This column looks to be just chock full of FM3 questions, yipee! I hope I get this finished tonight because I have to go somewhere tmorrow morning. Anyway, that about covers everything, so let's get on with it. Oh crud, it's 2. Oh well, I'll have to do it in the morning.

(10 hours later) OK, now let's get going!

Googleshng:
Hmm... everyone I've ever talked to on the matter complained about games which don't have any optional side quests. It's strange to find someone who actually dislikes them. Anyway, there are no RPGs that reward you for rushing through. Actually I guess maybe you could make a case for Vandal Hearts because if you do all the stuff to get a Vandalier, the last couple fights are just disgustingly pathetic. As for CT, if you're going through the Black Omen to get to Lavos, you're not rushing. You can go fight Lavos pretty much whenever just by going to 1999. Now then, if you want games with good plots but no optional side stuff, you're going to like Game Arts. Go find Lunar and Grandia. 8) Heck, actually if you're just after good plots, there's a number of anime series and books I could recommend. For starters, Escaflowne, Slayers, the Chronicles of Amber and Ender's Game. 8)

Googleshng:
OK, first you seem to have a few misconceptions on the issue. The reason you couldn't have an argument a few years ago over games being subtitled is that they didn't have digitized speech in any practical sense, not because there were so few RPGs. Plus nobody is really complaining, just wanting a little more choice (well, the deaf person when this first came up was complaining). Also, it wouldn't cost the game companies any money at all to make dubbed and subbed versions of games if they chose to. They'd make the exact same number of games, just that a certain percentage would be subtitled. Actually, subtitling would be cheaper than dubbing, because all you need is the script and a way to display text on the screen, and if you can show me an RPG that can't do THAT I'll be impressed. With dubbing you have to hire english speaking voice actors... which I suppose you'd still have to do if you released both versions, but still, no extra cost from subbing. Finally, there WOULD be a noticable profit from this, because, while the average person would never buy two copies of the same game, there are some people out there who would.

Googleshng:
First of all, I don't see why you need that much money, there's always the simulator. Anyway, here's everything you ever wanted to know about comandeering wanzers. There's 3 ways to do it. 1) Get a Forced Ejection by pure luck. 2) Kill the pilot through Pilot Damage skills. 3) Make the pilot surrender. Killing the pilot doesn't need any additional instruction I hope. As for how to make them surrender, it's a simple matter of making them scared. The number of things that factor into this actually reminds me a bit of Pokémon. Some fights have weird little tricks that make everything surrender (killing the cliff mounted rocket launchers in one level comes to mind). Mainly though, the trick is to reduce the HP of their main body enough that 1 hit would finish the job. Blowing limbs off also helps. This by the way means that the shotgun is the weapon of choice for forcing surrenders. Once it says "surrender" and a flashing white flag appears, that wanzer will make moral checks every turn which may result in it fully surrendering, recovering, or, most likely, staying in moral checking mode. If you don't like waiting, any attack targeting the white flagged wanzer that doesn't kill it will make it surrender all the way immediately. For this I recommend either getting out of your wanzer and shooting it for almost no damage, or using a grenade launcher because you'll probably miss. One final note, which is most handy with the forced ejection method, you can have a pilot eject dirrectly from one wanzer/vehicle into another in a single turn.

Googleshng:
Yes missles rule, but not so much once you start finding flame redardant armor on everything you fight. Anyway, I won't tell you that saying ye to Ryogo at the very beginning is what puts you on the Emma scenerio, but can I tell everyone else? I think they deserve to know. Actually, I have yet to talk to anyone who didn't wind up on the Emma scenerio, but don't complain, it's a good scenerio! 8) Oh and for the record, you've had 2 other choices. Whether to take the path or the main route into that base, and where to go right after the dam fight. 8)

Googleshng:
Well, the only TRPGs I can think of that really have towns of the variety you can walk around in are the Shining Force games. Front Mission 3 does have plenty of times, epecially later in the game, where you have a map of the city you're in (this is set in the real world after all) on which you can select various places, bars shops, important people's houses, go in, and have various random people you can talk to and get weird little hints and atmosphere from. You don't actually do the walking bit, but that's all you don't get to do. Good enough for you? Besides, there's also the network.

Googleshng:
Wait, no healers? How is that possible? Even if you make them both ninjas (or are they called something else?) you get a LITTLE healing. Anyway, there's always items you know. Healing is definately the way to beat that fight. It takes half his MP, so he can only cast it twice... unless his MP regenerates, which it might, been a while, even so, he can't cast it every round, so just heal up whenever he does while rushing forward. 8)

1.) Is there any way to target a specific enemy body part?
2.) Why do flamethrowers suck? They should rock!

Edmond"Flying FAt" Honda

Oh, Quasi-Blasphemous Google, whose Beauty is so Radiant, 8)
Where is Paws? I already checked my pockets... 8(
--Toby,...the real one.

Wanzer = Panzer + Walking?
Yes/No?
-Matt

Dear Goggleshwing,

I know who you are! Since it's so hard to figure out your gender, you must be either Ramza, the girliest guy ever, or Adel, the manliest lady ever. I'm right, aren't I?

Peter "This here's United States, not California" Williams

I'm broke.Totally broke.If only I wasn't so broke right now.I need cash...What's that FM3 doing there than?

I take it Front Mission 3 is worth every penny you paid for it?

edea40

I played that mp3 from your colum yesterday...and I had a nightmare featuring that little clip. thanks a whole lot, from the bottom of my heart.
-Kamui
PS: Shiva is like a pile of poopies compared to Quetzacotl. I love birds. =D

The Last Laugh: