I see a lot of people who have a problem with paying the price of a console game for a handheld game but I have no problem with that at all. Why? For some reason I find handheld games much easier to play for long periods of time.

I love a good adventure, but despite this I’ve never finished a traditional console RPG. I’d put Skies of Arcadia, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy IX in amongst my favourite games of all time, but I have saves for all of them abandoned around the 20-25 hour mark. On the other hand you can give me a GBA or DS RPG and I still might not finish it but I’ll almost certainly come close, usually stopping when I get stuck on a difficult final boss.

The only reason I can really think of is that, like when I preferred Animal Crossing on a handheld, I just don’t want to be tied to the television. When I get into a handheld game like I am now with FFIV and was recently with Fire Emblem I’ll be taking it literally everywhere and get a few minutes in wherever I can. For some people the quick fix games are what they want in a handheld game (not that I don’t love those too), but I love something on them that I can really get my teeth into.

This seems like a weird thing to be talking about but FFIV really got me thinking about it. While the ongoing success of the DS might be encouraging developers to focus on the quick fixes, but I hope they keep the long and engrossing adventures coming to portables.

How about FFVII on the PSP? Then I might actually finish it and use my PSP.