I'm pressed for time today. Go read and be off with ya.

hey JD,

is Final Fantasy 8 going to cost 40 or 50$?I was just wondering.Also, can you believe that FF8 will be in our hands in 8 days.

-a fool who drools,is cool,has tools,plays with his kazoo, and rules.

JD:
Most stores list Final Fantasy 8 at $49, there could be exceptions however at places like Wal Mart. I don't think anyone who calls himself a Square fan or maybe even RPG fan can't help but have high expectations, if not overly excited about the pending release of Final Fantasy 8. Exciting times we live in, eh?

Hey ya JD man,

I thought i should ask you this cuz you are the solver of all problems.I was wondering If I should save up and buy FF Anthology or save up for another great RPG.I dont have any money cuz I just preordered a copy of FF8!(thats why i have to save up) I have played FF5 on an emulator (and i am sure many have too).I got about a quarter way through it (then i diched it cuz i heard FF Anthology was comin out).I have also rented FF6/3 US and i got about a quarter way through it then i had to return it.So I have never beaten either game.So What should i do Oh great advice man
1: Save up for Anthology and play 2 games i have never beaten.Plus with added FMV's
2: Save up for another RPG
3: Save up for a Dreamcast (i am not really sure I want one)

Please help me decide (its bin bugging me for a long time)
PS: I just bought a PlayStation, 2 Months Ago (dont have any RPG's)can you reccomend some good RPG's for me to get. Thanx youre the best.Oh and please post this,it took me a long time to type Thanx JD

JD:
Forget everything just get a Dreamcast.
Ok that obviously didn't work so let us explore the more viable option. After playing both FF 5 and 6 and at least a quarter of the way through and still haven't been able to firmly decide...Then my suggestion is either Grandia or Suikoden 2. However if you feel you prefer the old school type RPGs then go with FF Anthology. It's a hard decision, in the end any of the 3 RPGs would be a worthy purchase...And before I forget, there's also Thousand Arms.

Galam Rocked. I still have my Turbo Dou. Main question here. I have played Y's 1-3, but have never seen 4. I know it was an import, but could never find it for sale. Also, since Cosmic Fantasy was 2, were there ever prequels or sequels? Just wondering.

-Vatali

JD:
Cosmic Fantasy was the first big Working Designs RPG, and it was glorious. I don't buy the doom and gloomers putting this game down, it was absolutely brilliant. It was one of the first stories that encompassed the plot line of love and death, it was powerful, and lets not forget the Working Designs comedy, which in my opinion was the most tasteful use of it in a Working Designs game. Now about your question...Yes there was a Cosmic Fantasy 1 which to my understanding was a decent game. There also was a Cosmic Fantasy 3, 4 Part 1 and 2. These were released only in japan however, but have been occasionally spotted at Ebay.com.

Before I ask this question, great picture of the week for 8-31, made me crack up. Since you seem to know a bit about vg soundtracks (amen!) and since they are so damn costly (but hey, it's worth $45 (with shipping) for Final Fantasy: 1987-1994! (ack that's almost more than the entire cost of ff8... anways)),

which do you recommend out of the Dragon Quest Symphonies (out of 1-4)? My first incliation is to the dragon quest symphony best, but dragon quest 3 symphonic suite looks awesome too. DQ1 and DQ2 Symphony suite doesn't sound that compelling since half the cd is the original nintendo sound, but I haven't heard them so I have no idea. Also, what do you think of the FF7 Reunion tracks and the FFT/Xenogears, and before I get the seiken densetsu ones? *inserts another complaint about too many potentially good sounding tracks and too much cost!* thanks,

-starrealms

JD:
You really can't go wrong with any choice. With FF 87-94 you'll get a more varied arrangement than the DQ Symphonies, though good get a tad repetitive. My favorite is probably the DQ 3 SS album, but as you know the Enix albums are quite rigid and conservative classically speaking. I prefer the falcom symphonies which do sound better and more complex.

As far as FF7 Reunion the new 3 arranged tracks are very well done, though I wouldn't buy it. My suggestion for a Square album purchase would be either FF8 OSV or Xenogears OSV. Happy listening....

I am happy and proud to here that someone who's so adamant about liking sony is considering getting a dreamcast. Just cause you really like PSX doesn't mean you can't buy anything out there that's justa great system. Anyhow, that person did mention something about RPG's and in my humble opinion Shen mue looks cool. I was watching a trailer for it and this cool lookin japanese buisness man just walks out and challenges the main character to a fight.

Even if you don't like that though, there are still plenty of great RPG's coming to the Dreamast. Climax landers (wich is the combination of the Landstalker, Shining and phantasy star series) , Lunar 3 and Grandia 1 and/or 2 are well enough to have on a system. Although there are even more.

-Ross Levine

JD:
Finally someone with a working brain. Just kidding y'all.

My husband and I are 32. We have 3 kids and we all play video games. We have every system made. My comment first: We have played ONLY RPG's since the 80's, nothing else. We love all the final fantasy's, breath of fires, LSSS,etc. I came across your site last week,while searching (with no luck) for a site dedicated to RPG's. This is the BEST, most informative site I have seen. Imagine, all RPG games, daily. This is like a dream for us. We used to check out videogames.com, and those popular sites, but it only mentioned one rpg per week. Anyway, this is a great site, our kids are on it all the time, and I want to thank you, just for creating this site. It's excellent.

-Julie

JD:
I'm jaded, thanks to reading all sorts of mail for this column. So I'm in the thinking of uncertainty of this letter. But it's cool if parents who are also rpg fans do indeed read this site for their RPG needs.

Hey JD-

I figured I should share my opinions here after your 9/1/99 column. First off, I am going to buy the FF Anthology. Why? Because I never owned FF6... I had borrowed it from my friend a numberof times (in fact, I still have it), and I've only played FF5 on a translated ROM. So I DO owe Square to buy it for... well... stealing FF5 (since it IS coming over, thank the gods above)... but, for a lot of people, including myself, playing a ROM isn't good enough - the sound is clunky, and sometimes (depending on your emulator and strength of your computer) the speed kinda stinks too. Using a keyboard, too, I've found, takes away from it some. I really prefer using a controller over the keyboard. I'm psyched for the Anthology... I personally think it'll be, simply, very cool.

Final Fantasy 8... 8!? Damn, there's been a lot of Final Fantasies, and I've played all of 'em (let's face it... Square's NEVER going to re-release FF2/3J here in the US), and I think they're all wonderful games - in their own way. Each Final Fantasy has had a different story, a different world, and only similar battle engines (I personally loved FF4's 5-person party... and I did NOT like FF7's 3-person party)... things are going to be different for each game... we should really learn to accept that fact, eh? I didn't really like the Materia system of FF7 as opposed to the learn-spells-as-you-level-up system of FF4... but I do have to admit, as much as I liked FF7, the games are losing something... I'm not nearly as excited about FF8 as I was about FF7... Nevertheless, I'm going to buy it... maybe just not right away.. after all, I JUST got Xenogears about a week or two ago.

What AM I really excited about? Something that's a way off... Legend of Mana. That and FFA are the two games I can't wait for. Secret of Mana was an astoundingly awesome game (damn my greed for selling it!), and SD3 is also cool... however, I'm playing a translated ROM (sshhh!! Don't tell!), and... well, I'm only doing it for the experience of SD3. I haven't been able to get into it much, but it's cool. I've already stated my opinion on FFA. Well, this is actually pretty long, so it probably won't get printed, but hey, I can hope. Later, man.

-Rouge (And YES, I AM a SaGa Frontier fan!!)

JD:
Legend of Mana has gotten bad reviews, from what I've seen.

is it just me thats having second thoughts about final fantasy 8? i mean didnt any of you guys read gamefans review on it??? im shocked they gave it a 68, 78 , and a 85 i trust these guys bc all other game mags suck so now im confused, they said this game didnt have "soul". so either the gamefan staff has been bought out by bernie stolar or this game isnt up to the hype

-The Blue Seed

JD:
I read excerpts of their review. At least from the excerpts, all I can say is it was one of the most unprofessional reviews I've ever the unfortunate experience of reading.

JD,

master of all the world and king of all that is.....well......something. Thanks to you putting up that sickening Pokemon Picture, I AM TRAUMATIZED FOR LIFE!! Because of you, I can't watch Pam Anderson on V.I.P. or see Christina Aguilera's video without seeing James's face replacing those pretty babes. YOU JUST WAIT TILL I GET A HOLD OF A NUKE SILO!! YOU WILL PAY!! Oh yeah, I can only buy one game every year until Christmas so what game do you think I should get?

-GrEaT^GoSpEl

JD:
To clear up any misconceptions, yes that picture was real. It came from the Japanese Pokemon TV show Episode 18.