Matt Demers - 22:45 EST

I'M ALIVE, if you can believe it! It's been eleven days since I last showed my ugly mug around here, but it feels more like three from my end; my time at home always manages to fly by at slightly faster than the speed of sound, or so it seems. What did I do? Not a whole lot! I concentrated my efforts towards Fire Emblem and Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, the latter of which I managed to finish off by Thursday, reducing my backlog by one. Next up would be Radiata Stories, I suppose!

Despite the fact that my vacation flew by, and that I've got to get into the habit of doing some work now and then for my ever-plodding-along Master's Degree, I am glad to be back in Guelph and I'm ready to tackle your answers and questions with renewed vigour! We've got a lot of exciting things happening here-- I hope to have my first full co-host step in to take my place later this week if possible-- and I have a lot of free stuff just waiting to be given away in the never-ending SOCK.

By the way, I'd like to thank Ouro and Roku for filling in my shoes while I was absent; it's much appreciated.

Question time, anybody? I think so. Let's begin!

A lot of RPG-type news was in the latest Famitsu; but the most important bits were an announcement of a port of Riviera to the PSP (Weird) and the revelation of two new jobs for Final Fantasy V Advance: Gladiator and-get this-Demolition Expert. Weirder. One could only wonder what kind of wacky abilities these jobs could have, or what ancient hero was a Demo man.

--

Alexander M. DeMichiei

I think that just about everyone was surprised by the announcement that Riviera is to be ported to the PSP. Not only is this great news for the somewhat-starving-but-not-really PSP RPGamers out there, there are supposedly some new yummies included as well, such as more voice acting and a larger number of background backdrops, of which there were relatively few in the GBA version.

And Demolition Expert?!? I did hear about this recently, and I'm really excited about it. Perhaps it will be a Cid-like job class that equips hammers and can use bombs like the ones found in Final Fantasy IV? I'm really excited about the remake of Final Fantasy V, and let me tell you that while the rest of the world is drooling over their shiny new Playstation 3s, I'll be busy exploring worlds by asteroid on the good ol' GBA.

Thanks, Alexander!

Hey Matt!

I have to agree with you about the party balance in Final Fantasy IV. For almost the entire game, everyone does seem to move in and out of the party very naturally. However, I never felt like Edge really fit in that well. It's been a long (long, long) time since I played the game, but Edge always sort of felt tossed in at the end of it. He is a convenient character, I love the throw (or is it dart in that one?) command, so handy in boss battles. Especially with the Excalibur and the duplication trick. However, Edge is example A from the discussion a few weeks ago about not needed to introduce all the characters early in the game.

Anyway, enjoy your trip, or if you've left already and are now back, I hope you enjoyed your trip. My four days for family reunion were a nice recharge, even with two of those days being travel days (and squeezing a 6'7" frame in a stupid airplane seat), so a week should be a ton of fun for you.

284) D. The second Z
285) B. Shin Megami Tensei

Thanks!

BigWook

Thanks! It was good, but I felt like a lazy slug for most of it, and thus, I'm more or less glad to be back so that I can get into a better routine.

As for airplanes, I find it difficult to manage in airplanes, and I'm only six feet even! My knees inevitably end up getting pressed into the seat in front of me, so I spend the bulk of the time squirming around trying to find a position that gives me something resembling comfort. I can't imagine the acrobatics you must be forced to perform!

Thanks, BigWook! Prepare yourself: This column is yours someday soon!

Yo, Mr. Slime...

Now that you're back from vacation, that puts me in mind of something: when you are an RPG player, and have a schedule that comes out of real life (such as school, but ESPECIALLY a job), how do you plan your RPG playing time? Do you, as I do, reduce your time doing certain daily time-wasters in the weekday evenings (such as lazing online)? Do intense play on Friday and weekend nights? Do you find your enjoyment at all spoiled by the time you are forced to spend away from it, not to mention the times you are forced to stop and save when you'd rather not (like at a key plot point)?

Heh heh heh, interesting questions.

I'd have to say that between working here and working on academic activities (coursework, thesis writing, programming, TAing, what have you), I don't really get a lot of time to play in the first place. Generally, I don't play at all anymore during the week unless I decide to go to bed early; then I'll try to get in some handheld playtime. The bulk of my time playing occurs on Friday evenings, Saturday afternoons, or Sunday afternoons, unless I have plans to meet friends or do other things.

You're absolutely right in that it does pose a bit of a problem for some games. It has occurred in the past where I won't be able to remember all of the plot details or names very clearly, and it sometimes takes me fifteen or thirty minutes to get "back into the groove" as far as the battle system is concerned. It's a sacrifice that I don't really have a choice but to make, though, to be honest. Of course I'd enjoy the game more if I had the ability to play it when I want to play it, but I'll take what I can get!

A couple of people have mentioned this already, but I believe that that's the reason that I've let the SOCK sprawl out into something so massive. It's become almost my RPG-substitute during the week, and it gives me a chance to let my creative juices flow even when I don't get the chance to play my favourite games.

Hey Matt,

I know you usually save these kinds of letters for some kind of themed day but I just can't pass up an opportunity to tell you about my luck this week.

First of all, I had read that a whole new lot of games had become Greatest Hits titles. I love it when this happens because I rush out to grab any remaining copies of the originals with the discounted price (like I did last summer with Star Ocean 3 and Killzone). This time I managed to score a copy of Shadow of the Colossus before it donned that dreadful red banner. It has got to be one of the most beautiful games I've played. I'm 10 Colossi in and the gameplay is new and bold with each giant. I had read so much about it but delayed picking it up because of the cost and the potentially low replay value (once you figure out how to kill the Colossi, it kind of lessens the fun factor). But since it had dropped to about 1/3 the price of a rental, I couldn't pass it up.

Second, when I was browsing around Futureshop yesterday I had noticed a copy of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, but delayed picking it up because of my recent SotC purchase. It had a price sticker of $19.99 which it has hovered around in new and used game stores for about a year and a half now. I decided to grab it today, impulsively. When the cashier rang it through, it read $4.95. I thought it was wrong and said so... NO! Why did I do that? I wasn't thinking! But the young lady was nice enough to say, "well, that's the price. I guess someone just forgot to change it." I now have a pristine copy of BoF: DQ for just over 5 bucks! It was pretty much awesomely amazing.

Then I bought Wild ARMs 4 for a mere $24.99 because of the money I saved on Breath of Fire. I couldn't believe it. My girlfriend is going to kill me... buying 3 new games this week... oh well, hahaha. I'm stoked! They only cost me about $60 in total! Just thought I'd share my bit of good luck this week. I love it when stuff like this happens!

Derek

That's really lucky, Derek! And I know what you mean; I'm always compelled to come up with some justification to my friends whenever I've gone out and bought a video game. It's funny, because other people buy DVDs and music CDs all the time without need for an excuse; I don't buy either unless I'm doing Christmas shopping, so why shouldn't I be able to have one indulgence of some variety, too?

Yo Matt,

I write in to say, that I finally cracked on a "retro" game purchase. I don't own the systems to play them, with the exception of of PS1 so I generally talk myself out of buying them, as much as I'd love to have mw own copies of Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, FF3/6, etc., etc. I found Final Fantasy Tactics for $30.00 CDN at a gamestore in my hometown (Gamezilla, as it were. Maaaad props.) So I cracked, and bought it, as it is, in my mind, the best TRPG made to date as far as mechanics go, and it had one hell of a well fleshed out skill/job system. Well, maybe not the best to date, but surely a solid contribution to the genre. It walked a good line between being not having to micro-manage toooo much, but still having a really good level of customization/tactical options. And the more you leveled, the harder the game made itself (notably in the zodic dungeon, key bosses). Thats a smart feature, that rewarded those who fought who the increasingly harder random battles to gain exp, and played a team well, v. those who farmed their own parties incessantly (which you could do...a weak/strong point. Its helpful early on, but you miss out on a lot of sidequests/gear/treasure if you do this as your means of lvling. But, I guess you could say thats more a preferance of the gamer. What a long digression....) Anyway, main point: It rocks. So I couldn't pass on what I saw as a bargain I could actually play on my PS2. Now my segue: Actually, that was it. Oops. Anyway, have you played FFT? If so, what were your most trained classes typically, and what was one (or as many as you feel like typing...it is your column) of your favorite skill combinations to equip characters with? I was a big fan of ninjas /w ignore height or teleport, and knight swords, for massive sneak attacks. There are tons though. And Calculators were the all time awesomist EVER! And yes, awesomist is a word. Its Latin for "awesomist".

And my final question(s): What other TRPGS have you enjoyed, and why? And lastly: is their/have there been any rumblings of a FFT2 or alternatively named sequel on a non-handheld platform???? I enjoyed FFTA quite a bit, I shall note.

You do a good job of fostering a colum based on thought and opinion, not gimmick or fad, and its awesome. Lots of long well thought out letters, usually covering both sides, and well thought out replies. You don't try and hide your biases, and always tend to write a bit on both sides of the coin. Job well done sir, job well done.

-Hale

I've only very recently discovered my new favourite tactical RPG series: Fire Emblem. It's so wonderfully complex compared to Final Fantasy Tactics, though it feels completely different; you should try one of the three english games sometime soon. There are currently two out for the GBA, one of which is quite difficult to find at this point, and one for the Gamecube, which I've heard is quite good. A Fire Emblem game has also been announced for the Wii at this point, so I can't wait! While the skill system isn't nearly as complex, the game makes up for it by featuring maps with weather affecting movement, the ability to "rescue" units that are endangered, the ability for enemies to call for reinforcements in the midst of battle (or allies arriving on the scene), sometimes drastically turning the tables, and much more. If you've ever played Shining Force, Fire Emblem feels very, very similar.

To answer your second question, there isn't really anything at this time that has been announced. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance wasn't a complete write-off, and had some really interesting ideas, but I found it to be somewhat disappointing in terms of difficulty, gameplay, and plot, when compared to its big brother.

Finally, I'm glad you're enjoying the column! I try my best to be receptive to other people's points of view and I like to keep an open mind on most topics, because it's only through listening to readers that I'll learn something myself! I appreciate the kind words, and I hope you'll take the time to write in again someday.

Summons sounds like a lot of fun. Now you said that if 2 people try and summon at the same time only the first one will succeed. Does that mean that the other person wastes their 3 items or just count as wrong timing and nothing happens to the items. Same thing if the Call Bead is used. I'm sure you will be kind enough to negate the loss of said items in such cases, but I just want to be clear that summoning isn't a risky thing to do, just costly.

OK. Here's the lowdown to try and clarify matters for you and everyone else. Starting with today, anybody can sacrifice any three items at any time, no matter what. Doing so will give you a "summon" in the form of an item that you can then use at any time to call a creature to help you. Using THAT item can only be done if no other summons are in play, but if you accidentally use it anyway, it just has no effect and it will be returned to you, no worries. You're right: Summoning will be risky enough as it is! It is certainly possible that people will just fire all of their weapons at a summon as soon as it is called in to help. Of course, those attackers will have to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of "wasting" an item to target an entity that has no chance of winning any prizes at all. I don't know what strategies everyone will take! All I know is that SOCK is going to get very interesting as we get closer and closer to some big prizes. 100,000 points will get one lucky person Final Fantasy XII. Who will it be?

August nearly through
Summer sun fading away
Here's to coming days...

#284. d) the second Z - 550 points
A surprising number of you got this one correct! On the placemats, the nine letters are arranged in a three letter by three letter square, and the middle one, the second Z, is the only one coloured red. Nice job!

#285. b) Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - 450 points/900 for Boojum
The attack in question is called Freikugel, to those of you who just don't believe poor old Boojum. Thanks for the submission!

#286:
In the original Dragon Warrior, what two things are said to have "served thee well" upon being promoted to the next level? (525 points)

a) courage and valor
b) courage and wit
c) valor and wit
d) valor and luck
e) luck and wit

Just to inform everyone, some massive additions have been included to the rule guide! A few items have been added, a few, such as the Ultra Sneak Glove, have received an upgrade, and a few new status conditions have been introduced as well! Best of luck to all of you!

STRAGGLERS:
(people who I love, but who still need to check their e-mail or somehow get in touch with me because they have unclaimed items- if you fall off the list after a week, it's TOO LATE FOR YOU! Check your spam/trash folders for my messages if you're not getting them, and I'll check mine, too!)

• Aurelius

Well, that's my first column in over a week, and perhaps I'm a bit rusty. Let me practice some more! Send in some mail, and I promise you that there will be another helping to come in the morrow. G'night, all!

***Matt went to the CNE this afternoon!