Hey Andy

How come Suikoden 3 is the staff pick for RPG of the year, when you guys picked Kingdom hearts as the PS1&2 rpg of the year. Doesn't that mean you guys thought there was a better game on the same system. Plus it seemed liked you picked it first in more Catagores. I just don't understand how it got RPG of the year over KH.

Hey Andrew,

Sorry about that retarded Grandia bug letter response. Anyway, which February RPG are you most looking forward to? There's Dark Cloud 2, Xenosaga, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, and Dot Hack (already released). Me? I'm going for Xenosaga. Ich habe der Wille zur Macht!

-Otterland

Andrew,
I bought .Hack on wednesday when it was released, but have not had much time for it due to school, and work. Here's what I think of it so far.

It is a fairly well done real time RPG. The combat seems bland, mostly hack and slash, though that may change. There's an excellent tutorial which explains all the major functions of the game and the menu system. Party control is fast and simple, using an easy menu interface that stops the action when you use it. The story is interesting though strongly reminiscent of Tad Williams Otherland book series, so far. Because of the $200 price tag to play through the entire game (all 4 volumes) I would still suggest a rental before a purchase. Oh, yeah, I do like what I've played so far.
Dan

The overall presentation of the concept is flawless. Characters have distinct personalities, from the serious role-player to the giddy, emoticon using genki-girl (I don't generally use japanese terms, as I don't speak the language, but nothing else fit). I've yet to run into any player-killers, but I'm sure they exist.

The graphics are something of a hit-or-miss affair. The character models are excellently detailed and animated, and the towns, while small, are quite vibrant, however the fields and dungeons look, well, like what you would expect from an MMORPG, bland and, for the most part, uninteresting. Monsters look about as good as the characters. If you look at it a certain way, the graphics heighten the "You are really playing this game, now question reality, you simp" feel they're trying to protray, but then again, this game is supposed to have been made a few years in the future, so they could have afforded to make the enviroments look a bit better.

By far the worst feature is the battle-system, which, again, fits right in to the MMORPG atmosphere, but since you're not actually having thirty or so people on screen all fighting in real time, it really wasn't necessary to do it that way. It's simplistic, and, aside from some of the skills and the against the rules techniques, it's fairly boring to look at.

As long as you allow yourself to be absorbed by the presentation, and the concept, you'll enjoy yourself. If you can't overlook the flaws, then don't bother.

-Bal

• Cramps?

• 90 minutes of Simpsons!