IDENTITY CRISIS

What happens when RARE GAMES turn up on Steam?

- Kerry Brunskill

Once upon a time I happily handed over $170 for Ys: The Oath in Felghana for my trusty Windows XP machine. It certainly felt like a lot, but I didn't regret my purchase. That was just what a rare, obscure, never-to-be-translated (as we believed at the time) Japanese PC exclusive cost back then - I either paid up or missed out.

In the distant past of 2005 the entirety of Falcom's PC catalogue was little more than impenetrable curiosities of next to no interest to most people, only available via tiny boutique websites or by emailing a guy who knew a guy. Their embossed, oversized boxes looked special, and by extension they made me feel special too - proof I'd put in the time, money, and effort.

Thanks to Steam my old wallet-busting purchases seem more than ridiculous today - they almost sound impossible. It's been years since Felghana was anything other than another action-RPG on a store stuffed with them, frequently on sale for the price of a coffee. It's the most terrifying and exhilarating trial any rare game can go through. Stripped of its scarcity and collector's clout, and forced into the colosseum of public opinion, do these games still feel as good to buy and play when there's no 'point' to owning them beyond personal pleasure?

REEVALUATING RARITIES

Suikoden II's one of the most recent games to receive this treatment, and life's been one heck of a roller-coaster for Konami's now-beloved RPG. It's been praised from the rooftops for so long it's easy to believe the game's always been understood and adored, but in truth early reactions to the game's English release were actually pretty tepid: