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Reign of Questions
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August 03, 2005
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Elliot Guisinger & Cortney Stone - 22:00 EST
WELL THIS IS AN INTERESTING little column going on here. Yesterday's was fun and today's should be even more fun now that I'm in complete control. What shall I do to begin my omnipotent reign of terror? What's that you say? Answer some questions? What a great idea! Oh yeah, Cortney's here too, so pretend like you care.
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Four? Now you're just abusing the system.
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Hello Myster-E and C,
First, when I wrote in yesterday, you headlined my letter with the line, "Sample my goods!" as said by Leo/Mystere in Lunar 2 when he gives an item to a member of your party. This made me think of a few funny lines like Atelier Iris' "I can't! The ESRB would go nuts!" in response to Norn asking Klein to sleep with her and FF3/6's "Son of a submariner!" as said by Kefka after Figaro Castle submerges into the sand and leaves him a total loser. So, I was wondering, what would be your favorite line/quote from any RPG up to this point?
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ELLIOT
An interesting question, you have -- one that I've not been asked before, in fact. There are far too many to choose from and many more that I can't even remember. So in the interest of time and my sanity, I'll just throw one out that comes to mind. This one comes from Ms. Kid of Chrono Cross: "I'm
gonna kick yer sorry arses so hard you'll kiss the moons!" Ah, brings back memories.
CORTNEY
I have many favorite lines, most of them from the Lunar series. As you can probably tell, the stuff that I find hilarious is usually what Mystere utters in the heat of battle. "Sample my goods!" "You need a spanking!" "Discipline feels good! Ha!" There are plenty more quotes in the Lunar games, but I’m terrible at remembering exactly how they go.
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Second, I just finished Lunar 2, and now I'm listening to the game music CD these days. So, once again, what would you two say be the best RPG soundtrack CDs you ever heard AND what favorites would you recommend I should pick up? (because the best and the most liked aren't necessarily the same...)
ELLIOT
The best RPG soundtrack I've ever heard is, without a doubt, Chrono Cross. Coincidentally, that's also a favorite that I'd recommend any fan of RPG music to pick up. If Chrono Cross isn't exactly your cup of tea, the Baten Kaitos soundtrack is also very well-done.
CORTNEY
I am a huge fan of game music. I don’t even listen to much mainstream stuff anymore. Yes, I’m a geek. Anyway, it’s hard to say which soundtrack is overall great. My playlist includes bits and pieces from many soundtracks, so I can’t really recommend one or two as purchases. My latest favorites are not soundtracks, but arranged albums. Creid (Xenogears) by Yasunori Mitsuda and Final Fantasy IV: Celtic Moon by Nobuo Uematsu are excellent buys if you are a fan of Celtic music like me. I’m also a fan of the Black Mages.
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Third, I know what composers Mitsuda of Xeno-fame and Uematsu of FF-fame are doing these days, but what about Iwadare of Lunar-fame? What is he doing these days, and is he still composing for video games or has he moved on to something else?
ELLIOT
Ah, Iwadare. What is he up to, indeed? Well as a matter of fact, he just did the music for Square Enix's Radiata Stories. The busy man has also done the music for the upcoming Grandia 3, though the game still isn't confirmed for North American shores. As far as I know, that's about it.
CORTNEY
What he said.
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Finally, thank you for your recommendations on Boktai, Wild ARMs: Alter Code F, Digital Devil Saga 2, and Magna Carta. I will definitely seek those out, but more importantly as my last question, which RPGs do you see coming up that you would avoid like the plague that NO ONE should ever play?
Well, that's all, and I hope you can get to me soon.
Thanks.
BLG
ELLIOT
Definitely stay as far away as you can from Phantasy Star Universe, unless the game dramatically changes from what was shown at E3. It's basically PSO without the online function. I also was pretty disappointed in Minstrel Song, but I'm pretty sure that had the game been in English and I knew what I was doing, I would have come away with a more favorable opinion of it. So, just keep a cautious eye on that one.
CORTNEY
I think I’m going to avoid Sigma Star Saga because a few of my fellow staffers warned me about the game after they had played the demo at E3. Likewise, I’ll also be avoiding Phantasy Star Universe because I didn’t care for the demo at E3 at all.
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Why did google leave? I know he was having construction done on his house, but I was under the impression he would be back. He made me laugh. Now I'm sad.
Sadly,
Mr. Snuggles
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ELLIOT
What difference does it make? He was here, now he's not. How would you like it if the reason you left your most recent job was published on the internet for everyone to see? Note: Read below for the kinder, more haiku answer.
CORTNEY
Slimes don’t die -- they fade.
No one understands slimes' thoughts.
Who knows why slimes leave?
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Where are you hiding all these lonely single anime girls that write
in? I definately don't see them around where I live. >.>
--
-Daniel
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ELLIOT
Yeah, you haven't heard? RPGamer now doubles as an internet dating service for anime fans. We guarantee to have you cosplaying with the person of your dreams in 6 weeks or less!
CORTNEY
Ahh...the elusive anime fangirl. Their habitats include manga/anime stores, game stores, and conventions. They may be identified by their paraphernalia, which may include volumes of manga, anime DVDs, t-shirts, gashapon dangling from backpacks, or even cosplay garments. Anime fangirls make excellent companions for anime fanguys; however, beware the ones that are into yaoi.
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Tactical espionage decision-making
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All things about importance to the video game history of the world aside, who is the best video game producer ever? I'm thinking it should be between Hironobu Sakaguchi, Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima, and, at that, I would probably go with Saksguchi because his 10 game span of final fantasies and side projects(Chrono games most specifically) seems to impress me even more than any Zelda game or Metal Gear ever has. Don't get me wrong, Final Fantasy, Zelda, and Metal Gear are the holy trinity of video game franchises, but, I think Sakaguchi may have the edge...what are your thoughts?
-Zack
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ELLIOT
All three men are great choices. Being the huge Metal Gear fanboy that I am, I'm inclined to love all things Kojima. Miyamoto is not without merit, though. I mean the guy practically is Nintendo; he may as well change his name. Also, a lot can be said for a producer who not only helped save a game company from ruin but also helped launch it into industry-leader status, such as Sakaguchi did with Square.
CORTNEY
I’m almost inclined to agree with you, but Sakaguchi technically didn’t make ten Final Fantasies. He didn’t have much to do with the more recent ones. Therefore, I’ll rank Miyamoto just a bit higher. He’s an all-around cool guy who keeps thinking up cool things. Of course, Sakaguchi may very well give him a run for his rupees if Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey end up being arm-hair-raisingly fabulous.
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You can't look it up yourself?
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Man please I need to know where to find 2 master balls in Emerald 1 would be o.k. but two would be cool for Groudon and Deoxys or tips on how to catch them w\out a master ball
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ELLIOT
Considering that I don't play Pokemon, consider yourself a very lucky person that we even bothered looking up the answer for you. Apparently, you can find one master ball at the Aqua Hideout. And now here's Cortney with the location of the second ball.
CORTNEY
It's also possible to obtain a Master Ball by winning the lottery in the Lilycove City Department Store. Match all five numbers and you'll win an extra Master Ball.
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Dear Ally and/or Elly (or whoever the hell is running Q&A these days if not
Casto),
Just to tell you, I have a bit of a pathological phobia of modern action and
tactical RPGs thanks to a few certain few titles I won't mention (though
some of them are below ^_^). I *do* like some titles from each genre, it
just depends on the kind. Are there any modern action/tactical RPGs you
could easily recommend to me? Just to give you an idea of my tastes...
Action RPGs:
I liked Secret of Mana and the 2-D Zeldas (except the NES ones), but hated
Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Kingdom Hearts, Dual Hearts, Alundra, and
the Dark Clouds.
Tactical RPGs:
I liked the Shining Forces, Final Fantasy Tactics, Arc the Lad III, and Arc
the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, but hated Nippon Ichi's titles, Arc I +
II, and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.
So, any recommendations? Thanks.
-Jeremy, the Duke of Otterland
P.S. What do you think the odds of Shadow Hearts III coming to America are?
I loved Covenant yet know it didn't sell very well, and I sure as hell hope
we don't get screwed out of SH3, even though it takes place *in* America.
Oh, and speaking of the series, I didn't like the first, Koudelka, if you
consider it a TRPG, given its grid-based battle system. Bye now.
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ELLIOT
Pretty much, the best tactical RPG games you're going to find these days are Nippon Ichi titles, so I think you're just out of luck there. As far as action RPGs, try the .hack series. Even though they're not exactly action RPGs, Star Ocean 3 and Tales of Symphonia have pretty interactive battle systems as well. That's probably not exactly what you're looking for, though. But you didn't really give us much to work with here.
As far as SH3, I think it's pretty likely considering how well-reviewed SH2 was. Only time will tell, though.
CORTNEY
You hate the NES & 64 Zeldas, Dark Cloud, Alundra, and Kingdom Hearts. Our tastes greatly differ, so I’m a bad person for recommendations.
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Your abuse of punctuation is appalling
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Hi,
im a BIG fan of rpgs but i never knew,at the era of ff7-ff9 i had a pc to play fps and other good pc games and my brother had a PS that he never used it very often so i always played good FFs on it,so at the era of the begenning od the PS2 and XB i was tired of upgrading so i said since XB is a console from microsoft it will have features of PC+CONSOLES but it almost has 0 rpgs except crappy games like SUDEKI and FABLE coz nobody can do a good story for an RPG like the japanese so NOW i heard that the sakaguchi guy has a game company and will do rpgs for xbox 360 !!!!! i was like AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! i mean ive been waiting years for an rpg on the xbox and now theres more than 1 rpg for xb360 !!! so should i buy XBOX 360 or just go to the original HQ for japanese rpgs the PS3 ????????????
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ELLIOT
I hate Xbox and the Xbox 360 has left me unimpressed. That being said, if hell froze over and I ended up wanting an Xbox 360, it wouldn't be for much else other than the Mistwalker titles, assuming they're any good. But I'm a bit skeptical, especially considering that Sakaguchi hasn't had much creative input in games since the early days of Final Fantasy. I don't know if he'll have what it takes to take on a full 3D, next-generation RPG all by himself, but we'll see.
CORTNEY
Buy both! CONSUME. OBEY.
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Yo, as someone who is only recently able to play PlayStation games (long story) I was wondering, what is the best PS RPG other than the Final Fantasy games? I already have Star Ocean 2 and am going for Tales of Destiny, but what else is there?
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ELLIOT
Wow. Where to begin? Definitely give Xenogears a go. Vagrant Story, Brave Fencer Musashi, and Chrono Cross are also personal favorites of mine. You'll be safe with any of those and any of the ones Cortney listed below, too.
CORTNEY
There isn’t just one great non-FF PS1 RPG. There are several that simply must be played: Lunar 1 & 2, Xenogears, Suikoden 1 & 2, Grandia, and Wild ARMs (or just go for the upcoming remake!). Try them all! |
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Again, look it up yourself
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This question is for the game Star Ocean Till the End of Time.
When you are near the end of the first disk, you have to go into the Berequel mines, and into the Lava Caves to get Crossel the legendary drangon to lift the weopen of the Aquarians, right?
This is my question: where and how do you find the Lava Caves?
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ELLIOT
I can't really say for sure, as I haven't played the game. But according to sources, you go through the Mountains of Barr and fight the Blue Dragon Zombie. Then head south and play a song for a little dragon. Go through the Ruins of Barr and fight Robin Wind at the end. After beating Robin, you're at the Lava Caves. Hope that helps. If not, it's not too difficult to find a guide somewhere on the web.
CORTNEY
Don’t forget to equip Ruby Vests on all your characters so they will be somewhat protected from fire damage. Oh wait, that’s Chrono Trigger.
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IN CONCLUSION:
Well that was fun for my first round at the helm of the mighty Q&A. Perhaps you'll see me in here again down the road. When scheduling conflicts run rampant and render useless our beloved Andrew, I'll always be near, ready to fight the good fight and eat the good ice cream. I salute you, Q&A. The experience was magical.
Elliot Guisinger suddenly wants to go get some ice cream.
Cortney Stone is the Head of New Updates and resident whip-bearer.
Hooray for staffer inside jokes!
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