Mac - 16:14 EST

WHAT IS TOUGHER THAN A CACTUAR? That would be a Tonberry. You know it. It's your ever-present editorials curator returning to fill in while Matt vacations and it is nice to be chatting with all of you again. I'm a bit busier than before, with a column of my own to work on, on top of my job, wife, and all of these fun RPGs, but I'm always glad to take time for Q&A. It's good for business, ya know? Today is different as I have brought a guest with me. Ish has recently joined our crew as a reviewer and has posted a few reviews to date so check out some of his work in the review column.

Ishmael - 17:15 EST

HEY GUYS, IT'S ISHMAEL, your local staff reviewer/whipping boy. Mac needed co-hosts for Q&A, so in between watching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I'm up to Season 3!) and working on my review for Super Paper Mario (coming soon!) I jumped at the chance to help out. Not really... he actually threatened to set me on fire again (Mac: It's true, I did.) unless I helped co-host, despite the fact that he was already covering it... please help me... Mac is really frightening... help me get away before he sees... ... ...

Hey Matt,
I agree with you that we need more strong female protagonists, though I thought Ashe was a move in the right direction. (She was really the protagonist in FF12, not Vaan.) But I don't agree that Shion was in any way likeable. She was shrill, overbearing, overemotional, illogical, and generally uncaring about other people (especially the way she treated Allen... though it was funny at the beginning, it quickly degenerated into plain old cruelty). I will admit that the XS1 version of Shion was more of a cutesey, absent-minded professorial type, but even then there was a bit of the defiant jerk in her. The later games simply made that part more pronounced. She played her role well (both the character and the actress), and was quite realistic, but I hope no one's going to be using her as a role model.

And chalk up another guy hoping that FF13 will go multiplatform and PS3 will crash and burn. No system is worth that much money to play one or two games.
--Cidolfas

Hey Cidolfas, thanks for writing in! I haven't played any of the Xenosaga games yet, but I definitely agree that video game designers need to learn from Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, yeah I'm hooked :P) and create some great female protagonists. I'm looking forward to seeing what Square Enix can do with Final Fantasy XIII, as it seems like we're going to be playing a female main character there; hopefully they'll use Ashe as their basis for good female lead rather than Yuna. And if FFXIII is ported to the Xbox 360, I'll be quite a happy Ish. Mass Effect, Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, and the host of other awesome-looking games that are coming out in the next year are enough of an incentive for most RPGamers to get a 360, and FFXIII would really seal the deal. Unfortunately, if Suikoden VI heads to the PlayStation 3, say goodbye to my savings...

Monsieur Macstorm, bonjour. I hope the day finds you well. Since I've been tossing anime themes out a lot recently, here's one for you. This is the first ending theme for InuYasha, and I find it rather relaxing. You? Well, I suppose I have to ask about Tengai Makyou IV. I've been babbling about it for quite awhile now, and I seek to hear any thoughts you have on the game. But as is now customary, I must relate a CRAZY INCIDENT from the game each time I mention it. So here goes. After finally entering Houston, I discovered the President of the United States waiting to destroy San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Houston itself using the satellite-based weapon controlled from the city. So, naturally, I had to fight the US President - who looked like an amalgamation of Richard Nixon and JFK. Turns out he was only a robot duplicate, but it was still among the most surreal fights EVER. Oh, and there was a time limit to take him down that could not be paused. So - whaddaya think?

The PSP has dropped to $169.99. It still doesn't make me want to buy a PSP, but the price drop is nice. If greatly overdue.

I wonder what you think about pestering Roku over reviewing the Shining Force III Premium Disc. It isn't really a complete game, as the special battles cannot be played without save data from one of the Scenarios - but it IS a unique entry into the pantheon. Think I could convince him to let me review it?

So there are some DS games in the future that have attracted my attention. As I have not played and will not play Final Fantasy XII before Revenant Wings comes out, do you think I would still find the sequel worthwhile? And this Hoshigami Remix. Apparently the new features will make it considerably more fun to play than the PS original. What's your take? I put down $5 for Etrian Odyssey mostly thanks to hearing that Yuzo Koshiro is doing the music. I think it'll be an entertaining enough title, but am curious as to your impression. What's this It's a Wonderful World title all about? Admittedly I should've looked more on my own, but I'm asking you. This Luminous Arc seems intriguing based on the brief bits I've read. Will you corroborate this tentative interest? And - wasn't there a Baten Kaitos for the DS in development? Or is it out now in Japan? Relatedly, is it pretty certain that Xenosaga on DS is not coming out in English? Oh right - there's some game involving a little guy named Link coming out later this year. I don't think there'll be much information about it, the series isn't well-known.

So lately I've been playing FEDA on the SNES. There are very noticeable differences between it and Shining Force now that I've put some serious time into it. The biggest is that agility merely determines how good a character is at dodging - movement order is chesslike. The player moves a character, the computer moves, repeat until everything has moved. It's interesting. There is also the law/chaos system, wherein the more bloodthirsty the player is the worse the reputation (but some characters only join when you have a nasty reputation). Ever played Guardian Heroes? I'm taking the GBA sequel out for a spin now, and though the GBA has issues with slowdown it's a fun ride. Diatribe time. ActRaiser 2 sucks. I suppose if I can figure out a way to beat it, giving it a fitting roast via a fiery review is fitting. Unfortunately to beat it I need to take down a platformer with crappy controls. Any suggestions here? Upon occasion you have intimated a liking for Vay that I just don't feel. Still, an appraisal of your own would probably make Roku happy. If that seems too much work, could you give me a quick judgment on the game? While we're about the Sega CD - Popful Mail. Enjoyable, yes? Same for Shining Force CD. And do you know enough about Dark Wizard to nudge me back towards playing some more? We've reached the end with this: after Fire Emblem Fuuin no Tsurugi, are there any other GBA titles you consider worthy of importing? JuMeSyn

I've not touched a lot of the titles you've listed above. I have played Vay and own Shining Force CD, so I can speak of them somewhat. Vay was just a rental as I could not find a new copy to purchase, nor could I steal the rental. It was fun... at the time. Shining Force CD was great though. Mine kept locking up during my last playthrough years ago, so I think it was one of the last Sega CD games I finished. I really did enjoy the Sega CD for Vay, SF CD, and most of all Lunar and Lunar: Eternal Blue. Both of which were much better than their later PlayStation "complete" remakes. I would love to see a Saturn or Sega CD emulation screen on something like the Wii's Virtual Console, but I'll just have to keep wishing.

Dear Matt: I'd have to say that my favorite plotline was from Xenogears. Good thing, too, because there was very little game to that second disk. Remember all that exposition? Anyway, it's one of the only games I can remember discussing with my friends in high school as if it were a book or a movie. We were so impressed by the ideas the game presented, like that "You shall be as gods" that came up at the beginning. The whole Fei/Id thing was interesting too. By the end of the story, I actually (and I never thought this would happen) wanted them to destroy their "god" and be in control of their own destiny. Not to mention that the whole subplot with the Elvis-like superman/immortal/amnesiac was hilarious...and Emeralda growing up very nicely at the end of her sidequest. Those touches really added something as well. In addition to plot, Xenogears had two of my favorite characters ever: Citan and Bart.

When a guy with a whip is actually cool enough that I don't think of him as an Indiana Jones rip-off, the designers have done their jobs. By the way, even though everyone'll say this, Final Fantasy VII is a close second. Have a good one!

Damnit, now you've made me want to go and replay Xenogears again!

Well, my quest for a wii continues shortly. heading off to wal-mart and hopefully they didn't sell them early. they're supposed to have gotten in 15 to sell today at 7AM. maybe i'll get one this time.

also, has anyone played DragonFable? It's a pretty fun little online flash RPG.
SuperKyle

No, I haven't played DragonFable, but it sounds fun!

Best RPG of 2007? While the best is yet to come (Persona 3, Super Paper Mario), and Rogue Galaxy being a bit of a disappointment in the plot department and a little shallow gameplay wise...I'm going to have to go with Ar Tonelico. Even though the game has a cool but extremely easy battle system and enough spelling/grammar errors to make an english teacher kill herself, the character interactions are some of the best in recent memory. The dive system is extremely cool, and it's neat to be able to go inside your partner's conscience. It takes patience to get through some of the grueling backtracking and long but easy random battles, but overall it's worth it.

Well...I suppose FFVI:A SHOULD win, but haven't we already seen that game?

It'd clearly be unfair for FFVI to win both best RPG of 1994 AND 2007, so that's out. I haven't played Ar Tonelico yet, but from what I've seen it seems like Rogue Galaxy is the better game, although that seems to be a matter of plot vs. gameplay. As for the future of this year, I have very high hopes for Mass Effect. From what I've seen, the sheer number of choices that Bioware's latest game has to offer is overwhelming, and I love the idea of a plot that's actually affected by the player's actions. Add a massive space system, innovative combat, and epic graphics, and I'm completely sold. Only problem is, I gotta get myself an Xbox 360...

That Xenosaga IV article was mean... crush my soul in ten seconds, why dont you?

That is all...
Dave

It doesn't have to be all. Josh likes getting hate mail, so toss a couple his way. He'll thank you for it.