Josh - 10:20 EST

Ah, computer science and math are the current banes of my existence this week, so I've been looking forward to talking about games. I don't have the time to PLAY them for awhile, you see. ;_;

Anyway, Shadow of the Colossus - Great game. The graphics were great, although now it's a bit apparent they're a little behind. I was surprised at how fun the game was, despite its simplicity. I loved Ico, so going into SotC, I figured I'd be in for some fun. For those who don't know, the idea is that there are 16 colossi scattered around the world, and you basically have to find them and kill them. The trick is that each colossus is like a puzzle. First you have to figure out where its weak point is, then you have to figure out how the hell to access it. Sometimes it may be on the head of the colossus, so you have to figure out how to climb up the damn thing. Other times, you might have to make it tip over to get at its underbelly. Either way, EVERY SINGLE boss fight was a ton of fun, and each one generally seemed more fun than the last. The final boss was also incredibly satisfying after figuring out how to kill it.

I'd recommend that game to anyone who enjoys using their brain.

Dear Matt and/or Ouro (because I value both opinions!)

Final Fantasy III's job system has reminded me of my love for characters with individual skill sets, yet customizability. My favorite part of the game is definitely everytime you get a new job, I just love trying it out and seeing what kinds of skills work well with which jobs and what kinds of skills completely ruin another job's usefulness. For a character who's been using primarily physical jobs, but you want to make them more magic-based, a Geomancer's MP-free skills are fun. And for a mage in need of some STR growth, a switch to Thief or Ninja (speedy physical jobs) makes a good transition, when you look at their stats. Of course, that's just my strategy, I'm not sure it's the preferred method for RPGamers out there.

Anyway, so the job system reminds me of why I loved RPGs - team building. When there's 13 or so unique characters and only 4 party slots - how do you choose which character/class will work best? Do you go for a balance of magic and physical? Or is far-ranged and close-ranged the best way to look at it? Do all skills use MP or just magic-based ones? Should you really equip your cleric with a boomerang? What always ends up bugging me about most RPGs is that the best party always ends up being something like 3 sword-users and a healer - the least amount of diversity possible.

So there's my question: "What RPG or series do you think has done the best in keeping characters/classes diverse and balanced?" Or... for a more creative question along the same lines "If you could make a diverse cast of RPG characters, where each character has something to bring to the table, from all the RPGs you've played... what would this roster look like?"

For me, I'd probably have to go through a lot of the Tales, BoF, and Suikoden games for their diverse characters, and then filter through all the FF classes to fill in some holes. I mean, if I've only got so many slots to make 'the perfect party', my Ninja better be able to cast healing spells and summon big monsters as well as throw stuff. (Yay for Sheena from Tales of Symphonia!)

Thanks for all the great columns,
DebiruFlonne

Hello.

You know what I am convinced of... Too many game choices lead to a gaming ADD. Or, certainly does for me anyway. I am struggling to decide what game to play and when right now because I have too many options. Do I keep playing FFXII, or Zelda:TP, or Yggdra Union? I just can't take it anymore! Those three games are like a speck of dust in comparison to all the other games I have in my backlog (granted they are big and important pieces of dust). I have bought at least five new GBA games in the past couple of months and I can't even decide which of those to play first.

My question is this... If you have a backlog of great RPGs to play, how do you decide which to play next? Once you pick a game to play, how do you stay focused enough to finish it when you get that feeling there is something better that you should be playing first? Any advice would be welcomed.

Thanks,
*Overwhelmed and falling further behind*
-thinkfreemind

I really hated the hours of mindless dungeon-crawling of BoF V interspersed with ten-second snippets of plot. I was a fan of the series until I played the game, and it absolutely killed my interest in any future BoF installments. I seem to be the only one, but I refuse to be swayed. Tried it...hated it...

Can't wait for winter break. Besides skiing, on the docket are:

1. FFXII
(Must save Dalmasca...)

2. KH2
(Must give Squeenix all my money...)

3. Lord of the Rings: Third Age
(Must complete strangely addicting second-rate licensed game...)

4. Sudeki
(What's with the goofy British accents? I realize this game was made by a European developer, but honestly, have they heard themselves? Hire some American voice actors next time. Wonder if the guy who does Balthier is actually American. Wouldn't that just rule? But hey, if that's my biggest complaint about the game so far...)

5. Koudelka
(This game rules. I love Shadow Hearts.)

6. Alundra
(Good call, Ouro. This one looks pretty fun. Hope to play it some more, when I get a chance.)

7. Suikoden Tactics
(Yeah, it's lame, I know. What can I say? I'm a completist, who is unfortunately also a Suikofreak.)

8. Stella Deus
(My expectations were very low coming into this one, so I'm actually enjoying this.)

9. Wild Arms 4
(I'm practically at the end. This should really be higher in my to-do list.)

10. Parasite Eve
(Mmmm...mitochondria...)

**However, sneaky Sam Fisher probably worms himself to the top of the heap come Christmas day. And/or Bully or Okami...or Oblivion...Depends what I get for Christmas...or buy the day after when I don't get it for free

Most of these are partially beaten games I picked up over the summer. These are some of my more lamentable purchases.

On my re-sell list are:
1. Hoshigami
(Hands down, worst TRPG I've played, and I've played my share of the best and worst. Somehow worse than even Vandal Hearts 2. I never thought I'd see the day... It seems they used RPGMaker's menu interface, world map creator, and soundtrack. Kudos, you lazy SOBs...)

2. Grandia II
(Eyes...bleeding...I'm all about older games, but there's something called esthetic sense that's independent of whatever graphics tech is available at the time a game is made. It generally involves not maxing out hue and saturation of every goddam pixel on the screen. I hear this game looked much better on the Dreamcast. It sure can't have looked any worse...Too bad cuz I can't even really critique the rest of the game since I have to wrap my eyes in gauze just to play the stupid thing...)

3. Grandia Extreme
(I dunno...Might give this one another chance. I was just thoroughly underwhelmed by the first few hours of play.)

4. Lunar: SSC
(What was all the buzz about in years past? I don't get it. Lunar seems like a Y7 anime turned RPG without the relative fun of commerical breaks.)

What do you think of my lists? Playlist ranking assumes order of play. Would you change the order at all or add some other games (which I haven't picked up yet) in the mix? What about the re-sell list? Any gems I should give another chance? Hmm...maybe if I spent as much time playing games as I do thinking about playing games, I wouldn't have a backlog...Then again, I'm work, so I can't really play games right now anyway

Vicissitude
P.S. Take that, JuMeSyn! See? I can ramble too!

Creeper, creeper, creeper - you give ME the creeps!!!! (See season 7 - it's only six episodes, shouldn't take long to Bittorrent).

As far as anime goes, I only watch most of it in Japanese because I get addicted to certain shows and want to see them immediately - which means they'll be subbed. There have been occasions on which I watched pretty good dubs - the best being Cowboy Bebop. But when I want to watch more of a show than exists in dubbed form, what choice have I? Besides, I don't like flipping back and forth between languages. Mental dissonance and what have you.

I noticed that you had nothing to say regarding Langrisser III however. Poke around for a few minutes and give me YOUR take on it.

And as I was the one who, way back, brought up the topic of characters in RPGs with facial hair, I would just like to press for a slightly older hero who can pull off a good beard. I think mine looks pretty good, after all. And some teenagers do TRY to pull off a beard, but not many can make it succeed (I knew a guy who had a thick beard in 8th grade though!)

Okay, if Dark Savior was like a Zelda game, the lack of diagonal movement wouldn't be as big an issue. Thing is - there are jumping sections. Jumping sections with isometric view and no diagonal movement. Justify this. Particularly jumping sections with moving and/or falling platforms.

To Vicissitude and everyone else who listened to the SFIII voice clips - HA ha! They've been burned into my brain for years now, but I couldn't stand being alone! If only there had been more posted! Obright's 'Ohhhh yeah' that sounds like he's in the bathroom! Hagane's retarded Indian ninja! Murasame sounding like he's got a bad cold! MORE Synbios! MORE Ratchet! Fiale's annoyed temp worker attitude! Arrawnt's painful try to sound like a closing door! MORE Masqurin! I remember them all, and I want others to as well!

Oh, and Vicissitude; aren't there a lot of PS1 games that might serve as gifts that flew under the radar? Just a suggestion. I could give you some import tips, sure, but you'll have to mod your PS2, which I have no practice with.

Ouro - you must've had only crappy history teachers. But here's one character I WANT to see in an RPG, on the protagonist team: Theodore Roosevelt. A liberal Republican - we haven't seen one of those since he was in office 100 years ago! Plus he actually boxed people in the White House while President - and won! He could actually be useful in combat!

Would Oregon Trail count as an RPG, if you stretch the definition quite a bit? There's 'combat' in the form of hunting... I haven't played it in 14 years but I always tried to get my kids killed because they were taking up valuable space in the wagon.

Y'know, I did this with Matt in a letter that was hopefully posted earlier this week - so let's continue to give people mockable information about what pops up in a random selection of my iTunes music. 'Poor Little Fool' by Rick Nelson, 'He's So Gay' by Frank Zappa, 'Yume Mite Iyou', the ending theme to the Sakura Wars TV series, 'Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me' by U2, 'Complete Control' by the Clash, 'Don't You Want Me' by the Human League, 'Hey You' by Pink Floyd, 'Victoria' by the Kinks, a George Carlin bit, 'I Am the City' by ABBA, 'I'm a Loser' by the Beatles, and 'The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia' by Reba McEntire. No real purpose to this, save a random whim.

Quick news blurb: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162640.html

Let's get out of here!
JuMeSyn

I recently downloaded RPG Maker XP, excited to make my own games. However, once i installed it, I can't even get INTO Rpg Maker XP! I have all the required stuff, and I downloaded the stuff! Can you help me out?

Well, I'd first recommend uninstalling it and re-installing it. There's a chance something messed up with installation, such as you selecting the wrong card or something. It happens. If THAT doesn't fix it, then I recommend standing on your tiptoes, shouting "I'm walking on, walking on, broken glass!" at the top of your lungs, in falsetto, might convince the gaming dev gods to have mercy on your PC.

Luca Phase:
Luca Blight takes a moment to heal (19% HP remaining)!

Movement Phase:
PureLunatic moves to Tile 45.
PureLunatic claims the Xenosaga III Artbook!
Aurelius moves to Tile 47.

I didn't have enough time last weekend to perform all the EVIL I wanted to!

Answer to #L37: B. Winglies
The sad thing is, if you got this right, you probably played Legend of Dragoon. Shame on you.

#L38.
The minimum and maximum D-Ratio for Ryu, along a number line including only powers of two, differ by how many powers of two?

A. 8
B. 9
C. 10
D. 11
E. 12
F. 13

Hey, tomorrow we've got Bainick! Make sure to tune in and give him his 15 minutes of fame! ^^;

***Josh has 9 days left as an undergrad.