Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out why exactly Nintendo made the decision to region lock the 3DS. There doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason behind it, especially considering their previous portable consoles had been region free as far back as the Game Boy. Of course, after DSi specific games were region locked on DSis we should have seen this coming. I can picture importing or piracy really having a huge impact on the decision to region lock. Whatever the reason, it certainly isn't helping us customers. Sadly this is unlikely to change, so we'll just have to hope Atlus and XSEED expand to Europe!

I like that they focused with a mostly straightforward plot. It let them expand on the characters involved and create a lot of personal investment for the player. You care about the result of the story, because you like these characters. What's also nice is the end has a finality to it. You get the general idea of where the characters are going post-game, and there's no need for a sequel because there's really nothing to wrap up. Too many games in the series have plots too convoluted to fit into one game.

Final Fantasy VI is really the only game in the series to provide you with a large cast and make good use of it all around. Each character has unique abilities so there's plenty of reason to try them all and mix and match parties. They can also all be customized using Espers to set what magic they have, so you get to personalize them a bit too (unless you're crazy and get every spell on every character). The secret characters aren't used much as far as plot goes, but still provide some unique additions to the party.

I still think this is the best soundtrack in the series. Though you could make the case successfully that certain other soundtracks have tracks that are better than anything on Final Fantasy VI's, as an overall soundtrack it is unmatched in its cohesion and high average of quality. Dancing Mad has few rivals as far as final boss tracks go.

Kefka is perhaps the best example of a completely insane villain in all of RPGs. The way that things go completely to hell in the middle of the game is astounding the first time you play it, as I can't think of a game before it where the heroes utterly fail to stop something like that. One of my favorite parts in the game is before the last boss fight, when Kefa shows his utter disdain for humanity by randomly destroying parts of the world for no reason other than his own amusement. There's no ridiculous monologue trying to tear apart the heroes' ideologies, just complete and utter madness.

I love the idea of secret characters. It harkens back to the old days when hunting down secrets was practically a hobby separate from gaming. Sadly the internet and guides and FAQs seem to have put an end to that. Still, optional characters are would be nice. With more of a switch towards in-engine custscenes these days it would make it easier for developers to include them!

I loved this too. So many little optional touches you can discover. My favorite would be Shadow's dream sequences, which I can't even remember how to access. This reminds me that they actually let you leave the floating continent early and let Shadow die (you monsters). More RPGs need the possibility of main characters kicking the bucket based on your actions. This is why games like the Devil Survivor series are so great!

By all accounts an Opera with weird computerized voices should have been terrible, but instead the whole scene was amazing.

The second half of the game is just great. Heck you don't even have to reassemble the entire party to take on Kefka, you can do it pretty much as soon as you have an airship. Of course unless you want to just grind for countless hours you'll have to do some of the content, but the freedom to just explore and find your lost companions was great. Makes the final battle and ending that much sweeter.

Yeah we could spend hours praising this game and not touch everything that makes it special. I'd love a nice remake of some kind, perhaps even just something like the Final Fantasy IV PSP collection with nicer sprites. More people need to play this game, as not enough have!

RIGHT NOW

Clearly it's just a peperoni. You need to more care the next time you eat pizza!

Well I'm quite excited for the Obsidian kickstarter. I've always enjoyed their stories, and as Dungeon Siege III showed they can make a technically solid title when using their own engine. We'll have to see how things turn out, but I think with a less graphically intensive engine that lets them focus on what they do best, we could end up seeing something quite special!

...wait we're talking about different things aren't we?

If you mean that Quest for Infamy kickstarter for a Quest for Glory type game I am very excited! The world needs more Quest for Glory.

(Editor's note: he's actually talking about this)