RPGuru

Short but Sweet Saturday

	In the PSX
	Xenogears
	Write to the RPGuru!
	Keep sending your messages to Joshua Reid

You readers are too kind. You must have known that I was behind in schoolwork, Xenogears, and that my older sister had waltzed into town. Thank you for not drowning me with letters, and in return, I'll deliver a quick column so you can enjoy your Saturday!

Do you know anything about the game Ehrgeiz? It's in Japan, and it looks like a fighting game from the screen shot supplied by EGM, but it has Cloud from FFVII in it.

--Clouded

Joshua: Ehrgeiz was an arcade fighter in Japan developed by Dream Factory (the Tobal people). The graphics are great and it has cameo appearances from FFVII characters, like Tifa and Cloud. The Japanese received a three-character demo of the home version in their BFM games, so maybe *fingers crossed* we might see a little bit of this game in November's BFM. Ehrgeiz has a few innovations for a fighting game, like magic-casting ability, and a 15 lap race where you can beat up one another to ensure victory (sounds like my old track meets). Since this is a fighting game, and Americans just love fighting games, I can see Ehrgeiz making the English cut.

Wouldn't it be great if an RPG was done to the music of Pink Floyd, or something similar? I mean, an RPG with Dark Side of the Moon would be great . . . in some world where reality wasn't well defined. Just thought it would be cool to have bands do the music for an RPG (or, if not, get a full orchestra do the scores for Final Fantasy games, etc. and not use the PSX's midi chip).

-Keyser Soze

Joshua: I think contemporary music would make an excellent counterpart to any RPG. I'm sure some of you beebop with your favorite CD while you dungeon crawl, and realize how well your music meshes with the scene. I used to pump Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" while playing Doom. Each "Hallelujah" would precede every shotgun blast. "Hallelujah!" BOOM! "Hallelujah!" BOOM! It was so cool.

Many artists in other disciplines, like Film, have realized that an already composed piece of music works better than something original. My favorite director, the late Akira Kurosawa, would employ many classics in his movies, such as Mozart.

The reason why this precedent hasn't seeped into video games until recently is because of the hardware. SNES couldn't play Pink Floyd tunes. But now, the PSX has proved, with games like Wipeout, that they have come a long way in the music department. Another problem facing companies is royalties. In some ways it is cheaper to get Nobuo Uematsu to come up with the score than pay back-royalties for certain songs.

I agree with you Keyser. Every day I hear tunes from Floyd, Enigma, Beethoven, and others that would harmoniously blend with a particular RPG scene with better results than the original Uematsu (no disrespect to this master, of course) composition.

As the video game industry becomes more and more similar to its media cousins (Film, T.V.), and the consoles become more powerful, you can bet your Phantasy Star that the next RPGs will start throbbing with tunes from--Hanson? No wait, that was last night's nightmare. Sorry. :)

-Evil Shinji

Joshua: I felt sorry for him.

Hey, how could I convince my friend that Final Fantasy VII is not the best RPG there ever was and ever will be? He is so set on it being the best thing since sliced bread. He goes as far to say Final Fantasy VIII will be nowhere near as good as FF7--even though he hasn't played FFVIII yet.

-cd

Joshua: Blunt objects always help.

Final Fantasy Football! That would be awesome! I can see it now... here's the offensive lineup (Using characters from FFIV FFVI, FFVII, and Chrono Trigger)

QB - Cloud (He's got the moves and he's a team leader)

FB - Sabin (This bodybuilder would make for the perfect lead blocker)

RB - Crono (He's just the man, oh, and he isn't the QB because he can't talk!)

C - Cid, FFVII (Though I'm not sure he'd appreciate Cloud's hands against his bottom.)

LG - Umaro (Quick and big)

RG - Cyan (Why? Well, I can't think of many more lineman stereotypes!)

LT - Barrett (Think: Mr. T.)

RT - Robo (Another roadblock)

TE - Magus (Tall, strong, and mean-tempered!)

WR - Shadow (Ultra-speed, quick hands)

WR - Edge (A ninja tandem of wideouts, it doesn't get any better!)

Hope you enjoy this! Please keep in mind that the ladies were left out only because no women currently play in the NFL.

Being as PC as possible,

Faz

Joshua: That's too bad, because we can think of some excellent women characters for this team--Ayla, morphed Terra, Tifa, Celes, etc.

Hmmm. . . . (highlight missing text for answers)

Tha Bears or TeamFF? Team FF by a touchdown.

God or TeamFF? God by a safety.

Broncos or TeamFF? Broncos by a landslide. Go Broncos! Beat San Diego! *praying that Fate loves me and some Denver Bronco team member is also an RPG fan, will see this blatant plug, and send me free tickets to the next home game*

Ok, I'm sick and tired of your SaGa Frontier bashing. I mean, it's ok if you didn't like it, but every column--EVERY COLUMN--has some disparaging comment about SaGa Frontier, and I, and several others, are very annoyed. I understand that you, and many others, didn't enjoy the game. But since you are a spokesperson of RPGamer, which is supposed to be for all RPGs, not just the ones that some people like. So, if you could just keep the SaGa comments to a minimum, please.

Oh, and as for a real question, whatever happened to night in RPGs, I mean, the only one that I know of that used night as a force was Dragon Warrior. Do you know if it will still be in DW 7? Are there any other games that have night? I always liked walking around for a while, then the screen turns the colors of the sunset, then gets darker, and the monsters become just a little stronger, and they show up just a little more often, and the towns completely change. What do you think?

-Bubbawheat

Joshua: Okay, okay, I'll keep my SaGabashing to a minimum. :)

There were some other night-orientated RPGs--you had to sneak in a Breath of Fire city during night, Tales of Destiny had a night scene, and you could think of Midgar in FFVII as perpetual night. But if you are talking of night as an atmospheric effect, where the time of day is constantly changing, I haven't seen many myself. Daggerfall (PC) was one, Legacy of Kain (PSX) was another, and so was King's Field. I think night adds a lot to the realistic feel and the drama of a game. I hear the new Zelda has some night action, so look forward to that. I would also love to see other facets of the atmospheric effect, like the rain in Zelda III (Link to the Past), the abrupt snowfall in Tales of Destiny, etc.

Scattered Thoughts:

Carpe Diem!

Ian had read an article that stated that Xenogears was originally intended to be a sequel to Crono Trigger, and that's why there are so many similarities.

Inquiring minds want to know if Enix's Star Ocean: The Second Story will be translated into English. I have heard no official conformation. I'll keep you posted.

DA, the Suikoden Nut can't believe Joey in Suikoden II is a guy, when he looks so much like a girl. My answer is that Konami likes to play mind games with us, hence Gremio and Milich from Suikoden I.

I hope everyone has a great Saturday

Is Medievil worth buying? I'm thinking about picking up a copy.

- Joshua Reid, going to see a hockey game.