Tales of Sequels
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| February 3rd, 2011 |
02/03 - 12:00PM EST
Well Tales of Graces F
is now officially confirmed for release in North America. This is just
crazy! I mean it wasn't that long ago that Namco-Bandai essentially
said there was no chance of it coming out over here. How the times have
changed. Now of course there's no release date yet, but I guess I have
a head start on you all, seeing as I have the Japanese version!
Enough about that though, let's see what you guys have for me this week.
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Alright Multi-Wheels, you need content and I had a notion that will
fill most of a column very easily. Let's get to it, especially
since some of my proposals represent a welcome infusion of something
new into the annals of Square Enix projects instead of endless remakes
and re-releases.
Wheels
Hey, I like most of those remakes and re-releases. In fact, I'm still
waiting on my Final Fantasy VI remake!
Then
again, I would like to see more things like 4 Heroes of Light from those who
usually work on the remakes. I'm conflicted. That's getting off topic
though.
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Final Fantasy XIII-2
means, to me, that the gates are open. Time to gauge the
viability of other direct sequels to Square Enix properties!
Wheels
Yes! I like this idea. I'll start with Crystal Bearers 2. As much as I
liked the first, there was a lot they could clean up about the first
game. Namely tighten up the controls a little bit, and perhaps make
battles a more central part of the experience. Also I am excited beyond
measure for Final Fantasy XIII-2!
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Final Fantasy I-2!
What
will
the
Light Warriors do when Garland falls out of the past with
all of Chaos's powers intact (or is that not a good idea?)
Wheels
Time travel is a dangerous tool to be playing with. This has potential
though. If they make it for PSP, they can allow people to import a save
from the PSP version of FFI
and start the game with your pimped out party. I think this is a grand
idea actually. You could even put in a job system similar to Final Fantasy V. They could create
a
whole new selection of advanced jobs for your characters to switch to.
Get working on it Square Enix!
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Final Fantasy II-2?
That's
possibly
the stupidest title of them all, but at least it might
allow people to beat themselves over the head to get stronger once more.
Wheels
Well, perhaps instead of keeping the stupid advancement system of the
original, they could put it more in line with the Saga series? It is after-all the
game that got that series going. They could even call it Final Fantasy II-2: SaGa or
something.
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Final Fantasy III-2?
Because
the
final dungeon of the game wasn't brutal enough, so let's
make it just to infuriate those who can't handle rough games.
Wheels
Well, 4 Heroes of Light is
close enough to a Final Fantasy III-2,
so
if they do another game in that style, I'm all for it. FFIII is one of my favorite 8-bit
style RPGs, along with Dragon Quest
IV. More FFIII is
fine by me! Infuriating final dungeon need not apply.
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Final Fantasy IV-2?
I
guess
The After Years
is
this by another name, but is there another way?
Wheels
No, I think the The After Years
are a fine enough sequel. The PSP version looks like it will be a much
improved version of the sequel, given the original graphics were a
little lacking. I suppose I can forgive that since it was originally a
cell phone game. No further sequels need here.
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Final Fantasy V-2?
Ignoring
the
anime, what path would this take, and under what
circumstance would the awesome Job system be ditched by some idiot
making it?
Wheels
Honestly? I could care less what they did for a sequel as far as story
goes. I didn't care for the majority of FFV's tale. Just give me more of
that job system. Any sequel without a job system would be an utter
disgrace (unless they somehow came up with something better).
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Final Fantasy VI-2?
Actually,
that
has real potential. I'll let you pick a tangent
about which to elaborate.
Wheels
I don't know if I've expressed this in Q&A or not, but I don't want
them to do a sequel of Final Fantasy
VI. I think it would be a major disservice to the story. The
ending to FFVI doesn't leave
many stones unturned, so I think I'd prefer a prequel. Final Fantasy VI: War of the Magi
anyone?
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Final Fantasy VII-2?
Let's
ignore
the compendium of FFVII,
none
of it was really designed to further the main game. Will the
environments be intuitive instead of baffling this time?
Wheels
Honestly? I think Final Fantasy VII's
narrative
is a bit of a mess, so if they could do a sequel that could
clarify things, instead of adding more questions (does anyone have any
idea what's going on in Dirge of
Cerberus?). Since Crisis Core
was the most playable of the compendium of FFVII, I'd love to see them do more
with that battle system.
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Final Fantasy VIII-2?
I
loathed
VIII, so
this is
the chance to clear up the many, many insane script notions that game
possessed. Or do you have another aspect that should be used?
Wheels
The funny thing is, I used to loath VIII
as well, but during a replay late 2009/early 2010 I found a new
appreciation for the game. Final
Fantasy VIII is an odd beast, and I can understand why it turns
people off. However, at the end of the day I just have to admire how
obtuse the mechanics are. I'd be happy to see a game expand on the
guardian force system. Story-wise, without spoilers, a sequel would be
very difficult to do. The original plot does need all kinds explaining
though, so maybe it could work.
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Final Fantasy IX-2?
Kuja
lived and reconciles with his spiritual brother... or something
like that, you tell me how this would work.
Wheels
It wouldn't really work. Being more of a "fantasy" tale than the two
previous titles, FFIX ends
with what could only be described as a happily ever after moment.
Questions about Kuja aside, I don't think a sequel would work all that
well. I'd prefer another unrelated throwback style Final Fantasy in its stead. If
you're wondering, yes it does feel strange to be saying I don't want
direct sequels to two of my favorite Final
Fantasy
games (VI
and IX). A testament to how
great they
were I think.
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X-2 has been
done. XI-2 is impossible so
long as the game remains online. XII-2
was sorta done as Revenant Wings,
wasn't
it?
Gosh, that leaves us bereft of main series
games! So how about Final
Fantasy Tactics 2?
Wheels
XII
had a sequel, but I'd prefer a full fledged console sequel in addition
to the DS one. Much of Ivalice is still unexplored and they really need
to give us some more games based in it. This of course brings me to Final Fantasy Tactics 2. As we've
discussed, the Tactics Advance
games are brilliant in their own right, but there's still a place for a
sequel closer to the original. Based on how well the PSP version did,
there's certainly money for Square Enix to make there.
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Enough of that series, what about Dragon
Quest
VIII-2? I've ignored the Enix side of the roster, so
we have to consider the possibility.
Wheels
I'm up for this, Dragon Quest VIII
had a huge world to explore and I'd love to get more of that. I've
never actually finished VIII,
so no idea how it would work as far as story. If they did this, they'd
have to get rid of Dragon Quest VIII's
character
advancement system. That was the only thing in the game that
I didn't care for.
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Okay, gear shift. You haven't played a Langrisser game. As only the
first has been released in English, this becomes a dicey prospect
unless you either plumb the world of ROMs or are unafraid of
imports. Giving you the full spiel about this series would take a
very long time, so I'll make it simple. The original game was
handily outclassed by its sequels, but is a reasonable tactical game
even now, 20 years later (which means it predates Shining Force, though not the
earliest Fire Emblem
games). Its localization company, Treco, died long ago, so the
rights in English went into limbo and have stayed there. It's not
very expensive on eBay though. Langrisser
2 is excellent, Der Langrisser
on the SNES is mostly the same game, just with opportunities to ally
with different factions and thus go down wildly differing paths
(complete with new allies and battles). Langrisser 3 is a mess, but can be
fun in spots - definitely do not start with it though. Langrisser 4 is probably the
peak of the series, and you will want to play it on Saturn because the
(rare and expensive) PS1 version uses the battle system of Langrisser 5, which is not as honed
to high quality. Langrisser 5
is a long way from bad, though, and is a fitting end to one of the best
tactical series that is almost unknown outside Japan.
Wheels
Sounds like a series I should be playing. I can't get the only English
release though, as I no longer have a Genesis. Are there fan
translations of any of these? For that matter, why aren't you writing
some import reviews on these? Hop to it!
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Langrisser
Millennium is a complete failure, one that looks like Dragon Force outside of battle but
is a total mess when fighting. You don't even have a Dreamcast
(right?) so just forget it exists, since the best thing I can say is
that it's very short and easy.
Wheels
I do have a Dreamcast (which is where I played Grandia 2) but I was never the
biggest fan. It had none of the franchises that made me love the
Saturn, and I didn't even care for the Sonic games on it. So yes, it will
be easy to ignore!
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Recently I was reminded that Brain
Lord exists. I've never played this obscure SNES title, do
you have any information?
Wheels
I don't think I've played it, but based on the youtube videos I see, it
looks terrible!
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Connect Sakura Wars to Edward
G. Robinson!
Wheels
Easy! Sakura Wars is
published by Sega in Japan->Sega developed games based on the Jurassic Park film->Universal
Pictures distributed the Jurassic
Park film->Universal Pictures distributed Flesh and Fantasy-> Edward G.
Robinson was in Flesh and Fantasy
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Will Star Trek ever be turned
into a worthy RPG?
Wheels
I certainly hope so. There's so much potential for a great game there,
and I hate to see it wasted on a sub-par effort like Star Trek Online. There have been
plenty of "open-space" type games on the PC side of things, so why
hasn't someone tried to do a game like that set in the Star Trek universe? It still amazes
me that Bethesda published some Star Trek games, and none of them were
RPGs.
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Pick a Steven Spielberg film to turn into an RPG, and flesh out the
scenario. I'm going to remove Jaws
from the equation though, since hunting endless sharks is what the
sequels to that movie did - badly. I would also recommend against
Munich,
unless you think being a team of Israeli operatives out to assassinate
Palestinians could be made in today's world.
There, that's quite enough for one letter.
JuMeSyn
Wheels
I'm going to go ahead and go with Hook.
You play as the adult Peter Pan, who needs to retrain himself for a
confrontation with Captain Hook. Instead of following the plot of the
movie, it would be non-linear, allowing you to explore Neverland as
much as you want to train.The game would incorporate locations in
Neverland not included in the original film. I think this would make
for a very interesting game!
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Hiya Wheels,
I just wanted to write in and discuss some things about Tales games with you, and then
maybe segue into the realm of Xenogears/Xenosaga and Final Fantasy a bit. First
off...YAY TALES OF GRACES F!
LOCALIZATION, HO! *ahem*. Second, I'm replaying Tales of Vesperia right now, and
falling in love with it all over again. The story, the battle
system, synthesis, and every one of the characters (okay, maybe not
Zagi). But I do have a conundrum.
Wheels
Yes! I'm so excited for a
localization of Tales of Graces F
that I could care less that I spent a ton importing it from Japan. I
can tell you that Tales fans
are going to love this game, and I look forward to another fine
localization. It seems like PS3 is going to be the main platform for
the series going forward, so this could be a fresh start for the Tales series in the west.
Now as far as Vesperia goes, I think it is a
fabulous game. I still haven't played all the way through it but the
polish in the game is incredible. Anyway, let's hear your conundrum!
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You see, I also happen to have, via Gamefly, a certain game that I have
never completed, or even played past the half-way mark. I'm
speaking of the often lauded Tales
of the Abyss. I really like the game, honest I do, but Vesperia is just captivating
me. Can you say something about Tales
of
the
Abyss that will break Vesperia's
hold
on
me so that I can escape this Tales
Triangle? I just got Natalia in my party in Tales of the Abyss and I wanna see
what happens next, but then I received a new 360 to replace my old one
and Vesperia called to me like a siren to Odesseyus. (sp) Help me.
Wheels
I'd say just finish Vesperia
and then tackle Abyss afterward.
In my own experience, its better to play the games you're most
interested in, and not to force yourself to finish something else for
some other reason. Abyss can
wait. It sounds like you're still in the early game of Abyss anyway. Once you finish Vesperia I'm sure you'll be
itching to get right into another Tales
game.
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Now, on to Xeno stuffs.
Yes, Xenogears is a great
game, one of my favorites in fact, but I can certainly understand your
lack of interest in the game. The story is quite convoluted in my
opinion, and some of the dungeons are arduous endeavors, to put it
mildly (I'm looking at you Babel Tower). And then the huge amount
of text going into disc 2, my goodness. If it weren't for Citan
Uzuki being awesome incarnate, I never would have made it. I just
wanted to give you some support. As a fan of Xenogears, I can still totally get
what you mean.
Wheels
That's good to hear! If it means, anything, I plan to give it another
try once it's available on PSN. I was rewarded when I gave Final Fantasy VIII a second chance,
so perhaps I will be here as well.
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As Far as FF XIII goes, I
loved the game, linearity and all. It's just one of those "love
it or hate it" deals, I suppose. In fact, Lightning has taken
second place as most beloved FF
character in my heart, right after Cecil Harvey. That's not to
say that more evenly spaced side-quests wouldn't be nice. Hint
hint, Squeenix,
Thanks for reading my letter, Wheels-san! I hope to write in
again soon!
Valim
Wheels
Thanks for the letter!
Lightning is certainly one of my favorite characters in the series now,
and a sequel with her still as the lead is very exciting. Obviously,
the linearity didn't bother me either. There's a place for all kinds of
RPGs after-all, linear and non-linear.
Look forward to hearing from you again!
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Hey Wheels,
Tell me what you think of this pitch.
Chrono Destroyer
It's an unknown period of time after the events of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. In fact, such an
extended period has passed that both humans and mystics have vanished
from the planet. In their place, a new sentient race has occupied the
planet- the descendants of Lavos. That's right, the Lavos Spawn, the
ones who were prophesied to destroy the planet... are living peacefully
on it.
Until, on a random jaunt, a small group stumbles upon a
thousands-year-old pod, a strange device of unknown technology. The
somewhat brash leader of the group presses a prominent red button on
the side, and with a whoosh the pod opens, and out falls out a young,
spiky-haired... human. He slowly opens his eyes, and vanishes. The
Lavos Spawn rush home, only to find that the creature has obliterated
their peaceful hometown, and now they must undertake a journey to
uncover the truth- to their existence, to the actions of the
newly-revived Chrono, and find a way to fix things.
-Daniel
Wheels
Man, I really love this idea! It's the
kind of unexpected but awesome twist that I think would take many by
surprise. Playing as the very creatures that were supposed to destroy
the planet? Sign me up! There's just so many different twists and turns
that this idea can take. Is Lavos the monster we thought he was? Is
this some kind of split timeline that Chrono has somehow ended up in?
Are all the possible endings in Chrono
Trigger
actually a bunch of split timelines? The possibilities are endless, and
that's why this is a fantastic pitch!
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hello wheels
I'm writing in about your contest. a real sequel for Chrono Trigger? i think a real
sequel would have to involve time travel like the original. tho if it's
set in the same world the new adventure could interfere with the old. i
suppose they could use that have the new character's accidentally mess
up what the originals did and have to find a way to fix it? tho that
would probably be complicated and doesn't sound fun. i suppose
there could be some new threat which was originally destroyed by lavos
but now goes unchecked since he's gone? game play wise Chrono Trigger
had a great battle system and such so I'd like to see something similar
in a new one.
Wheels
It sounds complicated but that sounds good by me! Incorporating the
original adventure and the possibility of badly altering events sounds
like it makes for a great game. Time travel, by its nature, makes for
very complicated stories. So I say why not just give in and make
something really complicated and convoluted, and see how it goes. I
also like that idea that there's some threat the Lavas stopped that now
has to be dealt with. Perhaps some kind of Galactus time threat to the
universe. There is certainly a lot of potential with your ideas.
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on a side note i think ff-xiii was
a
good
game even tho it was mostly linear, the only real problem i had
with it was the lvl cap's restricting how strong you could be before
beating a set boss. i tried playing
resonance of fate but i just
couldn't get into it after 4-5 hour's i just couldn't play it anymore.
Wheels
That's a fair point. There are players who love power-leveling, and for
them the level caps must have been a huge issue. I have one such friend
who was really bothered by it, but he still liked the game a lot. In
theory, I think it's a good idea, to keep the game challenging. Perhaps
it would have been better served being an option as part of varying
difficulty levels/
Sorry to hear you couldn't get into Resonance
of Fate. It's an obtuse game, so it can be a tough nut to crack
for some.
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what do you think of the fact that alot of rpg's are going to
handheld's now day's? i prefer my rpg's on a console. i like to sit and
play for long period's of time when I'm playing an rpg and with
handheld's that can be a problem. well i think that's all for now.
nonauno
Wheels
I play a lot of portable games, so it's fine by me. The fact that
portables are huge in Japan is the main reason for the massive amounts
of great RPGs on portables. There's plenty of great Western RPGs on
consoles, and still a fair number of Japanese RPGs, so I don't think
there's a major lack of RPGs on consoles or anything. Don't forget you
can hook a PSP up to a TV to play games, so you can always use that as
an option!
Anyway, thanks for the letter, please write in again. I'm interested to
know what exactly turned you off of Resonance
of Fate.
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I apologize for this Q&A going up a day late. The weather around
here has been crazy and I had a lot of extra work to do around the
house. Don't forget there's still till the end of February to get in on
the contest (March 1st at 12:00 a.m. is the deadline). Feel free to
write in about Tales of Graces F
or anything else that's on your mind.
-Wheels
Current Backlog: Tales of Grace
F!!!!!!!!!!
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About the Host
Quote Archives
What I can't wait for:
1. Ys: I&II PSP SHOULDN'T TALES OF GRACES F BE
IN THIS SPOT?
2. Dragon Quest VI
3. Tactics Ogre
4. Disgaea 4
5. Radiant Historia
On my Playlist:
1. Resonance of Fate Soundtrack
2. The World Ends With You Soundtrack
3. Tales of Graces Soundtrack
Hot Topics:
1. Does Resonance of Fate deserve a sequel
(spiritual or otherwise)?
2. EA has gotten Bioware to pump out RPGs faster than they did in the
past. Is this due to increased resources, or are they are risk of
damaging
the output of the RPG machine?
3. Does the crazy complexity of the Armored Core series qualify any of
the games as RPGs?
4. If Secret of Mana on the iPhone is a success, will Square Enix
revisit the Mana series?
5. Should Camelot do a new SRPG franchise, since it's unlikely they'd
work with Sega again?
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