February's Together Retro Themes: Poll Closed - FF Spin-Offs

[noiseredux]

And the winner is Final Fantasy Spin-Offs!

Thanks for voting, see y'all next month.



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Hello all - it's time to vote for next month's TR theme! I put a lot of thought into these options, and actually had to whittle them down from a list of nearly ten ideas. So I'm definitely excited to see what you guys think.

This poll will run for one week. You may choose TWO themes, and the theme with the most votes will be the winner. In the event of a tie I will use some kind of virtual coin-flip RNG or whatever to decide the winner. You CAN change your votes throughout the open voting period week. With that in mind, feel free to discuss the options and help convince others why we should want to pick a particular theme.

And here we go...



Wonder Boy x Adventure Island

If ever there was a convoluted series of games it's this group here. While the original Wonder Boy was cloned into Adventure Island, those two series then went on to spawn their own unique sequels. And even those get complicated to try to keep straight. So this month I propose we delve into the increasingly more action-RPG Wonder Boy series along with the sidescrolling platforming of the Adventure Island series or if you want to get really crazy you can dig deeper into reskins like Revenge Of Drancon and the Monica conversions or even weirder tangents like Whomp Em.

Suggestions: Wonder Boy, Wonder Boy In Monster Land, Monster Lair, Dragon's Trap, Wonder Boy In Monster World, Monster World IV, Adventure Island 1-3, Super Adventure Island and Super Adventure Island II.


Final Fantasy Spin-Offs

The Final Fantasy franchise is rather large. And yet I feel like it's mostly the mainline games that get the most attention. So I figured why not spend a month exploring all the various side stories and spin-offs and other oddities. There are action RPG's, strategy RPG's, and even chocobo racing. And when you get into localizations that were renamed "Final Fantasy" when they hit other regions, you can get as creative as you want as far as what's considered a Final Fantasy spin-off or not.

Suggestions: Final Fantasy Adventure, Final Fantasy Legends 1-3, Final Fantasy Tactics, Crystal Defenders, Mystic Quest, Crystal Chronicles.


3D Zelda Clones

Last month we got an option to vote on 2D Zelda clones, which got me thinking about the even more abstract concept of 3D Zelda clones. I'm not really sure the best way to describe such a game, but I think you'll know them when you see them. I feel like this one will be the least popular of the options, but who knows - there could be some interesting choices that even I haven't thought of.

Suggestions: Okami, Beyond Good & Evil, Dark Cloud and its sequel.


Mizuguchi's Puzzles & Music

And now to shake things up a bit I thought I'd nominate a single game designer and focus on the puzzly musical gameplay that he's often known for and that Together Retro hasn't really done much of. Mizuguchi has put his name on some very interesting games from rhythm-focused Space Channel 5, to the trippy shooting of Rez and Child Of Eden, or the addictive puzzle titles that seemed to help sell the PSP and DS early on. This theme could open up some interesting score competitions and even online multiplayer possibilities.

Suggestions: Space Channel 5, Rez, Lumines, Child Of Eden, Meteos, Every Extend.

[ESauced]

I submitted my vote!

I voted for Wonder Boy/ Adventure Island. For Adventure Island there is also an Adventure Island IV on famicom. It’s a shame it didn’t make it to America because it actually does something different with the series after 2 and 3 we’re both so similar. 4 is not linear; you explore levels and get new weapons and power ups. I’ve only played it a bit but I’ll probably devote time to it if that category wins.

I’ve never played any of the Wonder Boy games but this would give me an excuse to buy the remake on Switch.

My other vote was for Zelda clones. I have Darksiders 2 on Wii U but I’ve only briefly touched it. I’d play through that if this category wins. I played though Beyond Good and Evil a long time ago and own the HD copy but I’d rather play something I’ve never played. I’m struggling to think what other 3d Zelda clones I’ve played. The only other one that comes to mind is Star Fox Adventures.

[ESauced]

And I changed my vote from Zelda clones to Mizuguchi's Puzzles & Music already.

I probably should have the original post before voting in the first place because I didn’t recognize the name and assumed I wouldn’t have any games. I own every game you listed for that developer and love them all. I got Child of Eden free with Games with gold recently month and haven’t had a chance to play it. I’d love to sink my teeth into these games.

[Markies]

I went with Final Fantasy Spin-Offs and 3D Zelda Clones.

Unfortunately, I probably won't be participating in this month. The games and categories listed are ones that I either do not own or have already beaten. If I look hard enough, I might be able to find one or two, but we shall see when the month comes up.

But, I choose those two categories because I love the Final Fantasy franchise and I always love to read about people playing those games. And I think the 3D Zelda Clone idea has the most range for people, so I'm thinking that could bring in some more people.

Also, those are 4 distinct, varied and unique categories, so I'll be curious to see how the votes stack up around here.

[dsheinem]

Put in 3D Zelda clones as an incentive to finally go finish up 3D Dot Game Heroes.

[Exhuminator]

I voted for Final Fantasy Spin-Offs and 3D Zelda Clones. Reason being I've got copious amounts of both at my disposal.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I voted for Adventure Island/Winder Boy because I would like to know more about each series. I also voted for the Mizuguchi games because I love them so much and want an excuse to revisit them.

I would have voted for 3D Zelda clones, but I have already beaten most of them...

[BoneSnapDeez]

Wonder Boy and Final Fantasy spin-offs no question. Lots of great stuff there. Not quite as interested in the other two and 3D Zelda clones ventures too close to modern territory for me.

[laurenhiya21]

I picked Final Fantasy spin-offs and 3D Zelda clones. I have a good number of interesting looking games for both of those. I could still join in for the other two topics if they were chosen (as I could emulate Wonder Boy stuff, and I have Gunpey and Lumies for the other one), but they definitely don't interest me as much.

[samsonlonghair]

I voted for Wonder Boy x Adventure Island because it would be fun to follow the branching paths of this "franchise of franchises".

I voted for Mizuguchi's Puzzles & Music because there's nothing else like them.