RPGamer - Letters for April 19, 2000

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Here's Ranma

Googleshng - April 19 '00- 1:30 Eastern Daylight Time

Well, not here. Technically the Ranma in question is on an obscure FTP site someone sent me a link to. Fan translated manga form. Starts right about where the official translation ends right now. Very distracting. That's not why the column's late though, and no I DIDN'T spend the whole night playing RE4. I spent the whole night doing bankish type stuff. Not fun. Anyway, tomorrow Dan Calderman will be guest hosting. He heads RPGamer's New Media section, and at one point owned every SNES RPG, not to say he remembers all of them. Anyway, the point is he plays most stuff, so ask whatever.

Like... stuff?

Ask Googleshng
and Dan

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Fan Googles

How do you pronounce...?

Listen

In the Dreamcast:

Resident Evil 4
Barry? Where's Barry?

Multiplarter

Just thought I'd send some questions, seeing that you complained most people were sending odds and ends not relating to gaming at all. Don't worry, none of that "What's your favorite rpg?, I need help with Front Mission 3, what's your gender again" kind of questions. a) Whatever happened to Nintendo's huge Super Mario RPG 2 project they were cooking up under wraps? Seems the whole thing fizzled out when Legend of Zelda made the world go ga-ga over link or something... So, heard anything about it? Was it killed?

Googleshng:
Fizzled out? I don't think so. They changed the title to Super Mario Adventure, and there hasn't been much else to say about it... weird looking game.

b) What is your own prediction, will the Final Fantasy Movie make this jaded rpg series go mainstream or what? If the cg in the movie is really THAT good, the whole media and your average American citizen is going to be commenting on this movie that "is light years away from toy story!" (Yes, I can just imagine those early morning news people commenting on the movie... yech) Whatever, will this be a good or a bad thing?

Googleshng:
FF7 already made the FFs go mainstream. You know that disgustingly large number of people whose first RPG was 7? Anyway, if more people get into RPGs, then RPG sales will go up, as will RPGamer's reader base, which would mean moremoney for Squaresoft, and for us for that matter, er, uh, it would give companies that much more incentive togive us games... yeah.

c) Will we ever live to see the day when Alanis Morissette will sing an RPG song? I dunno... it'd be cool wouldn't it? Imagine listening You ought know over the intro or something... seriously know, what famed performer would you not mind seeing including in an rpg? Faye Wong was the first step, what will see in the future, with videogames moving more and more into the mainstream?

Googleshng:
I've been noticing a trend towards more and more singing in RPGs. Some midi background vocals here, an untranslated song in the ending, a translated song in the ending, a song during the game itself... back when I first noticed this, I was ranting and raving about how before you know it we'll have Musical RPGs. Now here's Rhapsody, which I seem to recall being labelled just that. Creepy. Someone wake me up when we hit Opera please.

d) This is not so much of a question, but a statement. Remember when Nintendo planned to release the cd-rom unit for the Super Famicom and Square immediately went berserk over the format and began planning multiple projects? Yes? Well, these projects included Seiken Densetsu 2, Final Fantasy VI, and Chrono Trigger... as Nintendo pulled the plug on _that_ idea, all of these projects, which were intended to be created with huuuge stories were crammed down with high meg cartridges. So we got 16 meg secret of mana, and 24 meg final fantasy vi, (ever wonder why the World of Ruin feels kinda "empty" and limited compared to the first part of the game? that's right, no more space, and the project was thus limited. For Chrono Trigger we got 32 megs. (I'm not making this up people, this is all information from numerous gaming magazines from yesteryear). My point being, that Square MUST STILL HAVE MUCH OF THE OLD DEVELOPMENT LYING AROUND SOMEWHERE. Thus, they are being incredibly mean and callous by not releasing a truly reworked Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, al‡ Lunar! Consider also that Square also has numerous orchestral soundtracks which could _easily_ be incorporated into the psx, with some programming magic that they must have with all the armies they hired for their big projects. Whatever, what are you thinking Square? That we'll keep on pushing cash for half-baked projects?!
Phew, had to get _that_ off my chest. So, what do you think Google?

Well, that's all for now, thanks a lot for listening and reading this stuff.

AMH

Googleshng:
Uh, wrong. You have your dates mixed up quite a bit. There are no lost extra long versions of FF6, SoM OR CT floating around out there.

Strategy Guide Woes

Good day to you Google, In all actuality, it is not incorrect in the least that you can get items randomly from blowing up terrain. It can be done in real or even simulated combat. The items (at least the ones I've gotten) are just normal items, no fancy parts etc so forth. The requirement for you to get one though is you have to be using a capacity-type backpack and have enough room in it to hold said randomly determined item. So if its full, you won't know a thing. Also, the strategy guide does mention this very early on but says that its completely random so they will not cover anything about it. For what its worth,

Klanesh

Googleshng:
A whole bunch of people corrected me on this, but this is the only one I noticed that explains why I never found these things myself.

Map-tastic

Well, I know this subject is a little overdone. But...unlike everybody else, I'm not asking how to get through, or asking why they left such a huge glitchy place in the game. But...I have the answer to those two questions but I have no clue if anyone has actually done this before...so if somebody has, dub me stupid.

Anyway, I got bored and decided to make a full map of the submarine shrine. Y'know, the glitchy place where you get the Dual Blade. I basically did it by seing where Maxim bumped into, and recording the approximate image onto a piece of paper. Later on, I put it in MS paint format and converted it to a JPEG.

Oh. Anyways, I promised the explanation for the glitchiness. It was left in there intentionally. Why? To be really damned clever.

If you look at the paint file here...you can see it clearly. The dungeon is quite simply the hilt of a sword, and you find dual blade, ironically, where the blade of the sword would start. See? Natsume isn't totally stupid.

Anyways, this makes this dungeon very simple. You can run into the gray stuff. I had to approximate where the location of the Dual Blade is, because I ran into it before I could finish mapping. It automatically sent me out of the shrine. But I do know that you hafta go straight until you hit the Big Gray Rectangle and then turn right...and wander a bit. Just don't go back down. Hence, easy.

*Sigh* Anyways, thought I'd at least try to get this posted, and shed some light on this. If anyone else has figured this out already, spite me. I found this on my own time.

You can contact me at Sadres@home.com , so...tell me what you think.
Thankee.
-Sadres. "Hah! Take this! My BlastMaster!"

Googleshng:
Well, there ya go. I never got that far in Lufia 2 myself, the Ancient Cave is far too addictive.

FF8 Stuff

Hi,

I don't usually, er... ever, write but I felt like it today for some reason. Anyway, in reference to those FF8 questions on Monday, each character level does take 1000 exp. I've got everyone at level 100 and wouldn't you know that they all have 99000 exp. A note about Guardian Forces too - most take 500 exp per level, some take 350 and Eden takes 1000 per level (my only GF not at 100). It's kinda nice having a predictable level growth but it takes a bit of the fun out too. I miss characters like Rydia who take 2-5 times more exp to gain a level.

Anyway, as for Diablos, I also fought him as soon as I got the magic lamp. I died. But then I tried again because during my failed attempt I noticed something - Diablos casts Cure3 on you if you cast Demi on him! So I would draw Demi (usually only Squall succeeded) then cast it right back. The other 2 (Selphie and Zell for me) used Limits since Gravija can't kill (it's a % damage spell). The only problem with my strategy is that Diablos tends to attack just after Gravija... oh well, only one of them needs to survive. Boss monsters aren't worth exp. ^_^

Just thought I'd write to help whoever might find this helpful. Bye!

Googleshng:
That's very very odd about the EXP. Anyway, that's more on how to beat Diablos. Actually, since one of Selphie's limit spells is Full Life on your whole party, it REALLY helps to have her there.

I hate when people think I'm snubbing them.

Not only did you not post my letter, but you didn't even answer it! Why is that? You were complaining that you didn't have enough letters yesterday, so I send one in and you can't even so much as respond?

-Blaze

Googleshng:
Generally, when I grumble about having a lousy set of letters one day, I get a great haul the next. So, yesterday I hate about 100 letters, containing the 6 best that I printed, and probably a bunch more that under ideal circumstances I could reply to, but usually I never have time to do that since I'm literally dealing with 100 letters or more. Actually, my first day I personally replied to every single letter I got, and there were 122 of them that day. That took me pretty much all day to do though.

Weird Stuff

Deer google... (mhwa mhwa mhwa)
I have series of good (or-not-so-good) questions..!

1) Why everyone talks about Xenogears and no-one.. I mean NO-ONE has nothing' to say about Grandia? I played Xenogears about 25-30h and got seriously bored (even gears wont save my day)-> I started playing Grandia... I have played Grandia about 40h and I am not goin' to stop (because It's so good)!

2) Are those "slimes" of yours some distant relatives to THE slimes seen in Slayers or DragonHalf??

3) Yggdrasil (if I wrote it correctly)... What does it actually mean??

btw. Grandia has better music than any Rpg ever!

Webziz, king of my muskox regiment

Googleshng:
Letters just seem to cluster around games. I guess when people see letters about a game, it gets them thinking about it, so they ask questions about it. I've seen big Grandia hunks, but they were way back when it was a current game. I don't recall any slimes in Slayers per se, but the ones in Dragon Half are hilarious. As for the origins of the Yggdrasil, that's exactly why I made a page devoted to explaining the references to Norse Mythology in RPGs... then gave it to my cousin who also knows a ton about it, but neither of us have done much on it. Anyway, the Yggdrasil is the great big tree which everything is stuck onto. Everything meaning the world, the underworld, Valhalla, where all the dwarves and elves live, etc. For some reason, people like naming big space ships after it.

Quickies

Hey, I don't get it. Explain the moth picture to me!

- sorbie

Well, the game is called CODE: Veronica, and when Veronica was doing Q&A here, whenever someone said something she didn't like, she would reply with *THWAP!*.

What do you think about the animal/human characters in FF9? It seems like this is becoming somewhat of a trend in RPG's. Too bad. I hate them.

-break

Some FF9 characters look like Gelflings from The Dark Crystal. The setting looks a bit like Labrynth. Appearently Amano has been watching cool Jim Henson movies lately. Good for him!

You need a guy named zombie? Hire me then!

--Basico
...err I mean --Zombie

For those who missed the joke, I mentioned that there's a Veronica and a Hunter working here. I've never met someone who's actual first name is Zombie though. That would take some STRANGE parents.

Hi Googles

I was just wondering...what are your absolute FAVORITE games besides the usual RPG's? On any system.

edea40

I can only give you favorite games for particular genres, so that question is just too vague.

Dude, I didn't even know there was an RE*3*!!! What cave did I get stuck in??
-Physikus

The Ancient Cave in Lufia 2?

Missle silos behind the Great Wall!? Ancient Chinese Secret, indeed! ........Or maybe the secret is really just Google-chan's gender.......

-Rinoa the Resistance Fighter

What I've always wondered is why the barbarians just sat around while they were building it, I mean, it's not like this was a 1 day project...

I procliam this day, "Guy day."
Using some PSX tools, I captured and assembled this pic of Luna.
She's a hottie! Fellow men, rejoice!
Huzzah!

Cheshire Catalyst

Hmm... this one isn't particularly funny.

The Last Laugh:

It's not just me right? Nobody finds this particularly funny, right?

Oh well. Sorry again this is up so late. It takes me roughly 4 times as long to finish columns when I don't do them in the middle of the night. People are always trying to talk to me during the day.

Anyway, time is short, so hurry up and get those questions in for Dan.

Googleshng "Wasted Day" @rpgamer.com
Hey, now I can actually go read those Ranmas!


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