Andrew Long - 23:17 EST

THERE IS NOTHING more amusing than reading a message board peopled by Sony fanboys. I know this to be true because I was directed to such a board, where they proceeded to bleat and moan about Capcom's decision to actually make money on DMC4. Now, obviously berating idiots isn't much fun when you consider who you're talking about, but all the same, please enjoy this, and be aware that if you ever write me with something similar, I reserve the right to point and laugh. But I don't do that to ALL letters. So let us proceed!

I had a quick question about Final Fantasy music. I was going through a bunch of old CDs my friends and I burned a long time ago, and found a version of the Prelude which I have never seen anywhere else. It starts off like normal, but then after the beginning, a classical guitar comes in while the beginning repeats itself in the background. It's driving me crazey because I only have about a minute and a half of it on my disc. I even looked for it on my sister's computer, and I found it there, but it was under the name Final Fantasy VII Extremely Rare Prelude. Even there, though, it is only part of the song. I'd love to find out exactly which version it is, so I could buy it. Any ideas?

If it involves classical guitar, it was a fan remix. I'd suggest looking around for all the usual suspects; Project Majestic Mix, OCRemix, perhaps even in our own archives. That name probably doesn't mean much; the FFVII prelude was much the same as FFVI or FFI, although it was something of a mix between the two, containing both the counterpoint found in FFVI and the harmonic echo from FFI. And if you think you've got it bad, I once heard a thoroughly awesome hardcore remix of the FFVII prelude, only to never hear it again, to this day, to say nothing of even knowing what the track is called.

Anyhow, I know that isn't much help, but if you'd like some other preludey goodness to tide you over, head on over to OCRemix and scoop up "Prelude(Refractive)", found under FFI in the games listing at the top.

I see that you have not exactly been lacking in letters so much as those letters have been devoid of extremely thought-provoking questions. Most of the questions could be answered by a quick Google search. It is in the hopes of remedying this situation that I have written this letter.

What are your thoughts on cheating in video games? Sure, RPGs don’t have as many cheats as, say, FPS games (infinite health, infinite ammo, etc.) or platformers (infinite lives), but some people do take shortcuts, use a GameShark, etc. What if, through the use of a cheat, Refia (FFIII DS) could join your party early in the game as a level 50 Devout? Surely there are moral implications here. But I think the main question is, does cheating make the game less fun?

Andrew No, the question is, what's the point? If you're cheating then yeah, you finish things quicker, but the only reason I can see this being a benefit is if you're just in it for the story, in which case hey, what the heck. For all other sorts of games, it's really just screwing yourself out of a truly fun gaming experience, especially in online games. I will never understand how people who hack games like Counterstrike and Starcraft can think they're accomplishing much of anything by using cheats to win. Yeah, sure, you get a better record and junk, but if you were to ever actually compete for money you'd just get blown away, so all you get, in the end, is the petty satisfaction of frustrating other people. For some, that's obviously enough; but nobody should ever be deluded into thinking that it's any sort of achievement.

Take this example from Final Fantasy XII. The Negalmuur, which occasionally spawns in the Stilshrine of Miriam, creates legions of Ghasts. You can set up your party’s gambits so that they will heal each other, attack the Ghasts, and leave the Negalmuur alone. With a powerful enough party, you can then walk away from the game and let the gambit system fully automate your party. Go to bed with the game on, wake up the next morning, and your party has raised twelve or thirteen levels, your bag will be packed with loot, and you’ll have a mountain of license points. Most of us would consider this cheating. You’re not exactly breaking any of the rules of the game, you’re just exploiting the gambit system in a way that allows you to not put any effort into leveling up. Does it make the game less fun? As an experiment to try to answer that question, I tried this method.

Surprisingly, for me, the answer is yes, it does make the game less fun. In two nights I raised Ashe, Vaan, and Penelo from level 50 to level 75. Now I’m trying to beat the game (I’m obviously powerful enough to do it). Battling through dungeons has no challenge. Boss battles never threaten me. And the game can’t hold my interest.

So, have you ever cheated, in some way, in an RPG? And did doing so diminish your enjoyment of the game?

And that is my thought-provoking question of the week. May it serve you well.

-Jeffrey

Yep, I exploited the sketch bug on a playthrough of FFVI, and no, it didn't make the game better.

to rpgamer:

I've been reading you guys for years and finaly wanna speak out! OK questions I want answered Now!

1. Isnt 2007 "Final" fantasys 20th birthday. 'In 1987 Sakaguchi had plans to retire after the completion of the project, so it was named Final Fantasy' (wikipedia)

Andrew Why yes, I suppose it is. You are presumably still in grade school, so next time you have math, demand a gold star from your teacher!

2. Please tell me they havent given up hope on a chrono triger remake game I know that the dream team is behind blue dragon but dont shater my dreams.

Andrew Le sigh. I'll let you get away with this since my list of questions you must never, never ask isn't up right now, but seriously, don't ever, ever ask this question. Now, I will give you this little morsel: no no no freaking no bloody well NO. There is no remake planned. The online project that was working towards such a remake was rightfully squashed when somebody pointed out that hey, using somebody's copyrighted material is kind of in violation of...ah yes, copyright!

3. Kingdom hearts 2: final remix+ is gonna only be in japan right

Andrew Yes. Yes it is.

4. I've played a 100 some rpgs (or closely related to rpg) over the years and you guys have allways had the best reviews on them out there thanks so much for showing me which ones i should play and every once and a while a good joke or two to tithe me over to the next one

Andrew I assure you, RPGamer does not tithe its readers, although if you'd like to send us ten percent of your income that'd be cool! Thanks for the compliment, however; while I am using your letter for purposes of derision it's nice to hear kind words, even if they aren't coming from me :(

Thank you so much over the years
Brandon Selvage
P.s. what happened to the old reviews you had so many now your game list is so small?

I'm not sure what list you're referring to; do you mean my reviews personally, the upcoming games list, the list of games without a review, or the list of games with reviews in the reviews archives? Because I assure you, no review that has ever been written for this site is gone. You just aren't looking hard enough if you can't find one.