always there. And I’ll always enjoy going back to it. I couldn’t do a Keepers column and not include Starcraft at some point.

Starcraft is the only decade-old game that I consistently see sold on store shelves alongside newer titles. I’ll look on the shelves and see Sims 3, Wrath of the Lich King, and Starcraft Battle Chest. There’s a reason. It’s the best RTS ever made, and it’s still fun. South Korea has made a national pastime out of the game. If you’ve never played Starcraft, you can get it for super-cheap now, and it will run beautifully on any PC you can find.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

The game has spawned a franchise and is one of the best-known Playstation 2 games out there. Its well-implemented analog controls and fighting mechanics are legend. It brought us some of the first quicktime events. And it brought boobs in video games into mainstream acceptance. Kind of.

Honestly though, while I had some minor issues with the second God of War game, the original is a true classic. Few people will argue that. The game is as addictively fun as it is brutally difficult. Fighting a huge wave of minotaurs and gorgons, balancing across that narrow wooden beam while jumping spinning blade wheels, climbing up a sheer stone cliff while dodging falling boulders – it’s all in a day’s work for my man Kraatos.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

While waiting for the release of Borderlands, I’ve been re-playing Half-Life 2, Episode 2. I think I’d forgotten what amazingly good games the entire Half-Life 2 series is. Beginning with Half-Life 2, and continuing in Episode 1 and 2, Valve tells shows a deep story about the invasion of planet Earth by an extradimensional race known as The Combine. They defeat humanity in what’s later called The Seven Hour War, and quickly subjugate the human race. Gordon Freeman returns with the help of the mysterious G-Man, and with aid from the human resistance and some members of another enslaved alien race, “vortigaunts”, he manages to escape from City 17 and go on to aid the resistance in fighting The Combine.

While the original Half-Life was an amazing game for its time, what really grabs me about Half-Life 2 is the story, the setting, and the characters. I’ve probably played through the man game two and a half times, and I know that I will again someday. It’s probably my second favorite video game, close on the heels of Beyond Good and Evil.

There is more to say about Half-Life 2 than I can fit into this small non-review, but I’ll try to fit it all concisely. Half-Life 2 still has the best graphics I’ve seen in just about any game, yet will run on an old machine with a 700mhz processor, 128 mB of RAM and a 64 mB video card. Half-Life 2 has the absolutely best voice acting and character animation I’ve ever seen in any game. Alyx Vance and Professor Kleiner might as well be real people. A scene at the end of episode 2 very nearly made me cry. And I don’t think I’ve ever cried at a movie. Half-Life 2 has such a fantastic storyline and setting that I always want to know more about what happens in that world and how the war between the Combine and the human resistance is going.

Half-Life 2 and every bit of extra content they put out for the game is a keeper if I’ve ever seen one.

Keepers is a weekly segment in which I discuss games I’ve played that I’ve seen fit to keep after playing. I generally sell a game that I’ve finished, so the only reason I keep one is because I plan to replay the game some day. Classifying a game as a “keeper” is generally a badge of merit.

I’ve been waiting a while for this one. If you didn’t know that this website takes its name from a location (the best location) in Psychonauts, then you probably haven’t played the game. If that’s the case, you’ve seriously missed out. Psychonauts is by far the funniest game I’ve ever played, and beyond that, it’s just a good game. Where else can you go on a misson to rescue your friends’ brains? In what other game can you summon a psychic janitor with a piece of bacon? And how many games let you enter the mind of an insane actress and battle the theater critics that plague her psyche?

Psychonauts is hilarious ridiculous fun. I’ve replayed the game start to finish, and likely will again at some point. That’s really what makes a game a Keeper.