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Music Man returns to Q&A. |
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Jeff Davis - June 9 '00- 6:30 pm EDT
Today feels like a homecoming of sorts. Cloistered with is a sense of
nostalgia -- I recall this once was my sanctuary, my refuge, my abode.
I'm Jeff Davis or JD as everyone calls me. Last summer I was the host of
this section during the weekend slot, then later the weekday slot, for
about 5 months in full.
A number of you have written in asking me what I've been up to. Rather
than print those letters a short synopsis would be more sufficient. After
I ended my RPGamer Q&A stint in that most auspicious of dates, 09-09-99,
I moved on to RPGamer Editorials and managed the letters section at RPGFan.
Then about four months ago I resigned from RPGamer in total. In the mean
time, I did a bit of freelancing for The
GIA. However, with the recent vacancy of RPGamer's Music section,
I've decided to return to RPGamer to manage that. Which is why I'm here guest hosting today's column.
I ask your indulgence for my outright machination. While I am here to
answer letters, the end game is to plug the newly remodeled RPGamer Music
section, Audiophile.
I trust you all will visit the section after reading this column and do
so on a frequent basis? I hope I'm not delusional, but I hear a Yes.
Seriously though, check out the section, it has some wicked tunes from
contributing musicians and the latest and greatest in RPG music.
Without further hoopla, let's move on to the grit of the update...Letters!
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Welcome Back |
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Hey JD,
Welcome back!!! I can still remember the day when you started on Q&A....wow.
Anyway, I got two questions and a statement. First question: I noticed
on RPG Fan that your pic is Justin!! I never got to ask you this so, what
did you think of Grandia? Second question: Why isn't anyone talking about
Legend of Dragoon? Me and a friend of mine can't see enough screenshots
and movies and I'm becoming addicted to the demos that came in OPM :)
Also, I always thought that the VH theme song was in Portuguese......not
sure though.
-XenoFreak
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JD:
Grandia is just one of those games one will either love or hate at first
blush. However, for the sake of brevity, you may check out my review of
Grandia in RPGamer's Grandia page. As far as your Legend of Dragoon question,
far be it for me to repeat myself twice on an assonant topic. Read on
for answers to the game in question.
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Legend of Dragoon bias? |
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Hey JD,
I was just wondering about this new rpg from Sony that's supposed to
be coming out later this month called Legend of Dragoon. I've been hearing
a lot of hype about it lately but I haven't seen much at all on RPGamer
in terms of news, media, release date, or people mentioning it in Q&A.
It just doesn't look like it's getting much coverage. OPM is praising
it as the first great non-Square rpg for the Playstation. (and gave it
a 4 and a half out of 5 rating) I've played OPM's demo of it and from
that impression it looks like it's gonna be pretty sweet.
It just seems like a game that's supposed to be epic, four discs, with
a great story, great music, and graphics to rival the recent FF's isn't
being talked about very much. Is it because it's a big budget rpg from
Sony, and people just assume it's gonna be a crappy FF8 clone? Or maybe
it's release is still too far off (although I heard it would come out
sometime this month) and people just haven't gotten excited about it yet.
Maybe OPM is lying, and it's gonna suck. I don't know, I thought I would
check in with you, and see what you know about it.
Is the rpg community being biassed toward Sony or are they just uninformed
of how good this game is really gonna be?
- Jet
Hmm... bet you don't know who's doing the music for Legend of Dragoon.
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JD:
Legend of Dragoon truly is one of those games that tried to break the
mold. It was Sony's magnum opus, the game that would challenge the Final
Fantasy juggernaut. Spending about $5 million on the production, (if my
memory serves me right) the game seemed poised for greatness...Till the
media got their hands on it. Bias against Sony? I doubt it. A more plausible
reason is the bandwagon occurrence. Most reviews or previews have dubbed
the title mediocre, supposedly failing on all cylinders, with the exception
of graphics. That being said from my vantage point, the aesthetics are
breathtaking. If you're looking for out-of-this-world graphics and fmv
look no further than Legend of Dragoon.
Though to be honest I wouldn't hold the game media, in general, in such
high esteem. Generally speaking it is an arena(especially with the RPG
genre) froth with inaccuracy, bias, uniformed editors and in the end a
lot of printed material is based on one person's opinion. Thus I'm keeping
an open mind.
As far as the music question, that's an easy one. Dennis Martin did the music for LoD, and for extra credit
he uses a Korg and Mac -- hah. But I digress, the music has a
couple of filler tracks and unfortunately Mr. Martin's genius was hampered
by the Playstation's musical prowess, or lack thereof, not to mention
space limitations. Overall, I still am inclined to say the album reaches
a new watermark, simply because there are a number of scintillating tracks...from
celtic, to techno to fusion -- and some wicked piano pieces. The Opening
track is a celtic tinged vocal song, and one of the most endearing songs
I've heard in a long time. Though with that said, unfortunately a number
of tracks end at around the one minute mark.
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Vagrant |
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JD, who composed the music for Vagrant Story? That music fits the game
extremely well. Has he/she done anything else worth checking out?
-Theophrastus
P.S. There should be a support group for VS--I'm hooked, and I go into
withdrawal when I can't play it, which is most of the time. Help!
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JD:
Hitoshi Sakimoto was in charge of the soundtrack to Vagrant Story. I'm
sure our informed readers are able to discern a tinge of FFT in the album.
He's also done the music to Radiant Silvergun, Final Fantasy Tactics,
Legendary Ogre Battle and Ogre Tactics, to name a few.
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Reunion |
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Is One Wing Angel included on the FF7 Reunion Tracks? I don't want to
purchase the entire OST for the final battle theme alone. Is their any
other information about the Reunion Tracks I should know about. Any help
would be great.
-The Great Cornholio
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JD:
In a way. OWA Orchestra version is the version in the Reunion album. While all will agree it is a good version, most believe the OSV/OST version is the better one. I personally love the arrange versions in the Reunion cd, though the major caveat is there aren't that many songs in it. The OSV is probably a better bang for your buck.
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Nostalgia |
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Dude, I like, totally remember you! Can you post a picture of Christina
Aguillera and rant about Ys just for old time's sake? Pleeeeeease? Not
that I don't like sugar bowels and flying monkeys popping up every now
and then but... I love you, man!
~The Sack~
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JD:
Me rant about Ys? Never! Perish the thought.
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Hardcore on Suzuki |
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(Warning: Letter contents may not be suitable for sensitive readers)
WORSHIP YU SUZUKI AS YOUR GOD, YOU FILTHY SQUARESOFT LOVING
SCUM! THIS IS NOT SIMPLY AN RPG, THIS IS A FREE, WHICH WILL CHANGE THE
VERY FACE OF GAMING! WHAT FINAL FANTASY HAS SUCH A LIVING, BREATHING
ENVIRONMENT? FACE IT, THIS DIDN'T SET ANY SALES RECORDS IN JAPAN. WHY?
JAPANESE CONSUMERS ARE A PACK OF MEWLING SHEEP! THEY'RE LUCKY YU SUZUKI
DOESN'T CRUSH THEM ALL AND DYE THE PACIFIC WITH THEIR COMPLACENT, SONY-LOVING
BLOOD! REPENT, YOU SQUARE-WORSHIPPING FILTH! QUIT LAYING DOWN AND SPREADING
YOUR LEGS, ALLOWING YOURSELVES TO BE VIOLATED BY SQUARESOFT'S NON-INNOVATION
AND HACKNEYED STORYLINES! OH!
RECENTLY, I ARGUED WITH A FILTHY, UNCULTURED NON-BELIEVER
AND HE SPOKE OF SLOW SALES, HE MOCKED SHENMUE'S CREATION FOR FAILING
HIT THE 1 MILLION MARK. BUT YU SUZUKI'S CREATION IS ABOUT _GENIUS_,
NOT SALES. IT'S ABOUT INNOVATION AND BEAUTY, NOT COMMERCE AND HORDES
OF MEWLING SHEEP FIGHTING OVER FINAL FANTASY IX FIGURINES ON EBAY. IT'S
ABOUT HAVING A VISION, IT'S ABOUT MAKING AN ENTIRELY NEW EXPERIENCE
FROM SCRATCH, NOT ABOUT RECYCLED IDEAS AND PANDERING TO THE SHEEP, EAGER
TO SLURP UP MORE SQUARESOFT FILTH. HIS UNEDUCATED, BARELY COMPREHENSIBLE
RANTINGS ABOUT SALES MADE ME ILL AND THE IRONY OF HIM NOT SEEING A DIME
OF THOSE SALES WAS NOT LOST ON ME. BUT I HAD RIGHTEOUSNESS ON MY SIDE
AND I PREVAILED.
THE AM2 COMMANDMENTS (THERE ARE ONLY TWO BECAUSE IT'S AM2, NOT AM10)
1. THOU SHALT BUY SHENMUE ON NOVEMBER 10TH AND YOU SHALT WORSHIP IT
BY RECITING THIS PRAYER TO IT EVERY EVENING BEFORE YOU GO TO BED:
YU SUZUKI, WHO ART IN HEAVEN
HALLOWED BE THY NAME
THY AM2 SHALL BE DONE
ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!
FUCK SLEEP, LET ME PLAY SOME MORE SHEMUE!
2. THOU SHALT WORSHIP YU SUZUKI AS YOUR GOD AND PUT ALL OF YOUR SQUARESOFT
CDS IN THE MICROWAVE, NUKING THEM IN EFFIGY!
WORSHIP YU SUZUKI AS YOUR GOD, YOU FILTHY SQUARESOFT LOVING SCUM! REPENT!
SHENMUE IS COMING! IN NOVEMBER, WE SHALL ALL BE CLEANSED! AND OUR RETINAS
SHALL BE PURIFIED!
- A YU SUZUKI
FAN!
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Just Joshin' |
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Welcome back JD!
We all know that you're a Falcom fanboy... You love the
music, and all the stuff that comes packaged along with it, the stuff
you call "a game." Well, I'm not in news (for very good reason, I'm
dumb), but I haven't heard anything about upcoming Falcom games. Are
there any that you know of? Or did they die out with second-rate unpopular
consoles? Maybe the composers or Ys teams are working on other projects,
anything you can help us out with? You've been away for a few months,
and since your post-Ys praising tenure, there has been a major Ys shortage.
Go figure.
-Joshua Maciel
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JD:
Falcom Fanboy? Me, never. Connoisseur - Yes. :) Unfortunately most of
Falcom's works have been very much centered in the Japanese marketplace.
They published the highly acclaimed Rhapsody of Zephyr, developed Legend
of Heroes V, and recently in tandem with Victor-JVC -- Sorcerian for the
Dreamcast. Their finest hour will come next month as they release Ys II
Eternal for the Japanese Windows. I also should add the 4 Volumes of the
Heavenly Sanctuary Anime will be included in the limited edition package.
I should point out Falcom published many of
its games on the Nintendo platform, though their best work was on the
Turbo Duo. While the TD wasn't the most mainstream of consoles it was
far from second rate. I'll also add most people who are Hardcore RPG fanatics
could easily argue that the Duo had the best RPGs around.
But more importantly -- Go Falcom!
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Haha JD wasup I just wanna say it's good to see you again dude. Well
I just want to know (and test you) who composes the music for Legend of
Mana (which I just got). Later
-Jeffypop
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Yoko Shimomura of Parasite Eve fame was in charge of the LoM album. For
more information, you can check out the reader review to LoM in the Audiophile
section. I couldn't resist another plug. |
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Hi JD!
Welcome back!! Remember me? You gave me Idiot of the Day ^_^ It made me
so happy...
- Xenochick
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Doesn't
that just make you feel all warm inside? |
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You know the rule. You have to print people's quickies on their bithday.
8) -Googleshng
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Goog -- always trying to hog the spotlight aren't you? :P. Kidding...Happy
Birthday you sexless slime ball you. |
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Mr. Davis,
Greetings, glad to see you've returned. I remember your Idiot of the
Day awards and your log jokes. (sigh) those where the days. Are you planning
to return to these columns?
- mKain
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Yeah.....those
were the days. I doubt I'll have time to do these columns on a regular basis
due to time constraints and all, not to mention Brad and Goog are doing
a fine job handling the section. Though I may do more guest hosting, we'll
see. Oh and thanks for the word up. |
JD,
It has been a long time. I've missed your extensive insight in the world
of RPGs. My friends and I used to call you the walking rpg encyclopedia.
Is there any chance that you'll return permanently?
-Trent
PS I still remember the Pokemon picture "Jesse with boobs" picture
of the day |
Me?
RPG Encyclopedia? Nah, I just know a lot. Seriously though, thanks for the
kudos. |
Michael Jackson Struts his stuff in Space Channel 5
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Closing:
Here draws a close to my plug...er Ask JD column. I seriously had fun and
I hope you all did too. Like my updates in the past there's a picture of
the day -- from Space Channel 5. I doubt I could say anything to match your
own imaginations, so I won't say too much. It's hella funny though.......It
reminds of the early days of the genesis with MJ's Moonwalker game.
Brad is in tomorrow, so send him your "speschul" letters. With
that I bid you all farewell. Till next time. Peace.
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- Jeff "Plugging the Music section"
Davis
Remember kids, don't get too close to Michael Jackson.
Oh and a Q&A shout out to Titania.
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