Wheels Returns
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| December 1st, 2010 |
12/01 - 12:00PM EST
I return! I hope you all had a good holiday (those in the US
anyway). I also hope you enjoyed the surprise Q&A. I put out the
offer to have some readers write some stuff for when I was away, and,
well, Mr. Beat went the extra mile. Anyway, I was iffy about giving up
some of your questions for the sake of comedy, so I'll be answering the
same questions this week. Anyway, let's jump right into the swing of
things.
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Well, in the couple weeks since I last wrote, Persona 2 has indeed been
confirmed for the PSP. Well, Innocent
Sin has. And there
should hopefully be no chance of us missing out on it So I now
turn my attention to the Mana series,
and
will address your Hot Topic
#1.
Wheels
Well I don't want to say it's 100% confirmed, but given recent history
things certainly look quite good. Hopefully we'll hear something soon.
We've already got confirmation of Radiant
Historia at least!
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...unfortunately, it's not the kind of response fans of the series
would want to hear. I think Square-Enix should just give up on
the series. It's obvious by now that they're utterly failing at
capturing what was awesome about Secret
of
Mana and Seiken Densetsu
3. I even liked Legend
of Mana, but even I know an utterly Guide
Dang It game when I see it. I don't even think another 2-D
installment would save the series. Besides, Square is trying to
juggle too many other successful games to have room for any more Mana
games. They've got upcoming Kingdom
Hearts
games, overdue Final
Fantasy games, there's a Dragon
Quest
X supposedly in development (and
I wish they'd tell us more already), and even another Parasite Eve
game. They also do random games for no reason other than because
they feel like it (like The World
Ends With You, for instance), so I
don't think they would have time to release another Mana game, let
alone spare a development team to make it.
Wheels
I disagree, to an extent. I certainly don't think they should put a lot
of resources into it. However, why not make a new game in the series as
a downloadable game, or as a 2D DS or PSP game even. I know they did
something like that with Children of
Mana, but that's not exactly what series fans are looking for.
I'd say do a nice remake of Secret
of Mana for DS/PSP or as a downloadable game and go from there.
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I think when they came up with the World
of
Mana a few years ago, they
were doing too much at once. If they came up with a one time
idea, had the urge to make a Mana
game and actually had some good ideas
behind it, then they should go ahead with it. But as it is, it
feels like they're trying to force it.
And to address the second Hot Topic, they also have the SaGa series.
But after Unlimited SaGa, it
doesn't seem like they have any interest
in making new SaGa
games. Should they? As I said about the Mana series,
only if there are good ideas behind it. Should they
remake the older titles? Well, it'll be convenient for people
like me who missed out on them the first time around. I shouldn't
be selfish, though. Like I said, they've already got their hands
full with other stuff to worry about the whims of a guy like me.
(Although it's
probably coincidence, I will happily claim that Atlas does listen to
me. Hey Atlas, could you convince Nintendo to let you
translate Mother 3 for them,
please?)
Wheels
I don't think the issue with World
of Mana was doing too much at once, I think the issue was not
making anything that played at all like the best games in the series. I
don't understand how making a bunch of games from different genres was
supposed to get people interested in the Mana series again. They captured
the art style, and that's it. I think some fresh talent on the series
could do it some good.
I'm not sure why they haven't done a new SaGa game in awhile. I don't think
it means anything, probably just seemed like a good idea to remake SaGa 2 given the success of the Final Fantasy DS remakes, which
then led to the remake of SaGa 3
after its success. Of course the game prior to that, Romancing SaGa for the PS2 was also
a remake, but I don't think one necessarily led to the other. Anyway,
I'm not sure what the future of the series will hold. SaGa 3 at least looks to be vastly
changed from the original.
Mother 3?
We got a great fan translation! Come on!
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Garrison wrote in a couple weeks ago asking after Nier and wondering if
it was any good. Garrison: Nier
is going to be weird, but it
should be worth it if you like playing the video game version of that
person who is always a constant downer (you know the kind I'm talking
about). And trust me, there'll be more downs than ups.
Especially if you play the New Game + mode. But the game is
amazing and the music is fantastic. I even wrote a review of it
for a blog I contribute to, and it was a very favorable review.
Also, Garrison, if you like games where you start out with a modest
amount of HP, you could pick up the new Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes Of
Light game. I had to level up around 20 or so times in
order to
reach 100HP with any of my characters. And yet you'll have more
than enough HP to deal with most threats, as long as you're properly
prepared.
Wheels
Yes, as I've found out, Nier
is an amazing game. I don't understand why it got hated on so
much. Unique would be the best way to describe it. I don't even
want to describe the game in too much depth. It's one of those "just
play it" types of games. It's a shame the developer got split up.
As you readers know, I will vouch for 4
Heroes of Light till the cows come home.
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Wheels, has there ever been a game in a series that you've played and
you thought to yourself that it was a disappointing game, and you knew
you would've liked it better if it hadn't been released under the
banner of that series? They wouldn't even need to change
anything, just call it something else and it'd automatically be better.
Also, what's the quickest you ever finished a game?
-CW
Wheels
I can't think of an example like that, but certainly the opposite has
happened to me. The charm of a great series can do a lot to spruce up a
mediocre game. Anyway, write in again!
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Wheels, what's up dude?
Wheels
Not much, I have escaped from my
kidnapping.
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So first off I have to say that Square Enix is not losing its
touch. I think that people are just getting older, and they look
back on the games of their childhood from Squaresoft, and Enix, and
they get warm hearts of the memories of a care free life playing
videogames, eating cookies and drinking milk, whilst having no thoughts
of paying bills, going to college, or finding a lover that's
real. That's what I think is going on. They still put out
great games, albeit there is a huge lack of them on main consoles
because of the cost and it seems that handhelds are where the money is
because those games are cheaper to make, and they can replicate more of
an oldschool feel on handhelds. And they put out more games in
general, so naturally every single one of them isn't going to be
gold. Hey... did you ever play
3D World Runner?
Wheels
3D World
Runner? I don't think so.
That's certainly part of it. More to the point, we really only got the
best Squaresoft games back in the day. So when we get a game that isn't
absolute brilliance, we automatically think that the developer is on
the decline. I can tell you that we missed out on a ton of Squaresoft
(and Enix) games and many of them weren't very good, or at least not
brilliant. We simply get a much larger percentage of their catalog now,
and not all of it is going to be perfect. No large publisher puts out
all quality titles, and we shouldn't hold Square-Enix to a different
standard.
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But I do have a problem lately. Some events in my life have
really pushed me forward into progressing my life. My thoughts
still turn to video games a lot of the time, and how I do love them so,
the characters, the companies that make them, the stories, the art, the
graphics. But it seems that whenever I do have free time to play
a game, I sit down and it seems like I'm wasting time, or wasting my
life away playing video games. There is no life progression
playing video games, and my younger self would argue that video games
produce the same mental benefits that books do, but now I just don't
see that as the case because there are considerably more people that
you can talk to and relate to about books, and I find that books
increase mental dexterity and the spoken word much more than video
games do. But video games are the love of my life, and I hope to
get over this, some how, some way. Have you ever felt like
this? Any advice? Because my backlog is only getting bigger.
Wheels
I feel that way too, just not playing video games. I feel that way
watching TV. Feels like an absolute waste of my time, which is why I
now often play portable games or surf the web while watching TV.
Anyway, video games are as worthwhile a leisure activity as anything.
You shouldn't feel guilty enjoying them. Just enjoy them. Especially if
it's Kawazu related....
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So I still am playing games, just not to the extent that I would like
to. But I try to limit myself to one game at a time per console.
Right now I'm playing Robotrek
on the SNES. Ever played it?
It's a decent game, not the greatest I know, but I love the town theme
song in that game, it is just so...classic! Plus it's Quintet, I
heart Quintet! And it's something moderately fresh.
On my PS3 I'm playing Breath of Fire
IV. Been in my backlog for
sometime now, and I'm about 32:00 hours into it. I think the
first part of the game is a little better than the second half so far,
but I absolutely love the graphical style in that game and the camera
angles they use for some of the scenes. The sprites are really
well done for the most part, and the music is pretty good as
well. But still, I think I have enjoyed Breath of Fire III
a little better. I think as far as that series goes, the first
and the third are my favorites. The first one just has so many
classic elements to it, and I love having 3 characters follow your
leader around, totally old school. I think that may be a key
reason why I like Final Fantasy VIII
so much...well, there is more to
it than that, but that's for another letter. So what do you think of BoF? I
have always liked the series, seems highly anime, and
artistic, plus I love the classic use of dragons in an RPG.
Wheels
Never played Robotrek, but I
did enjoy the Quintet classics Soul
Blazer and Illusion of Gaia.
Breath of
Fire IV is the only game in that series I haven't played yet.
The third game is a lot of fun though, good classic style console RPG.
I think the best game in the series has to be Dragon Quarter. Just a totally
unique and challenging game. Good series, but I don't think it's a huge
loss not to have it around at the moment.
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My Wii I'm playing through Little
King's Story. I haven't Wii'd
much lately, and I haven't Wii'd standing up for a long time!
:) But it really does demand more time from me, since I still
think that, as far as gameplay goes, the Wii offers the most. I
wanna check out Arc Rise Fantasia
and Fragile. Those two
games
have definitely caught my eye. Also A Boy and His Blob!!
Seriously! And so many more, the list goes on and on. Nintendo
really is where it's at for oldschool gamers still I think. The
Wii gets a lot of flack from new schoolers and old schoolers alike, but
this oldschooler thinks the Wii is more hardcore than anything else out
there, aside from the DS, but I'm just not much of a handholder. Little King's Story
is great though. Have you played any of
it? I can't remember correctly, but I recall you saying you
hadn't. And I definitely recommend it to any RPGamer out there.
Wheels
I have played it, and it just wasn't my thing. I can't really get into
RTS type games at all.
The Wii certainly has a lot of classic games, but let's not put Arc Rise Fantasia in that list
please! As far as RPG goes, I really hope Nintendo will bring over the
two best looking RPGs on the system, Last
Story and Xenoblade.
Given the success the Tales of
Symphonia had on the Wii, I'm really surprised more RPGs haven't
shown up for the system.
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Dude I have such a backlog, I blame college and the gym. But
seriously, I've got Persona 4, Rogue
Galaxy, Bahamut Lagoon, Suikoden
V, FES, Front Mission 3, 4, Valkyrie Profile 2, Resonance of Fate, Star
Ocean 3, Sakura Wars. I'm seriously looking forward to
retirement. Thanks for your help on the question front.
Also, when people just use letters for the game they are referring to
like LoZ:OoT. I think
they should state the actual game's title
in the letter before the just use letters. The last column
someone just said PRAA:NOTSPRD
or something like that, and I had no
idea what game he or she was referencing. Just a thought.
WarmCoat
Wheels
That's a nice backlog right there. I'd move Resonance of Fate way up that list.
Take Star Ocean 3 off there
though, please. That game made me hate Tri-Ace for about 5 years, until
Resonance of
Fate healed the wound. It's just such a goofy and strange game
with some brilliant battle mechanics. It is without a doubt, the game
that has surprised me the most this year.
Game abreviations should always come after saying the full title of the
game, which I probably haven't even done. I shall try to fill in full
game titles when posting letters when I need to!
Keep gaming! Look forward to hearing from you again.
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Hello Wheels,
I am an RPG gamer since 1991's FFIV,
and
whenever you ask me of a
stereotypical hero I think of Cecil or Lunar's Alex. That said, I am
very interested in traditional RPGs. Sadly, the last RPG that I really
enjoyed was Dragon Quest VIII.
What
is you take on this game?
Wheels
I love Dragon Quest VIII, but that game
just got too slow for me at times. I didn't like the character
progression system that much either. Dragon Quest IX on the other hand,
gets just about everything right, from pace, to character development,
etc. Both great games, but I'll stick to the sequel.
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My favorite games are Xenogears,
FFVI, and DQVIII, and I do not think that
will change very soon. I did not even like DQIX. Why can't RPGs be like they
were in the 90's? I love menu based combat, controlling every member of
your party, every character having a background story, great music,
etc. Exactly the things that made Chrono
Trigger
shine.
Wheels
How is Dragon Quest IX not like games from
the 90s? You've really lost me there. There's plenty of games like that
though, such as 4 Heroes of Light,
Etrian Odyssey
(yes there were great first person dungeon crawls in the 90s), Nostalgia, etc. Most of these
types of games are on portables, but still, they're there.
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What is so difficult about making FFTactics
2? (I consider the portable ones a joke) Or continuing the Breath of Fire series? Legend of Dragoon 2? At the very
least, a Xenogears remake!
Those were the games I really enjoyed. Do you recommend a game for the
current generation of consoles that could be a successor?
Wheels
As far as Final Fantasy Tactics goes, they
already made two sequels, I'm guessing you didn't care for those
though. Regardless, sequels were made, and I would wager more will come
after the success of War of the Lions
on PSP.
The Breath of Fire series
stopped selling, so I don't see why Capcom would make any attempt to
revive the series. Dragon Quarter
was a brilliant game, and no one bought it. So yes, it is that
difficult to make a new Breath of
Fire game sadly.
Wasn't Legend of Dragoon
terrible? Anyway, I don't think it ever did enough sales wise to
warrant a sequel. Maybe a PSN re-release.
I hated Xenogears, but I hope
you get your remake at some point! You already got spiritual successors
to that in the form of the Xenosaga
series though.
I recommend the Golden Sun
games, along with Nostalgia,
I think these will scratch that itch for some classically styled
RPGs!
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Anyway, take care and great column you have here, keep it up!
Rocker-otaku-gamer
Wheels
Thanks! Look forward to hearing from you again! |
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That is all for this week. Little shorter column this week to give me a
chance to get back in the swing of things. I played a lot of Resonance of Fate during the
holiday break, and would love to hear your thoughts about the game.
Also, since the year is nearing it's end, let's start talking RPG of
the year!
See you all next week!
-Wheels
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November 3rd: Wheels
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November 26th: Beat
Links
About the Host
Quote Archives
What I can't wait for:
1. Ys: I&II PSP
2. Tales of Graces F
3. SaGa 3 DS
4. Disgaea 4
5. Cthulhu Saves the World
On my Playlist:
1. Resonance of Fate Soundtrack
2. FOOTBALL
3. Nier's disturbing soundtrack
Hot Topics:
1. Will Z.H.P. convert more people to liking
roguelikes?
2. Who should make the next Fallout game?
3. JRPGs currently are more creative than WRPGs. Discuss.
4. What do you think the difference between Dragon Age 2 on PC and
Consoles will be?
5. Does 4 Heroes of Light deserve a sequal (hint: the answer is yes)?
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