Even within the same genre, games can vary greatly. You may love fighting games, for example, but certain design choices can suck the fun right out of some titles. I find this happens to me with SRPGs (strategy role-playing games).

I’ve played the original Shining Force series (1, 2, and CD mostly) over and over again, yet I’ve owned Fire Emblem on Game Boy Advance for probably five years now and have yet to finish it. Even though I like the game, a small part of me actually dreads going back to finish it. The two play almost identically, so why the disparity? It all comes down to the concept of lost time. (continue reading…)