Matt Demers - 20:46 EST

WITH SUCH BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, and so much work to do, video games should be the last thing on my mind. Well, not so. Despite the sixty-degree temperatures and looming stack of assignments to mark, all I really want to do is curl up with Final Fantasy III.

A lot of us are in the midst of an end-of-semester crunch-time right now. Let's just remember that it won't be long before Christmas break gives us all a healthy dose of much-needed relief!

Anyway, I ran into a friend of mine earlier today, who bought a Wii over eBay. He gushed about it for a good ten minutes, and we talked excitedly. I've got plenty of positive feedback about Nintendo's next-gen system, but I'd really like to know more about the PS3. None of my friends have bought one, and I haven't really gotten much of a good impression about it. If anyone out there does have an opinion and feels like sharing, the ball is in your court: Write me a letter and tell me about it!

Ugh, I haven't written in forever. Between work getting crazy, the holidays, Wii Sports, and the trifecta of Final Fantasy games I'm working through, I have time for nothing. However, I must make time for Q&A as I'm approaching my one year anniversary of writing to you.

Hmmm... an RPG tattoo? I would never get one normally, but if I had to it would be a tough call between a three part triforce on my back or a cactuar on my leg. Life's important decisions, that's for sure.

I see how well the Wiimote works in an action RPG environment like Zelda, but I am having a tough time seeing how it is going to revolutionize the traditional RPG genre. I kinda enjoy having a minimal amount of physical interaction in my RPGs. Maybe something new and exciting will come from it, but something like Dragon Quest Swords just doesn't seem to be deep enough for me. Maybe the video just made it seem slow-paced, but I was not overwhelmed. Are they going to be called RPGiis?

So you want my Christmas list, eh? Gonna get me something? Hehehe. Well, that's a tough one as I hate leaving RPGs to chance and my them myself, but here's what I'm hoping to get.

- Xbox 360 Pro
- Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (PSP)
- Elebits (Wii)
- Some money to buy new games throughout 2007

Thankfully, I have some time to kill with Final Fantasy VI Advance coming in February. Maybe I'll finish the other three by then. Man, I'm slow.

If you do decide to get me something, maybe you could get me some new SOCKs. My last pair had holes in them.

- Macstorm

Holes, eh? Well, the new contest is work-in-progress for the moment. Since my own future is rather unclear (I may be teaching a course sometime next year), I'm unsure of exactly when or how I'm going to introduce it. Just stay tuned...

Thanks, Mac, for taking some time out and writing in. Take care!

How's it going? Life been treating you fairly?

So I was FINALLY able to get a copy of Dragon Quest 8 yesterday. I'm not very far in it (just had Angelo added to the party), but I must say, this game is even better than I expected. It's one of the best RPGs for the PS2, I think.

I really enjoy the creative enemy designs, especially when the enemy chooses to stare off into space instead of attacking. Who comes up with this stuff?

Anyway, this is the only Dragon Quest game I've played. After playing this one, however, I've decided to get some of the other ones. Hopefully, I can download a few of them with the Nintendo Wii's virtual console. Well, time to spend the next few days with DQ8. I'm anxious to start the Monster Arena. Talk to ya later.

PS: Is there any chance that the DQ Yangus game will come to North America?

Sadly, I'd say the chances are now next to nil. The game has been out in Japan for about half a year, now, and there have been absolutely no announcements of any treats or translations for North America.

On the other hand, some other spinoffs are readily available here; take a look at Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, which is supposedly an insanely fun little game for Nintendo's DS. It's not really a "real" Dragon Quest, at the heart of things, but it might give you a temporary fix!

Hey Matt,

Haven't written in a while but I still read. Figured I'd chime in on the RPG tattoo idea since it is something I've given a bit of thought to. Should I get one, it would be of the fire rune from the Suikoden series (not True Fire, that one doesn't look like a flame at all), probably on my shoulder blade. The Suikoden series may not be my favorite series, but I do like the flame coming from a video game. I've always had a fire-type personality; very passionate about everything I do, but can get a little out of control at times. I never did get it done only because I'm afraid of what it'll look like when I'm 50. You know, the whole "18yo girl gets a dolphin on her lower back that becomes a whale when she's a granny".

Unfortunately I can't really contribute to the FFXII conversation. My RPG work has been mostly dealing with my backlog. First Tales of Legendia, now Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army. FFXII has only gotten 5 hours of my time, so I don't want to pass judgment yet. I do like how expansive the world is, makes it feel more like a world than the terrariums of other RPGs. I'm a bit annoyed that if I attempt to dodge an attack in battle by running away, it still hits anyway. But we shall see, FFX-2's battle system grew on me despite finding it a trifle odd at first.

Wishing he had more time to play FFIII,
venus577

Yeah, I had the impression going into Final Fantasy XII that one would be able to scamper into the background to avoid attack, but that simply isn't the case. It's definitely possible to be targeted and hit from a small distance (à la FFVI and earlier), which brings home the fact that yes, maybe it's not exactly as much an "action-RPG" as I once hypothesized. Once you get used to the fact that there's no point in trying to avoid attacks by running amok, things are good.

Good luck dealing with all of your games. There are a lot more great ones on the way soon, so keep it up!

I hope nobody thinks I was calling out the fans in my last letter about us whining. Yes, I said us because I fully acknowledge myself as one of them.

I'm by no means an expert, I just noticed that over the years of reading magazines, perusing the internet, and living life, that people have something to complain about. Then when the powers that be address those things, we still complain. I've seen confusion and rants about overcooked RPG plots, then we get one that's reasonably scaled back (at least as far as I've played), and we still aren't satisfied despite the general consensus that the game is awesome. We just cannot be pleased.

I'm not a game reviewer, so I don't have to force myself to finish crap games. With that said, any game I play through to completion is good in my book. I should be finishing FFXII pretty soon. It's fun. Play it. I just want to see a column where everyone nitpicks about the little things that make a game great and endearing.

Here's one: The way the opening cinematic flows right into the start game screen at the height of the FF theme still sends chills down my spine. Totally could have been left out, but it's there.

Jonezy

Oh, I know what you mean!! Hearing that theme music play at the beginning for the first time almost made me emotional.

And hey, there will always be disagreements over what things should be emphasized in RPGs. Some people really like the crazily twisting and unpredictable storylines, and others like simple, sweet, and traditional ones. This is exactly why both Xenosaga and Dragon Quest have pretty hefty fanbases! No matter what you throw out there, though, there are going to be people that dislike it (and some of them, as you probably know, will "choose" to dislike a game only because everybody else likes it). I'm with you here: If you're not just playing to have fun, then what is the point?

Last time we had Namie Amuro's 'Come'. This week it's Hitomi Shimatani's 'Angelus', also from Inuyasha, and one of the most unique anime openings I've ever heard. http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/5392/77482

Well, I've found a couple of news items you'll probably be interested in. Here's one on the DS in Europe: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162142.html and one on (perhaps) why eBay PS3 prices went so insane: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162190.html

And this is a fascinating feature on things that the author doesn't care for in games. Most of them don't really relate to RPG's, but pay attention to the one where a picture is from Grandia 2 yet the caption describes Dragon Quest! http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3154540

Mmm, I've sunk about 85 hours into Grandia now. Which is quite impressive when I'm playing the Saturn version. Turns out that the battle theme changes with disc 2, to this: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/213/38 It still changes if you get surprised by the enemy, though, which is the slightly different second portion. And here's the Garlysle theme - can you guess what mood prevails in meeting the Garlysle people? http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/213/32

What's your take on review scores at RPGamer? If you've looked at the message boards for PoV lately, people find it odd that I hand out so many 5 scores. If you haven't, do a quick poke around the one from last week because I don't want to repeat all of that.

I had in mind a 2-player cooperative gaming fest for Guardian Heroes, actually. Since you play Mega Man games, your action reflexes are clearly extant. Of course if you WANT me to beat you senseless, I have a few fighting games that really aren't much fun solo. Or there's Bomberman. Bring some other people and Saturn controllers, Saturn Bomberman takes up to 10 players!

Got another Panzer Dragoon Saga musical bit: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/570/30 Does it sound like others? It's from when you fight several... well, I don't really know WHAT they are, but they're definitely ancient weapons.

While I'm on the musical link track - is my second attempt to ingratiate Sailor Moon: Another Story's music to you. Four distinct pieces here, as Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus must respectively go to Switzerland, Nepal, CANADA, and Turkey. Canada is portrayed as a very forested area with people dressing like lumberjacks.

Oh, and here's a genuine music question for you. Rivera's arranged soundtrack is quite good except for one instance: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2956/28362 doesn't sound to me like the original http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2956/28367 (names concealed because this is a newer game). What say you?

Now here's a story from two weekends ago that I thought you'd be interested in. I was with my father for awhile, and playing a variety of tunes from my laptop (cruddy speaker quality, but better than silence). I tried playing him some game music. This has been tried before by me, and the result this time was that he listened for a little while before he strongly urged me to switch the music. Doesn't matter what I play, he considers game music, at best, on par with movie soundtracks: something that works in the context of a larger work, not outside of it. I know he hates listening to movie music outside of the movie also. So rather than pursue a lost cause, I put on some AC/DC, Slade, Stevie Ray Vaughn, ABBA, Lou Rawls - you get the idea.

Probably out of time. Shining Force III musical moment: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/1780/1274 and http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/1780/1279 take place when Gracia must become a true Innovator, which requires one of the most interesting battles in the whole game, because there aren't any enemies if the player doesn't allow it. The second track is the actual battle, the first story bits.

JuMeSyn

I see. Thanks for sharing! And good luck with those reviews, Grandia, convincing daddy that video game music is a decent option, and everything else.