Matthew Demers - 17:24 EST

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE periods of time when I don't really feel motivated to do much at all. I have a thesis to figure out how to write, and mountains of scholarship paperwork to do. Indeed, it would make a lot more sense to get this stuff done now, before my new class begins in less than two weeks, but alas, the world of logic rarely wins when my backside could instead be glued to a chair somewhere. I tried my best to get something done today. I'll try again tomorrow.

And now, I'll make use of this glued-behind-time by answering some of your questions and answers! Doesn't that sound like fun for all?

Heya, Matt!

I, as many others, have just recently finished playing Dirge of Cerberus. I also think the game is not great, but it is quite entertaining. The customization of guns is interesting in the beginning, but only until I realized that Cerberus was the only weapon I really cared about, with the exception of Hydra on a few sniper enemies. The story is, as the rest of the game, not great, but with some very nice moments. In the end it wraps up greatly Vincent's shadowy past.

All in all I was happy with the game when I started it. The graphics were great, the music had some nice pieces, the controls were not bad at all (it must be way better to play with a mouse and keyboard, but I never got to connect them). Well, I was satisfied. Until my brother got home. He's a great fan of FPSs and FF7, so he was very interested to play this one.

I excitedly resetted to show him some of the initial parts of the game. And then... The HORROR! I select game start, only to realize the game suffers from the disease of only ONE save slot. Small differences aside, the save system is much like the one in the first Drakengard. And, as happenend with Drakengard, my brother simply has to wait for me to finish the game, including extra stuff, and then delete my save. Only then he can start a true new game. I don't know if it's the same with you, but for me it's nowhere near the same thing when you play from the start of a fresh "new game" compared to simply selecting the stages someone else played and unlocked before you. And it wouln't really work on Dirge because of the tempsave feature anyway...

In the end, my brother didn't care so much that he couldn't start playing immediately, but I got pissed. Do game designers think we don't have family or friends that are also interested to play the same game as you without having to destroy a save? It's so ironic... On some games (from the same softhouse) you get 100 save slots, on others, only a frustrating one with a obligatory and sometimes badly positioned auto save feature. It's almost like not having soft reset on KH2 when you had it on the first one... *sigh* Why they do that to us?

Putting that aside, what are your thoughts on Contact for the DS? I'm anticipating it for some time. I think the game has that nice Earthbound carisma along with the quirky humour and dialogue I always like so much in games. It was supposed to come out september 19th and now it's stated for a october release, but oh well... Since there's so much stuff coming out in september I can't really complain. I heard that it didn't sell much in Japan, but I suppose it has to do with Mother 3 being released close to it.

About Children of Mana, the aspect I'm most looking forward to is the multiplayer! I just hope it's a story mode cooperative, and not only restricted to special areas... The same goes for Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. It would be GREAT to play a old school gameplay Castlevania game with a true co-op story mode <3! It has always been the type of multiplayer I have most fun with. What about you, what kind of multiplayer you like the most?

-Franklin

I'm with you all the way! Multiplayer Secret of Mana was just too much fun, and even though most people didn't capitalize on the chance, I positively loved the games where you could assign a couple of characters to a Player Two in the couple of Final Fantasy games that adopted that feature.

Of course, I also love crazy multiplayer kill-each-other mayhem. Does anyone out there NOT love Super Smash Brothers?

I guess in the end, I like cooperative multiplayer modes too, but they're just so rare. We need more, and I'm with you in the hopes for Children of Mana!

Hey Matt!

If you don't mind, I'd love to take a stab at the status question from yesterday. While I know there are barrier and shell type spells, I would love to see a spell that completely avoids all physical attacks. You would become semi-transparent, and all non-magic attacks would pass right through you. With the graphics they have today, that could be a cool effect, a sword passing right through you, and the like. I'd call it "Mist," or something comparable. There's already a reflect status, although that could be really nifty looking with current gen effects.

I kind of miss the old float spell. I don't remember that being around for a while. Have some giant area effect earthquake type spell, and your people could avoid it if you were up in the air, but you would be exposed to wind spells. I don't know why I liked it so much, maybe because it brings back fun FFIV memories.

It took me forever to remember where the title of your column came from, then I read the first Sock question and I remembered.

296) C) Vile (and she's really clinical in her analysis of it, if I remember right)
297) C) Dragon Quest III

Thanks!

BigWook

I miss the Float spell, too! I think it was in Final Fantasy IX last, but I'm not entirely sure; it could very well have been in FFXI, but I'll never know. I liked that it was so specific, but I liked even more when it was useful outside of battle, in FFIV! What a novel idea.

Thanks for writing in, BigWook, and thanks again for the great column back on Tuesday!

Congrats on finally conquering Radiata Stories! I got the non-human path ending and it was indeed brief, but, as I understand it, it's the better ending of the two; I haven't gotten around to a second playthrough so I can't say for myself. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be nice to take that off your backlog list, huh?

Best, Erika

Erika, I'm thrilled! And for a couple of reasons: Even though it didn't have the best ending in the world, I still really enjoyed the game. It'd be really cool to go back down the human path one day to see what could have happened, and I'm sure that knowing tri-Ace, there is bonus material a-plenty strewn about. All in all, this was definitely one of 2005's better games, and I'm glad that I had the chance to play through it. I'm also elated, of course, because I didn't really think that it would get finished at all, and I just knew that if I didn't get it done before the end of August, it wouldn't get done at all.

So, happy day! Thanks for writing, as always, Erika!

Hi Matt

Hey, you're forgiven for confusing my gender - I know I have a fairly gender-neutral nickname.

Ah yes, I just finished LSSC recently myself. The story wasn't anything terribly special, but the dialogue was indeed great. I love the random kid that asks you how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie pop, that one village full of inbred yokels, and, my favourite line: "Oh, God, the stories are true... I've gone blind!" (I'm probably misquoting that.) Pity about the voice acting, though (I'm looking at YOU, Ghaleon's voice actor.) I'm surprised nobody mentioned Jessica in that discussion of strong female characters - she's a white mage who fights with a frikkin' mace!

I saw a used copy of Paper Mario: TTYD at my local EB and am debating whether to grab it. I know it's gotten rave reviews, but is it very platformer-y? I'm not big on platformers. I never did finish Mario 64 - I think I got as far as the second Bowser fight where I kept falling off the platforms and dying in flames, and I went "screw this." I guess I need a stronger plot than "I've baked a cake for you.. OH NOES, I've been kidnapped!" to keep me interested... Anyway, I have a big enough backlog and I wasn't going to buy any more games before the brokening begins next month, but for $25 Can., should I grab it?

unholy_guacamole

Oh, I wouldn't say that it's platformy at all, and for $25 Canadian, you don't really have a lot to lose. I really, really enjoyed the game, and while there are a few very minor platformy elements, it really doesn't feel like a platformer at all- the new abilities you get are more akin to new tools you get in, say, Wild Arms, that help you to open up new areas and get to new places. Though not everyone will agree with me, I thought the game was just hilarious, and hilariously fun. Both of 'em.

Thanks, Miss Guacamole!

First off, Dirge of Cerberus, I'm not a big fan of FPSs but I'm really liking this one. It really gets into Vincent's background. In FFVII I never used Vincent, but I think that was just because I never got attached to him. He was just some weird guy with a gun I found in a basement. This game is really making me want to play VII again.

And I've got a question about tales of the abyss, is it going to be multi-player like tales of symphonia? because that would be sweet. I loved that game I played through it a couple times on my own and then used the plus game feature to carry over all my skills and get 10X exp bonus. and me and my friend went through and compleated all of the side quests and optional bosses while being compleatly intoxicated. that was definatly the most i've passed out with a controler in my hand. good times.

but I really hope tales of the abyss is better than legendia. I don't know if it was the 2-D battle system but I really couldn't get into that game.

SuperKyle

The E3 screens are awesome, aren't they? But indeed, as has been proven in the past, a multiplayer mode would work extraordinarily well, and a lack of one would be quite disappointing indeed. My brother goes on and on about how he loved Symphonia's multiplayer aspect; he got my sister to play through from start to finish, and she really enjoyed it. This is twice in a single column now, but cooperative multiplayer options are like nothing else!

I'll bet, in any event, that we'll find out a few details soon, since we honestly haven't heard too much about the game up until this point; the release date of "October" is very quickly approaching!

Ahoj Matt!

Everyone is now duly warned. Pack the children away, put the dog outside, turn off the TV, put on the reading glasses. That earlier letter was an aberration, an exception. I have mustered the fortitude to compose another of my customary letters – all with short attention spans are hereby notified of what is to come! Stinking MTV video editors and their constant cutting, it has shortened the attention span of the general populace. Plus MTV hasn’t played videos of songs I like in years. I hate you, MTV!

Remember the rush of declarations involving the fascinating condiments used with fried potatoes? I’ll interject one weeks after the fact: the Dutch prefer mayonnaise on their fries. Dutch mayonnaise is rather sweeter than the stuff on the North American continent but never seemed quite right to me. Oh, and when ordering fast food in the Netherlands, remember that when asked whether you want ketchup or mayo with the food, it’s not complimentary. Getting that condiment will run another quarter, which with the current exchange rate is something around 33 or 34 US cents.

Now then: Old Business to be dealt with resulting from the fallout of my last letter. First up, I must admit to never noticing Link is a lefty. Everyone who pointed it out, you have my gratitude. I did recall Kain and Palom, and I suppose since they never show up on the opposite side of the screen as enemies (and thus are not subjected to sprite flipping by the programmers) count as lefties. Reno? I associate that name with the other source of income for the state of Nevada, though many factors less important than Las Vegas. If he’s a lefty, superb. Now all we have to do is isolate where all the OTHER lefties are hiding in RPGs. I keep hammering away at this theme because I’ve seen too many instances wherein a character doesn’t really do anything with the left arm, which seems rather wasteful.

The consensus here seems to be that Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is best enjoyed between its two console installments. With that advice in hand I will eschew it for the time being in favor of more titles no one else reading Q&A has ever played. By the way Laurie, I am in fact male. I believe had I been born female my name would have been Karen, but I really don’t want to get either parent off on another journey into the past of my being born.

Okay Bainick, I actually have looked at vgmusic before. Thing is, in any instance I prefer MP3 versus MIDI. Even with dial-up I prefer it because I frequently just download these things onto my hard drive for repeated listening. Every time I listen to MIDI outside of an actual RPG environment I feel like I’m hearing a cell phone ring tone, and those things evoke the original song without coming anywhere close to being worth the money phone companies want me to spend on them. So since Galbadia Hotel offers MP3s of an enormous number of titles, I like them. I actually stumbled onto the site several months ago when tracking down the fleeting Dragon Force 2 information to be found in English, where I found the game’s entire soundtrack – which clearly will never be released outside Japan.

Since Bainick elaborated on his parental game experience, I guess I’ll elaborate a bit on my parents also (keep in mind they divorced 19 years ago, so not a bit of this is in the company of both when they’ve been in court before). My father, when I was much younger, would play the Ren & Stimpy game on Genesis which he enjoyed because it allowed him to slap Stimpy repeatedly – ‘You Stupid Eeeeeediot’! I don’t think he’s played a thing save free computer games since the early 90’s though. As for my mother, I remember trying her out on a Genesis title perhaps 10 years ago but the controls were a bit too reflex-oriented for her to deal with it easily. And I can spy a Dutch name a mile away – go Bainick!

And I have heard of Namco x Capcom. The licensing mess seems to forbid it being released in English however. The reviews indicate that it’s best for those who desire copious fan service from both companies as the battle system isn’t much fun.

And now we’re ready to hit some new content! Let’s start with this little link: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/570/41. Listen to this track, Matt: it’s a sample of the aural goodness to be found in Panzer Dragoon Saga, which if you owned a Saturn I might be tempted to mail to you just for the joy of the experience. This particular piece is played during a section where Edge, the dragon rider, is cruising through a section of Imperial-occupied airspace trying to defuse a city-destroying weapon. By the way, Quicktime may or may not be necessary to properly listen. And scroll down the page to the ‘click here’ direction, as linking to the song itself will not work.

Have you ever heard of Hydlide, Matt? There appear to have been two titles on NES, one Super Hydlide on Genesis, and Virtual Hydlide on Saturn. I may soon sample Super Hydlide as a seller on eBay had it together with Sword of Vermillion, which I had sought for awhile.

Time to send internet searches some unexpected results: Michael Jackson. Anybody reading Q&A ever played Moonwalker on Genesis? It’s hardly an RPG but surprisingly is not that bad. All that must be surmounted is the concept: Michael Jackson saving the children. Bubbles makes appearances, saving children restores Michael’s health. The super move of making all enemies onscreen dance themselves to death is kind of funny though.

Time for another musical link: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/1012/10 Albert Odyssey on Saturn possesses some truly beautiful music, as I mentioned in my review of the title which may have been posted by now. This is an overworld theme with real violin playing – I encourage listening for people who want to be mellowed out!

Continuing the Saturn theme for awhile, I’m going to bring Princess Crown to your attention. I’ve already outlined quite a bit to Josh on this title (which may in fact be brought to English speakers on the PSP yet – stupid Sony). So I’ll speak of different things to you. I can’t claim to understand the plot intricately, but this is a game where the hero is a heroine – and 13 years old at that. Gradriel is her name, and I know this because it’s displayed in English text. According to what I gleaned somewhere on Gamefaqs, her senior twin sisters cannot be queen because there is a prohibition against twins in the nation of Vanadiel. And the final boss is enormous; it takes up the entire screen! One wouldn’t at first glance think the name Larva to represent something overly threatening, but this is one massive monster.

FAQs. I do my very best to avoid them when playing through a title for the first time, unless I become egregiously lost. But what is your stance on using FAQs for titles that are not in English? I know I probably would have wandered around endlessly in Princess Crown without a FAQ, Dragon Force 2’s main quests weren’t hard to deal with but the item creation system is damn hard to navigate without a FAQ, there are a few parts in Seiken Densetsu 3 that are pretty much impossible to figure out if one doesn’t speak Japanese (and I played the cartridge so Japanese knowledge was required)… the list goes on. Your commentary here is welcomed.

Incidentally, the ROM situation is not necessarily illegal. I blab on about ROMs frequently because I do in fact own the original cartridges of most of these titles. If one owns the original cartridge a ROM is perfectly legal to keep on one’s hard drive indefinitely. Without the original cartridge… let’s not delve too deeply here.

Here’s another musical link: http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/1344/9. This piece will mean a lot more to someone who has played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night than it will to you Matt. This particular track exists only in the Saturn version and is played when Alucard must fight Maria for – whatever that thing to reveal Shaft is (the Saturn version isn’t in English). Maria’s a tough fight also, she killed me the first time. But for Playstation players Maria just gives the item without a confrontation.

You’ve started the first English Fire Emblem, Matt: what do you think?

… More stories about my experience with the game? Not too much of note, really, when my stupid ways kept me arena-leveling for hours at a time in each battle it could be done in. This gave me far more money than I could ever use but prompted many angry restarts thanks to a moment’s inattention that resulted in someone vital to my plans getting killed in the arena. By the way, if you haven’t passed all the arenas, remember the trick with Ninian; using the defense-up ring on someone, going into the arena with that person, and then rescuing the person works wonders. The rescued person is released in the next turn and Ninian dances, reviving the person with the protection intact! Rinse and repeat. Still not a good idea with Oswin though, since people with high defense spawn opponents from the nether regions in the arena.

I challenge you to play through Hector Hard Mode, Matt. I did eventually triumph over it despite my tale of woe transcribed in the last letter. See if you can do better than I managed.

I hear Square Enix intends to recoup increased game costs through a variety of techniques in the future, including in-game advertising. I’m not sure how my ad-avoiding eye would handle the presence of commercials within a game itself. What about you, Matt?

Is it just me, or do monarchs in RPGs tend to have a terrible survival rate? To allow the typically young protagonists to take over the monarchs generally die – is there a hidden democratic message veiled under the feudal systems usually espoused?

Okay Matt, I presume that you’ve played the Lufia title on GBC along with the others. Is this one more or less worthwhile than the GBA edition? And do you concur or dispute my judgment that Lufia 2 is the pinnacle of the series? And will there be any further titles in the series?

I wonder every now and again whether most Koei titles can be counted as RPGs or not. Dynasty Warriors seems an elaborate beat-em-up variation to me, but older Koei titles were known for their deep strategy gaming based upon actual historical scenarios. Having played a bit of Pacific Theater of Operations and Liberty or Death, I can agree with this synopsis. They tend to get a little too involved with minutiae for even me to stomach during a long play session though.

A word everyone needs to use today: nebulous. Nintendo’s relationship with the information-seeking public is nebulous.

Is there word on a potential further Breath of Fire title? Dragon Quarter was released, what, 4 years ago? From what I’ve heard (you being but one of the sources here) ending the series at this point would be a shame.

Did you think the musical links were exhausted? Not so! http://gh.ffshrine.org/soundtracks/2987/28951. This is a sample of Dragon Force 1’s music, in the form of a track heard so seldom in the game as to be welcomed. Most of the game’s music is heard very frequently but not this one, played only during 4 battles at the endgame.

Having brought up left-handed characters in RPGs, I’ll now address briefly the topic of ambidextrous characters. To me, using two weapons with one as a shield and the other as the offense is better than one weapon and one shield. Vyse in Skies of Arcadia is ambidextrous, and with the Genji Glove anyone in FFVI can be made that way. Others?

Private annoyance of mine: when a title only displays the experience needed to hit the next level and not the total experience gained. Not many titles pull this trick on me but it bothers me.

What’s your preference for the maximum attainable HP of characters, Matt? 999 or 9999? Wait a minute here – didn’t FFX allow a maximum HP in the quintuple digits? Haven’t played it so I don’t know.

The battles of an RPG can be handled in a number of different ways. Random battles seem the most prevalent even now though. I enjoy the sensation of killing everything in an area definitively and/or avoiding a lot of combat that comes in other systems though. What are your thoughts on this subject, Matt?

[JuMeSyn]

I don't really have a preference here, even though I was born and bred on Dragon Warrior. As long as the system that is chosen doesn't become monotonous and boring, yet manages to keep things challenging, it's doing its job. I've experienced the good and bad of both, too, and I'm sure that many seasoned RPGamers might agree that either can be poorly constructed!

Believe it or not, this is only half of JuMeSyn's latest monster! I'm going to cut it here, though, and save the rest for LATER! Ha!

*goes and sticks the rest of JuMeSyn's letter in the fridge*

So, I -just- mentioned that this Fire Emblem was easier. Since I wrote the response to the first half of JuMeSyn's letter, I tried Chapter 17, in which my poor (WEAK) Valkyrie fell, shockingly followed by Eliwood, thankfully granting me another chance to salvage a clean victory. Perhaps this game isn't as easy as I thought it was...

#296. c) Vile - 575 points
Yep, it was Vile! It kept going "wanting to go up, up up!" as the voice actress said in the outtakes. Gotta love 'em!

#297. b) Dragon Quest II - 450 points/900 for Genjuu
Yep. It was that long ago! While DQIII and IV had coliseums and casinos, Dragon Quest II had a lottery! You could find tickets throughout the land or even win them by spending a lot in other shops. More of you than I thought messed this one up, but thanks, Genjuu, for submitting this question!

#298:
San D'Oria's symbol features all of the colours of which real life flag? (500 points)

a) Finland
b) Macau
c) Ecuador
d) Uzbekistan
e) Papua New Guinea

Hmmm. Hmm, hmm. Hmm!

A whole cluster of people are just waiting to burst onto the scoreboard, any day now! We have Vigilante sitting in 37th with 4,825 points, MrMSty who is in 38th with 4,740, Arpijy in 39th with 4,720, and an unfortunately burnt Kharamain in 40th with 4,060. Others such as Prismatic, Magrowan, and Donovan are not far behind!

Remember that only through being vigilant and constantly trying will you ever get to the top! Even if you think things are going slowly, never give up, because chances are that someone else will. Take it from some of the frontrunners right now; with a little bit of luck and a lot of patience, it doesn't take long to lead the pack. There are several great prizes and a few interesting items in the shop, too, to spend your points on. If you haven't checked it out, do so!

Finally, there are a whole lot of secrets buried under the surface of SOCK. You might just discover something, somehow, that could make things very interesting very quickly. I wish you all the best of luck in the weeks and months to come in the ongoing contest!

STRAGGLERS:
(people who I love, but who still need to check their e-mail or somehow get in touch with me because they have unclaimed items- if you fall off the list after a week, it's TOO LATE FOR YOU! Check your spam/trash folders for my messages if you're not getting them, and I'll check mine, too!)

• none to speak of!

One more day will take us to the end of my four days and one step closer to the official commencement of Ouro's THONG2! I'm so excited, I could just burst.

Disgaea 2 and Xenosaga: Episode III have finally been unleashed upon North Americans. Does anybody have 'em yet? I'm going to be getting Disgaea 2 tonight! If you have picked one of them up, or both of them up, speak up! I want to hear what you think, and so does everybody else. Watch out for spoilers, though, or I might have to wring your neck!

Bye, everybody!

***Matt also decided to start playing Grandia III today!