Welcome! Always glad to see new people write in.

I had a similar start with Dragon Warrior (many of us did), but I really got hooked with Gameboy RPGs like Final Fantasy Legend, and earlier SNES games like Final Fantasy IV. Though FFVI was huge for me, and is still one of my favorite games of all time. Sounds like we had a very similar route into console RPGs. Anyway let's hear your favorites!

Interesting, I did not expect Final Fantasy IX to be the only representative of the series in your list (no FFVI?), but I can't really argue with Secret of Mana. Such a classic game, and one I can always go back to. We'll get back to that though. I've always admired the Lunar games, but for some reason have had a hard time getting into them. I don't know why that is! Chrono Trigger we all know about, but Xenogears? Not a huge fan. Still, really good list.

Yes, let's! Secret of Mana is an odd game. Its a very slow-paced action RPG, almost to the point of being semi-turn-based, which sounds like a recipe for disaster. It worked though, and the multi-player and brilliant music helped make an incredibly memorable experience. I'd be curious to see if people enjoy it as much if they hadn't played it back in the day.

As great as the game was, there's one thing it never seemed to be that good at: selling. I don't think it was a huge hit in Japan or the US, and obviously the latter games didn't exactly revive the series in that regard. However, they obviously took the time to port it to the iPhone, so re-releases of the game must be selling well enough. I'm not sure a remake is going to happen, but if the iPhone release sells a ton we may finally see an official release of its sequel outside of Japan. That would be a much less risky move for them than trying to do new games like they did with the whole World of Mana disaster. I wouldn't count on it, but you never know! In that regard don't expect any new Mana games in the foreseeable future.

As popular as open world and customization heavy RPGs like Diablo and Oblivion are, I think there is still a large fanbase for games like Lunar, that are just good fun fantasy. The Lunar games were quite popular in their own right, despite being from the niche publisher Working Designs, and sold well enough to  have been re-released as greatest hits titles had Working Designs wanted to. The problem? Titles similar to this, such as the fantastic Trails in the Sky, are on the wrong platforms to succeed in the US. People like linear fun stories, just look at the success of Call of Duty, so I absolutely think there is a market out there for this kind of RPG. Since such games are likely limited to Japanese developers, they're our only chance for this kind of game.

As far as a sequel to the Lunar series goes, I have no idea why it hasn't happened yet. People are sick of them remaking the original two already, and I think there's still a huge fanbase for a sequel. If they make a PS3 sequel with a modest budget, they could have a decent hit worldwide. What is Game Arts even working on these days?

You'll be shocked how easy this is! Brad Paisley is signed to Arista Nashville -> Sony owns Arista Nashville -> Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures distributed Final Fantasy Spirits Within -> Square-Enix owns the Final Fantasy franchise -> Square-Enix published (as Squaresoft obviously) Secret of Mana.

Thanks for the letter, you did quite the opposite of boring me!

Ha! I mean, I enjoyed the films to some extent, they had good action, but that's about it. The concept is good, but it was poorly developed, and Anakin never becomes a likeable character. I wonder if Lucas is too focused on the special effects. I have this strange feeling that if he used the same limited technology as in the original trilogy things would have been much different. Regardless, if the original movies weren't so amazing we'd probably have a softer opinion on the prequels.

Alright, alright, I'll play your Lufia! This better be good. You've been talking up Lufia for years, a decade even!

It was! I can say his idea was quite fresh, I certainly didn't expect a paring of indie RPGs. Anyway, no worries, since I've been so terrible about getting you questions for your column, I can't complain!

Hey you could just make a super cute Diablo style game, where the cute characters rip each other to shreds! That might be a bit disturbing though. I mean, at least you didn't think of mixing Diablo and Rocket Slime. That would be a strange combo. Actually I kind of want to play that...

That would actually be fantastic, and I think the colorful styles of the two games would mix together quite well. It would almost serve as an extension to people playing other parts of the game, sending requests to those playing the Gust expansion, creating a dynamic quest system. I could see this not being completely out of the realm of possibility(though I doubt Gust would be involved). If Gust is ever involved in an MMO they should do something like this! It could provide endless Atelier fun.

No worries, always glad to hear your interesting ideas!