Has a big-budget game series ever made as significant a shift in direction as transition from structure to the open sprawl of was a rush, but the core beats retained a familiarity that does not exist in case. progression to its sequel might be a better example, although that was a more naturally evolutionary step, the 1998 release’s isometric 3D making way for realtime polygons ten years later. The segues from to and, especially, to feel more like overt creative decisions, unafraid to overturn expectations. These are risks, and it is amusing to see concede this point in how its UI represents the current members of your party – not with the headshots you might expect, but with full-body sprites rendered in jumbo pixels, as if they’ve been plucked right out of 1994’s Against the backdrop of such palpable change, these hits of unalloyed nostalgia feel like pillows placed behind the player’s head: “Yes, things are different, but look, remember these? That’s right – just like the old ones. Sit back. Everything’s going to be OK.”
