Josh - 10:20 EST

Well I quit my job at the Sushi restaurant, since I need the following weeks to buckle down and study for my exams so I can graduate and never look back. They fed me 'til I burst, and then gave me a long sleeved polo shirt for an early Xmas gift. All in all, a great night. But, verily, I have PT in the morning, so let's get this started!

Ouro:

I'm currently playing through Xenosaga III -- well, I started it and got relatively close to the end of the first disc (I assume, at least). I had to put it on a brief hiatus until after finals. Regardless, I'm 98% sure you have successfully completed the game. I've played Xenogears (at least 3 times), Xenosaga I, and Xenosaga II -- and so far, III is enchantingly divine. I've got a query for you, however. I KNOW you've completed Final Fantasy XII, but what about Kingdom Hearts II? I've asked for KH II for Christmas, and I'm hoping to win FF12 from THONG. My question to you is this: How would you rate those 3 games? From what I've been hearing, it sounds like: KH2 > Xenosaga III > FF12. Is that how you would rank them? My opinion is obviously biased at the moment, as I've only played Xenosaga III.

Speaking on Xenosaga, did you read Xenosaga: Pied Piper in its entirety? Over the summer I read it (http://zarathustra.kaisho.org/) and was simply amazed. I recall playing through Xenosaga Episode I and not really fancying the character Ziggy. I was more or less the same way with Episode II. Having read Pied Piper before Xenosaga III, however, I must say I've got a completely new outlook for him. Pied Piper, despite being a cell phone game, has an excellent script. Even without images, I was so drawn to it. It definitely aids in the story line, as well! Figuring out the past of Voyager and Ziggy makes that portion of the series incredibly more 'emotional', I suppose. I hope they'll turn it into a REAL game, instead of that cellphone game wank.

Speaking of Xenogears! Right now, I'd have to say Xenogears is still my favourite game of all-time (though FFT ranks up there). This may change after I complete Xenosaga III, however. I KNOW the Xenosaga series is supposedly NOT connected to Xenogears, but I'm filled with delight whenever I see something relatively similar. I don't wish to reveal any spoilers to either series, but, for example: Vanderkaum being in Xenogears AND Xenosaga I and II (possibly III, but I haven't seen him yet if he is). Little things like that thrill me to death. I've heard the ending to Xenosaga III will really delight a Xenogears fan -- I'm hoping this is true. Curiously, though, who was your favourite character in Xenogears and why?

Tabor.

So now that I've written once I guess I'll write again. While I have heard of many of the games you listed, I'm not sure how I feel about some of them. Though Rogue Galaxy looks nice, so I'm keeping my eye on that one.

Concerning FF3, I do like the game and switching classes isn't so bad, I do wish I had more information. Your suggestion to talk to all the npcs is basic rpgamer knowledge, but they tell me things that I go investigate that do nothing. The story has yet to advance since I've gotten the Enterprise. Now I'm okay with running around leveling for a while, but I want a clue! I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but it's annoying anyway.

So what is it with people breaking their TVs with their Wii-motes? Having gotten pretty crazy swinging that around my living room I don't get it. I mean there's a strap and the machine tells you to wear it whenever you start a game. Boggles the mind.

Yeah so playing the backlog, it hasn't changed any, but when it does I'll give you an update.

Hey Guys!

This is my first time writing here, although I´ve been visiting RPGamer for almost two years now. Well, I´ve got some questions for you.

I thought I was wrong, but a couple days ago I saw it again - is Link really right-handed in Twilight Princess??? Some time ago I googled for screenshots, but they all showed a left-handed Link, as usual. Maybe they were from a pre-Wiimote stage in development...

About left-handed characters, the only other one I can think of is Megaman. Well, I´m assuming his blaster is on his "good" hand, but since he´s a robot (reploid, whatever), I guess either hand is fine for him. Do you remember any other "lefties"?

I agree with Ouro on his last Q&A that the PS3 will surpass other consoles in some years. I think the Wii is great, but as Ouro stated, Nintendo has a bad habit of only having good titles developed by... Nintendo ^_^. As great as Zelda/ Starfox/ Metroid/ Mario can be, there won´t be as much as 10 of these great games. I´m considering buying a Wii now to play these titles from the GameCube era, as they weren´t enough to justify buying that system (at least IMO).

My final question is about the future of Full Motion Videos. Don´t you think that they´ll end up being replaced completely by cutscenes created by the game´s engine? We had a glimpse of it in Xenosaga III - although there were FMVs, they were rendered with high-res models of the characters, there were no overly pretty CG screenshots anywhere.

That´s all for today. See you guys!

Eduardo

Hi. I have been a gamer since the days of the NES. In all that time I have never once played a straight-up RPG (as one individual pointed out, though, elements of RPGs have made their way into many other genres of gaming). This has not been because of a distaste for the concept of RPGs, but rather with their complexity and general difficulty to an outsider (such as myself). I also have a hard time with the fact that, while the best RPGs are like alternate lives for the player, they’re all console games and, thus, not portable.

That all changed this week. On a whim, I picked up Final Fantasy III for the DS. I am now an RPG disciple. Here, finally, is a fully immersive world that I can carry around with me. I’ve read many articles on the game, both on this website and on IGN.com, and I gather that not many games are made in this style. My main question is, what game should I buy next? I plan to buy an RPG for my DS every week until I run out of good choices. So far on the list: Magical Starsign and Final Fantasy IV and V (GBA). That’ll get me most of the way through December. What I’m specifically looking for is turn-based action. I played Children of Mana and, frankly, I was terrible at it. Couldn’t make it past the second dungeon. So, is there anything for me to look forward to? Or have the days of turn- based RPGs passed me by forever? Will I ever find a game as good as Final Fantasy III?

The newest RPG disciple,
Jeffrey

Luca Phase:
Luca Blight attacks! No one is affected!
Luca Blight is learns the new spell - Summon Anti-Ouro!
Now, Luca can summon Anti-Ouro, the Q&A Host that will belittle you. The criteria for this spell are...? Well, you'll just have to find out.

Remember, it's where you are at the end of the action each day that determines your placement. If you want an item, Blind Rage up to it, but then get knocked back in the same day, you still haven't earned it.

DAMAGE Phase:
Slashlen falls to Tile 46.
JDX falls to Tile 46.
Aurelius falls to Tile 38.

Movement Phase:
Bainick moves to Tile 11.
BLG moves to Tile 30.
Draconn moves to Tile 50.
Slashlen moves to Tile 47.
JuMeSyn moves to Tile 35.
PureLunatic moves to Tile 42.
William.T moves to Tile 30.
Arpijy moves to Tile 44.
Vicissitude moves to Tile 32.
JDX moves to Tile 47.
Aurelius moves to Tile 41.
Tabor moves to Tile 56.

I didn't have enough time last weekend to perform all the EVIL I wanted to!

Answer to #L35: C. Xenogears
Siebzehn and Achtzehn are German for 17 and 18 respectively.

#L36.
I wanna play a hidden minigame that's just like that old game called Warlords! But I forgot the button combination! I think it was Up, Down, Left, Right, _______, Start!

A. Triangle
B. Square
C. Circle
D. X
E. Select
F. L1

Oddly enough, not putting a prompt down here actually seemed to increase the amount of mail I got. So, let's continue this experiment, shall we? ^^;

***Josh no longer is in food service!