Beef: Is it just me or is Final Fantasy X Ð 2 one of those things where the customer isn't always right?

I mean, it kind of freaks me out when hordes of horny teenagers say 'ooooh, show us more leg, she's a digital hottie!' Kind of freaks me out.

I mean, go get a girlfriend, there's continuing the human race to think of, right?

Advice: It might just be me, but I hate shelling out money for games (hinthint). So why not just, like me, run down to Blockbuster and rent Kingdom Hearts. Play it for the three days it takes to beat it. If you're fanatical, spend the extra 4 days you'll have it to get the secret uber-special bonus ending where Aeris gets resurrected and they show sneak peaks for the upcoming FF7 port to GBA. I mean, it won't work for anything killer, like Wild Arms 3 might be a pain. But it's not like old Nintendo games where once you rented it, if you decided to buy it, you'd have to start over. That's what the memory card is for. Sometimes I'm so bright.

Praise: Hey, Wild Arms 3. Great game. I personally get a kick out of a game where the characters can pull off looking so cyberpunk in a game where they're, theoretically, having to dodge horse apples and singing kumbaya out on the firing range. What's with the cat with wings? Have I just not gotten to the plot point where they explain how he really doesn't make any sense after all? Definitely enjoying the 'let's not explain what anything does in the instruction manual, you have to figure it out yourself' part. But hey, it just makes the game that much more surprising (you know, like Woohoo! I just used a Lucky Card, and I get double experience for the 4000 exp. head-boss. What? This 'Amnesia' thing actually does something?'

Conclusion: Actually I don't have one.

Just to let you know, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is now the official name of Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). I'm not sure exactly why the name was changed, though. Therefore, if Cloud had DID (Which he really didn't in my opinion, though there was definately some sort of dissociative disorder there), then he would have also had MPD, because they are the same thing.

At least you didn't mistake Schizophrenia and DID.... if you're a psych person, that tends to drive you up a wall...

Kelly "3rd year Psych major, stick around and I'll start pulling out Frued" B.

Hey Goog, I have 2 questions for you: 1) I haven't come across a single difficult battle in Wild Arms 3 (I'm 10 hours in) and even if I did, I could use a Gimel Coin to restart the battle. Do you think it's too easy? Does it get any harder?

2) Will Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicle be good enough to warrant plunking down $150 to get a Gamecube?

-FFDreamer

Hi, MEGAHal,

First, Thor answered a letter last week about games needing more basics for rare items and unique battle systems. Anyway, when he mentioned hidden character development, did he refer to developing the skills and magic a hidden character has or how the hidden character could develop the storyline in such a way that a hidden endimg is revealed?

Second, what's up with the letter titles themed around Scooby-Doo recently?

Third, even though the side story for Rikku is scrapped, will she still be a playable character in FFX-2?

Fourth, are ARC THE LAD 4 and ARC THE LAD ONLINE two different titles or will they be consecutive sequels?

Fifth, who exactly is MEGAHal? That's a new name to me...

Sixth, has anyone seen Calvin and Hobbes Resurrection? It's a very cool website...

Finally, three clarifications...
#1. In FF7, Cloud gets a dose of Mako poisoning from the reactor in Nibelheim. Combine that with the traumatic experience he went through with Sephiroth at Nibelheim and fuzzy memories of his escape with Zack to Midgar from Nibelheim and you partially understand his insanity. Mako poisoning made him take Zack's memories as his own since he had macho pride and didn't want to embarass himself in front of Tifa as a mere guard and not as a Soldier. The Mako poisoning also messed with his mind creating a younger personality of himself that represented his true self seperate from his tortured personality created from his experiences from Nibelheim and Sephiroth.
This is the deal with Cloud. By the way, he beomes himself again after Tifa helps find the Cloud find his real self in the Lifestream.

#2. In LoD, you can either find Kongol's stone in two places. After Kongol joins your party in Disc 2, go back to that merchant town were Shana was unconscious in Disc 1 and you can buy it for a thousand coins. However, if you miss this, you still get it automatically in the game, at the end of Disc 4 after Kongol faces his trial in the final dungeon.

#3. In KH, you give that old book to Merlin in his house off Third District in Traverse Town. Use a Fire spell on that door with the Fire Emblem and you'll find him. Usually, when you are stuck in the game, you have to talk to Merlin or Cid to get things going.
Oh, by the way, opening Merlin's place reveals a hidden world you can go to through that magic book you give him. However, its pages are lost in Atlantica (Ariel's grotto), Haloween Town (Lab's shelves), Traverse Town (via the Dalmatian's side quest), Agrabah (lower water level in Cave of Wonders), and Monstro (high platform in Area 6). :-)

That is all, and goodnight.

Signed, Huge Dreamer

I'd like to note out that it took forever for chrono trigger(snes) to get a sequeal yet it took only a short amount of time for final fantasy 4(snes) to get a sequel. Why?? Chrono Trigger easily had the best graphics, and I know final fantasy 4 was better, but why?? Did Square focus on Final Fantasy too much?? Or is it some other reason?? Thanx Goog.

Hey hey!

First, your end quote is from the episode "Tick vs. Thrakkorzog." And you know what makes me special? I have all of the Tick action figures except for two. High-school student + too much money = $30 plastic cow.

Second, about something that was said yesterday...

"...I'd say that Cloud suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and a bad case of multiple personality disorder."

Speaking as a psychology major (albeit a sophomore one), I can tell you that paranoid schizophrenia (best attributed to those kooks who think the CIA and the martians are out for their blood) has nothing to do with it, nor does multiple personality disorder (these days called Dissociative Identity Disorder).

It sounds similar to Dissociative Fugue, where someone will suddenly get up and move away and start a new life somewhere, completely oblivious to their former life, live this out for a few years, make friends, get a job, gain success, and then lapse back into the old life with no idea what has happened to the last however many years of their life.

...I guess that isn't dead-on either, but I find the similarity interesting.

I guess you'd call it regular old schizophrenia with delusions of grandeur.

Rant rant rant.

-Matt

• Insanity

• Reason