Tag Archives: final fantasy iv

Skipping Through Time

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Nathan

Live A Live – This game was originally released by Square in 1994, and was directed by Takashi Tokita, who was the lead designer on Final Fantasy IV and later directed Chrono Trigger. Like the latter game, this is an RPG … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, China, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy, History, Humor, Japan, Language, Magic, Monsters, Music, Names, Relationships, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Love That Leviathan

Posted on November 19, 2022 by Nathan

I’d been meaning to discuss Leviathan a little more, which I think was inspired by the name being used for the base of the rebel organization Astrea in Cosmic Star Heroine. Considering all the other references to classic games, I had thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Art, Cartoons, Celtic, Christianity, Comics, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Japanese, Judaism, Language, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Names, Pokémon, Religion, Semitic, Video Games, Welsh | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Thousand Thousand Slimy Things Lived On

Posted on January 8, 2022 by Nathan

I wrote about Slimes in the Dragon Quest series eleven years ago, and mentioned the fact that they were inspired by Creeping Cruds from Wizardry, but Akira Toriyama drew them as cute. There was also a mention of Slimes in … Continue reading →

Posted in Board Games, Cartoons, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Focus on the Foes, Food, Games, Gender, Japanese, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Give Me Back My Name

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Nathan

A subject I’ve sometimes seen come up on Dragon Quest fan communities is that of the names in DQ2. You give the hero, the Prince of Midenhall, whatever name you want, and that somehow determines the names of your companions, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arthurian Legend, British, Buddhism, Comics, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Food, History, Holy Roman Empire, Language, Mythology, Names, Norse, Religion, United Kingdom, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Where the Worlds Have No Name

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Nathan

One night last week, I had a fitful sleep with a bunch of weird dreams. I remember one of them had me ranting about how J.R.R. Tolkien was never clear on whether Middle-Earth was his entire imaginary world or just … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, C.S. Lewis, Captain N: The Game Master, Cartoons, Chronicles of Narnia, Discworld, Dragon Quest, Dreams, Final Fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, L. Frank Baum, Language, Maps, March Laumer, Mario, Mythology, Names, Norse, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Television, Terry Pratchett, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Co-Ed Casting

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Nathan

I get the impression that the general depiction of a white mage in the Final Fantasy series is female. I thought of this when I recently talked about Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Mario Sports Mix, which have a generic white … Continue reading →

Posted in Cartoons, Catholicism, Christianity, Comics, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Gender, Magic, Philosophy, Religion, Television, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Guests from Another Game

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Nathan

You might well know by now about my mixed feelings on crossovers, how I love the idea but think they bring their own headaches, particularly when it comes to continuity. What’s kind of strange is that crossovers in the Mario franchise … Continue reading →

Posted in Animal Crossing, Captain N: The Game Master, Cartoons, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Games, Magic, Mario, Metroid, Monsters, Pac-Man, Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Television, Toys, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Fearsome Furnishings

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Nathan

Living versions of inanimate objects are common in fiction. The Oz books have a lot of them, although most of them are friendly. There are, however, many animated objects that are deadly, especially in role-playing games. I was recently thinking … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Discworld, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Focus on the Foes, Games, Jack Snow, Kid Icarus, Magic, Mario, Monsters, Oz, Oz Authors, Terry Pratchett, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Saving the World While We’re Young

Posted on August 15, 2019 by Nathan

I’ve seen the topic come up of how everyone tends to be young in Japanese role-playing video games, to the extent that people in their thirties are considered old. I noticed this in Final Fantasy VII, where everyone seems to … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Comics, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Gender, J.R.R. Tolkien, Magic, Prejudice, Relationships, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Consider Yourself Debrotherized

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Nathan

Since I looked into possible meanings of the story of Cain and Abel not long ago, that led me to the TV Tropes page of characters named Cain, or variants thereof. There are a lot of them across various media, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Comics, Families, Final Fantasy, Games, Humor, Judaism, Mario, Mayan, Mega Man, Mythology, Names, Native American, Relationships, Religion, Video Games | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments