I was recently on an episode of the RPG Backtrack about Breath of Fire, so I was playing a tiny bit of the second game to jog my memory. I also recently jumped into Breath of Fire IV which I had previously never played, and plan to play through Dragon Quarter again as well. The series has never really grabbed me outside of the brilliant Dragon Quarter, but we'll see how IV fares. If I enjoy that I'll give III another shot since I can play them both on my PSP.

I have actually! I saw it on sale on Xbox live and decided to download it since it had gotten so much praise. Though I don't like it quite as much as others do, there's no denying the quality of the title. The narrator is probably the coolest feature in the game. The actual game mechanics are fun as well. Its just a solid quality title, and I look forward to seeing what that developer does next. I highly recommend people try it out.

I could never maintain my interest in Final Fantasy X-2 for very long. I didn't think it was terrible or anything, and I did think the battle system was quite good. I think maybe the lack of a quality soundtrack and a somewhat uninteresting story just kept me from getting sucked in like Final Fantasy X itself did. Oh well, I'll give it another shot some day.

I have a similar opinion. I am a huge fan of the series, and I prefer to look at each title individually, instead of liking or hating them based on how similar they are to other games in the series. Final Fantasy has always been about experimentation, and Final Fantasy XIII was quite the experiment as far as battle systems go. I thought it was one of the best in the series, so I was very excited for the sequel and so far I'm enjoying it quite a lot. Without the long intro section that is the bane of XIII, XIII-2 will likely be the more re-playable of the two. Really, aside from the completely botched Final Fantasy XIV, I think the series is quite healthy, assuming that Square Enix can speed up its HD Development cycles. I don't really get the doom and gloom people are putting on Final Fantasy. As I recall Final Fantasy XIII sold quite well despite all the divisiveness. There are certainly things the series can improve on, but when your last non-mmo entry sold more than five million copies, I think you're still doing quite well.

Anyway, thanks for the letter, look forward to hearing from you again. What's your favorite Final Fantasy?

No problem! I am always happy to see people picking Falcom games as a prize, so I hope you enjoy Trails in the Sky once you finally have a PSP.  Your mention of Valkyrie Profile 2 reminds me that I really need to get around to playing the first game...

We used to, but we no longer do. I still encourage you to write up a review, and maybe start a new thread about the game to post it in. You never know, you may find out you really enjoy writing reviews! I certainly would be interested in reading it. We are looking for new reviewers! Also, please, PLEASE go finish FFVI as soon as possible!

Well I think the point was we only want to send the very best into space! Still, with storage being relatively cheap, we could probably load up a huge hard drive with tons of the very best video game music, and that would eliminate all the arguing over what is the best. Still, I suppose that's not as fun as arguing is it?

I didn't even think of that. You know what? Yes, this ship will include a holodeck where you can play all the games we've included music from. The aliens who discover this ship will just have more awesome than they know what to do with.

Anyway, let's see what hot topics have caught your eye!

I don't recall Sting being in that movie, but he would be cool in a Dune game regardless. I think any of those movies would make great RPGs. They all have good followings, so why not? Nothing has really come of these properties of late, so maybe someone will try a video game. I'd certainly love to play a Dune RPG.

Well I think that's a bit unfair. Listen, I love a good classic pixel game as much as the next person, and there are many HD updates that are lazy. However, when you look at games like Odin Sphere and see what can be done with 2D graphics, I think there are many RPGs that could get a whole new life with completely redone 2D visuals. Just look at the update to Final Fantasy IV on PSP. It's just all about doing the update right.

Despite this I think that 8-bit demake of Final Fantasy VII is amazing!

Anyway, make sure you write back in and tell us how you're liking Trails in the Sky!

Really? Bamboo is a type of grass? That I did not realize. Damn crazy biological classifications! There are bamboo forests, how can they not be trees!

I like this idea already. The gameplay style of the Atelier series is a perfect match for making a game about what I assume is toy making.

Isn't a cute teenage protagonist a bit...cliché? I hate talking about clichés, but its a bit hard to look over this time. Why not just let people play as the Claus man himself?

Sounds like this would allow for a lot of customization, let players make a variety of different toys and experiment instead of just having to create a set recipe. This means I could recreate that Santa in a tank ad from The Santa Clause.

Oh man that would be fun. I'd design a coal monster toy that talks in an annoying voice and throws coal pellets at the bad kids!

That would be cool. It's a shame the Atelier games don't do that. A game about day to day life really needs to show all the changing seasons! Anyway its a neat idea, and is something I would certainly like to play. I'll get my idea to you asap. Here's a sneak peak: it will be based on Monster Hunter.