It has been way too long!

I never played the Super Famicom version of Ys IV, but the PC Engine version is a rocking good time, so perhaps you can give that a try at some point. As for the re-imagining, it's fantastic and nice to finally have in English. With a recent translation patch made available for Ys V, the whole series is finally available to enjoy in English!

I forget which SMT games you have played, but it sounds like you need more Persona 3 and 4 in your life. These games are fantastic and the news of getting more related to them is news we should all be excited for. Go play Persona 4! It will not mirror your Devil Survivor 2 experience.

Well, it's probably best to ignore the BACON-storm that is anything related to Final Fantasy XIII. All I can say is that I hope it isn't as deeply dissappointing as Final Fantasy XIII-2 was for me.

Yeah I really know nothing about One Piece other than the fact it is an anime and somehow involves pirates. I have heard good things but I've never watched. If the game is good I'll probably give it a try regardless.

Oh the horrors of Idea Factory! Given this is the whole idea behind the game, I'm not sure how they could not get something as simple as aging correct. Is the whole idea nothing but a gimmick for the seadier part of the whole gimmick?

Absolutely not? Strange that it never comes up again. Shouldn't that be what everything revolves around? The struggle of the decendants to deal with the task that has passed down to them? What a marvelous idea that wasn't used at all.

What, surely the developer of Mugen Souls is a master of creating compelling gameplay?

Well that sounds like an abomination.

No stop, please stop you're giving me flashbacks to Cross Edge.

Well that certainly sounds like Idea Factory. With so many technical issues in 2D games it's a marvel they were even able to make Mugen Souls. Since this developer is apparently around to stay I can only hope that someday they make better games. Actually better wouldn't even cut it, then we'd just be at mediocre wouldn't we?

I wonder if the game has just injured your brain because what little I've heard of its soundtrack made me want to destroy whatever speakers happened to be playing it.

I think you now can truly understand my post Mugen Souls state of mind. Thankfully that game was a bit shorter. I recommend deleting promptly and playing... well anything else. Perhaps ponder a world where Neverland goes under but Idea Factory remains. Perhaps someday they'll hire better dev teams and we'll be spared further horror. The upcoming roguelike from them almost looks to be from a different developer.

So, can we sign you up to review Mugen Souls Z?

For the most part, shock. I couldn't even make any joke about their involvement with Shining Force Neo. I've only just finally gotten into a Rune Factory (I've previously had fun with them but never got too deep in any of the games), so to see this news was incredibly disheartening. I hope all the developers land on their feet, hopefully developing more Rune Factory games for Marvelous somehow. The series still has too much potential for it to end now! I'll see if I can get Gaijin and Nyx's thoughts into the column next week.

Not very often, if at all. PS2 classics have gone on sale but at the moment I can't think of a PS1 classic on sale. There were several PS Plus freebies and/or sales but that could be it. With compatability on three platforms it'd be cool if those could show up on sale more often.

How about The Legend of Zelda: Ravio the Squatter?

I guess because he's supposed to be relatively young in all the games? Could just be a genetic trait where they don't get facial hair until late. I believe most of the Links are supposed to be from the same bloodline or something right? Of course we've also had a few kid Links. Sounds like we're overdue for grizzled old bearded Link in a future Zelda game.

The casts of Final Fantasy VI, Persona 4, Disgaea 3, and Shining Force 2.

I'm not going to go count at the moment but I believe that would be the DS. There were so many decent to great RPGs and other games on the system that I quickly aquired a large collection, including several imports. I think second place would actually be the PS3. With the PS2 game collections replacing some of my old games, a ton of RPGs, several action games, and some cool platformers there's a ton to get on the system. I actually probably have too many and may give away a few on Q&A. Add in free games from PS Plus and there is a ton for me to play on that system. As for third place? Probably the PS2, almost all RPGs.

I really just go for funny cards if I get cards at all. I'm terrible at writing stuff in cards. It's not that I'm not sentamental or anything, I can just never think of anything that sounds right. So I usually go for a short "Merry Christmas" and let the funny card do all the work.

I don't think I could choose anyone other than Sonic the Hedgehog. The can would be blue. The flavor would somehow give a hint of chili dogs! The can would just have the classic style sonic doing his finger wag.

As long as I don't have to sport one, I say live and let mullet.

For me, what I want is games that feel the right length. I don't mind a 8-10 hour Zelda game if it fits that particular Zelda game well just like I'm fine with a Dragon Quest that goes 100 hours if it fits the story and gameplay. I've played way too many games that are either way too stretched out or way too compressed. Pacing is insanely important!

That said, I think wanting all your games to fit a certain range is very misguided. For starters, if you have less time to play wouldn't a longer game just mean you have to stretch it out for a longer period of time instead of switching games, and thus would save some money buy not having to buy something else for a while? Developers need some creative freedom and should never have to worry about some magic 8-10 hour range.

On the flip side, I think it is also silly to dismiss a shorter entry in a series you generally want a longer experience with. Dragon Quest has some varying length games and in most cases the length fits each game pretty well. Just worry about pace not length developers dang it!

Not really? Thought they ditched their unpopular online pass program (which other companies do and people seem to ignore), they've still done some annoying stuff of late, like literally repackaging last year's version of Fifa on some platforms and putting it out there as something new. Still, they're often hardly the worst offender out there (Hi yearly Assassin's Creed and the rotting corpse of Call of Duty), so I'm not sure how they can ever dig their way out of the bad image. They have to try, especially if it's hurting sales.

I think they can, but the question may be at what cost? There seems to be a lot less new in the realm of AAA games, and much more playing it safe. I can't see how that won't continue with new consoles that I can't see selling as well as the 360/PS3/Wii. Sure there will be more Indy titles for more variety, but that's not enough. Perhaps the fact that everything except the Wii U will be on Intel based hardware may help. We shall see! There's clearly still a large market for video game systems at least, so if this generation have issues hopefully companies will learn form it, because enough gamers are there clearly to keep a healthy market.