Software preservation advocate. Unprofessional gaming blogger. Fan of Megaten, Final Fantasy, FGC in theory, and RPG mechanics. Follow me on Twitter @Ryotaiku
A brief guide to backwards compatibility on the Playstation
The PS1 can play PS1 games. That much is obvious.
Early phat PS2s use a dedicated emulation chip to run PS1 games. But their lasers are starting to wear out to where they can't read CDs. This also means some PS2 games printed on CDs won't work either.
Later phat PS2s and all slim PS2s remove the emulation chip, but can still play PS1 games through software emulation. It's not quite as accurate though.
Every model of PS3 can play PS1 games. They rely solely on software emulation, and thus the feature was never removed. Yes, even yours.
Early phat PS3s have an emulation chip for PS2s and thus can play PS2 games. But later phat PS3s and all slim/superslim PS3s have the chip removed. But, there are select PS2 games re-released on PSN that can run on any model.
No PS4 can play discs from PS3, 2, or 1. But like the PS3, there are re-releases of select PS1 & PS2 games available on PSN.
The PS5 can play PS4 games for the most part, and hilariously some PS4 games run even better than native PS5 games. And it can run the same re-released PS2/PS1 games as the PS4.
You ever think about how Sega had a series where you could interact with Hatsune Miku like a Tamagotchi, then they just stopped making them for some reason?
You could give Hatsune Miku headpats with the PS Vita's touchscreen.
The goal: Find an 8-bit RPG better than Final Fantasy 1
Competitors
Dragon Quest 1
Hated it. Really painfully grindy, and there isn't really any depth beyond the grind.
Phantasy Star 1
This one is cool! It's got really good dungeon crawling, however the quests are aggressively railroaded; which is a surprise in an RPG this old.
Goldbox games
These are all based on AD&D 2e, and are therefore disqualified. AD&D 2e kinda sucks.
Ultima 4
I gotta reevaluate this one on the Master System. I tried it on DOS and the hotkeys were overwhelming.
Wizardry 1
I tried this, had my entire party wiped out, looked up advice, and found out resting at the inn causes your characters to physically age to the point of being unusable. I decided not to keep going.
Ys 1
This one actually gets pretty close. I really like the first Ys, though the end boss is kinda bullshit.
Swords & Serpents
Meh. The combat is too simple, the dungeon isn't interesting, and saving your progress requires five unique passwords.
I am open to suggestions for 8-bit RPGs that can beat out FF1 and possibly Ys 1.
Disclaimer: I saw the November 2025 show in Minneapolis. Your city may have a different setlist than mine.
Prelude
Every Final Fantasy game has some variation of the prelude. If you've heard any track from Final Fantasy, it's probably this one. Love this track, 100% iconic.
Liberi Fatali
This is the intro music to Final Fantasy VIII. Bit of a weird start, VIII is pretty divisive, but goddamn this track is a banger. Even if you end up hating VIII like I did, you are guaranteed to get hyped up hearing this in the intro
Battle with the Four Fiends
This is one of the boss themes from FFIV. This tour of Distant Worlds is meant to celebrate Masayoshi Soken, the composer for XIV & XVI, and one of the bosses of XIV uses a variant of this track. I really like IV, though I think its generic boss track stands out more than this one.
Songs of Salt and Suffering
The secondary theme of XIV's second expansion, Stormblood. I really love Stormblood. This track rules.
Flow
The main theme of XIV's third expansion, Shadowbringers. I don't like Shadowbringers as much as everyone else does, and I honestly don't like its soundtrack much either. But when orchestrated, Flow sounds pretty great!
The Final Day
This plays during pivotal moments of XIV's third expansion, Endwalker. I like Endwalker's music more than Shadowbringers, and this track creates some real hype when it hits.
Zanarkand
The main theme of X. Not my favorite, but fits for an orchestral performance.
Chocobo Medley 2012
A medley of different variants of the chocobo theme! Particularly the theme from V, indisputably the best chocobo theme.
Intermission
The show intermission was a great time to buy the complete Distant Worlds discography on CD. I even got a sick compact tote bag out of it!
Decisive Battle Medley
That's not the official name but it doesn't look like this one is on any of the official records. This was a medley of Battle on the Big Bridge (V), Seymour Omnis (X), and Those Who Fight (VII). I love Battle on the Big Bridge so much you guys. I almost got out of my seat when I heard this one.
Unrequited Love
A track from IX. It's a variant of the main character's theme that plays when he starts opening up more about his past. I remember enjoying IX but I don't remember much about this track. Probably the most forgettable in the set.
Blinded by Light
The battle theme from XIII; a game that does a lot of things wrong but man does it have a great soundtrack.
Valse di Fantastica
A track from XV; a game that does a lot of things wrong but man does it have a great soundtrack.
Away
Theme of the phoenix in XVI. Banger.
Ascension
Theme of Bahamut in XVI. Banger.
My Star
End credits theme of XVI. Our particular show had Amanda Achen in the flesh to reprise the vocals. She also did the vocals for Flow & The Final Day.
Find the Flame
Ifrit's theme in XVI. Banger.
Final Fantasy theme
Believe it or not, the prelude is not the main theme of Final Fantasy. You can't end a Final Fantasy music show without playing the theme at least once. But shouldn't there be one more track?
Oh yes, there was.
Encore: One Winged Angel
The final boss theme of Final Fantasy VII. The encore was either gonna be this or Dancing Mad (VI), and I'm so glad it was this. They even had audience participation where we were encouraged to shout SE-PHI-ROTH at the appropriate moments. Great way to end a show.
I really thought this show was gonna be all the tracks from the Distant Worlds VII album and I'm so glad it wasn't. This show was amazing. Super diverse list of games, and virtually all of my favorites from the series. If the tour crosses through your city, do not skip it.
The worst part of VPNs is I've never used one long enough to pay for more than one subscription. By the time my sub runs out I'm ready to jump ship to a different one because it did something to annoy me.
NordVPN: Data breached and tried to lie about it
Surfshark: Terrible split-tunneling that broke several websites and online games that shouldn't have even been going through the VPN
ProtonVPN (using): Openly supports & funds the republican party. Also flipped my split tunneling in a software update, leaving me exposed for a nearly a full day before I caught it
I'm thinking of AirVPN next. My two hard requirements are port forwarding & good split tunneling. I have until March to decide.
A Netrunner jacks into an unfamiliar network. The architecture within is a starry expanse, asteroids floating about. He appears to be piloting a spaceship. In the distance, he hears an alarming voice.
Hard rule:
If you tell me to "play a different game," you have to give actual suggestions & name names. If you can't do that, you're not allowed to get mad at me for whatever I choose to play.
Dragon Quest XI is incredible for being a 100+ hour game while also managing to be remarkably replayable. One of the things that enables this is its challenge modes, called Draconian Quests. Here's what I think of them.
Important note: There are no achievements tied to Draconian Quests. The most you get for completing one is a star next to it on the main menu, and they don't even give you anything extra for postgame. If you're not having fun, you can absolutely turn them off and not miss out on anything.
No Fleeing from Battle
Prevents running from fights. DQXI is already pretty cagey about letting you run from fights, so I dunno if this one would even do anything. Apparently Enix agreed, because it's only present in the base game. Later releases removed it as an option.
No Shopping
Disables the shops, making you fend for yourself with items in the overworld, or what you craft yourself. I can see this one being rough at the start, but as you progress it'll be no big deal. Most of the best gear is obtained by crafting anyway.
No Armor
Disables all defensive equipment. Armor, accessories, even shields. This means you can't use any dedicated shield skills on certain party members. I've beaten the game with this one, and it's a good way to increase the difficulty in a tough but fair way; making your party squishier without changing your damage output.
Reduced EXP from Easy Fights
Disables EXP gain from enemies at a lower level than you, effectively putting a ceiling on your level in each zone. I thought this one would discourage grinding, which I'm in favor of, but it actually does the opposite. It encourages grinding by making you want to hit the ceiling in every zone. I wasn't a fan.
All Enemies are Super Strong
Doubles the stats on every encounter. Enemies are more deadly, and you do less damage. The community considers this the official hard mode, but I didn't have fun. It created a Sisyphean loop where you die over & over to get one successful encounter, then you have to save so you don't lose that precious EXP on the next encounter. I got up to level 17, about 12 hours into the game, before turning it off.
Shypox & Super Shypox
Every encounter, at random, stuns a party member. Regular Shypox only affects the hero, Super Shypox affects the whole party. This one sounds more annoying than difficult, but I kinda want to do an RNG hell run with them.
Townsfolk Talk Tripe
NPCs, at random, will give you nonsense instead of any useful information. This one sounds cool in theory, especially for a blind playthrough without a guide, but it's not subtle at all. It plays a big music sting every time it triggers, and afterwards you can just talk to them again to get the info they actually have. It's kinda pointless.
Party Wiped Out if Protagonist Perishes
Instant game-over if the hero dies. I think this one also locks him into your line-up, which may make the game harder just on account of the hero not really being the best party member. I haven't tried this one yet, but I'm not opposed to the idea.
