This Week, Answers
Approach, Command?
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| September 22nd, 2010 |
09/22 - 12:00PM EST
TGS has come and gone and we've got some new RPGs to be excited about,
but not as many as I think many of us expected, but Disgaea 4 looks sweet and that's
got me excited. Our excellent news staff did not need much of my help,
so no need for a shorter column, though It will be one question
shorter as it's been a busy past few days. Anyway, just got Etrian Odyssey 3 so dungeon
crawling lies ahead for me, not to mention we're getting ever closer to
New Vegas' release,
so
there's
still
more
RPGS
to
get excited about! Anyway, on to the
letters.
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Introductions are failing me right now, so I'll do without.
If you could pick an intellectual property that is not associated with
RPGs, and turn it into one, what would be the honored property?
Wheels
This is an easy answer. Since I hear Game of Thrones is already
possibly being made into an RPG then the answer I would have to give is
the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. While I haven't finished it yet,
the idea of wandering through multiple realities as a party of
gunslingers seems like it would make for a fantastic and original game.
It would probably be difficult from a licensing perspective though,
since some of the cool aspects of it come from references to some of
Stephen King's other books. It would certainly make for an
interested RPG I think.
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As an entirely separate question: what is an intellectual property that
is not associated with GOOD RPGs but could still be turned into one?
Wheels
That's a tough one because I can't think of all that many RPGs based on
intellectual property to begin with, never mind bad ones. I'm going to
go with Bleach though. Bleach The
3rd Phantom I hear was not a very good SRPG, but I think the
anime series is interesting enough that they should be able to make
something decent out of it. Going with a setup based on the first
season, you could have a Persona style game where you juggle living
daily life, and hunting down hallows. Probably not the best property
people would want to see as an RPG, but I think they could make
something good out of it.
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When will the day upon which every game can be downloaded dawn?
Will the day upon which every game MUST be downloaded necessarily
follow?
Wheels
The day upon which every game can downloaded will dawn very soon, I
think. It seems like one of the biggest reasons people hack their
systems is so they can throw all their games on one storage device and
not have to worry about swapping discs. Therefore it would seem smart
to include downloadable games as an option. As for MUST download games?
Not going to happen any time in the near future. We're all spoiled
internet nerds, sure, but there are still lots of people with very slow
or just average internet access, and even for many mid-range internet
connections. Downloads still don't exactly fly, and don't seem to
be speeding up. So I really can't see a day in the near future when
people are asked to download 15gb games instead of putting a disc into
the thing. While it could happen for portables, for consoles themselves
I don't expect to see download only systems any time soon, unless it's
done in such a way that they can still distribute them on physical
media for those without great internet access. That's the only way I
see it working out.
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Skies of Arcadia 2
has spent almost ten years not happening. Will it ever, or did
Sega drop the ball yet again?
Wheels
Man it's Sega, what do you expect? I can't speak for how will the game
sold (because I have no idea), but it had to have done something for
them to release it on the Gamecube. The main roadblocks preventing it
right now, are most of the original team is working on the Valkyria Chronicles franchise, and
also Rieko Kodama doesn't seem to work on games very often. It would be
nice to see, but I don't think Sega should do it unless they have the
right people working on it, which they can't do right now. If they
thought it was a guaranteed success they would have already though, so
I'm guessing it didn't exactly light up the sales charts.
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So if you were GameArts, surveying the sales of Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, would Lunar 3 be anywhere in your
thoughts?
Wheels
I think the first thought would have to be, "did this game not sell
because people don't care about Lunar,
or did this game not sell because it's like the 10th version of the
thing" (exaggeration, I know)? If it's the former, then no, they should
completely ignore doing Lunar 3.
If it's the latter though, then yes they should consider doing a Lunar 3. Personally I think the
fanbase is still out there for it, and they need to just go ahead with
it already. Honestly though they've long missed out on their best
chance. The PS1 games did very well and they should have jumped on
doing a new game right then. Those who hesitate are lost as they say.
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Your mission is to sell the community at large on the virtues of the SaGa series. You may do this
in any way you
please, though pointing people toward Unlimited
Saga
as a starter I would not recommend. Go!
That should be enough content, I think.
JuMeSyn
Wheels
Thank you for lower-casing the g in Unlimited
Saga. I would never suggest anyone start with that game,
ever. It's a spin-off of the series, and just a really odd game
overall. Selling the community on the SaGa
series is easy. If you're sick of the same old mechanics, hand-held
linearity through games, and just need something fresh and different,
then give the SaGa series a
try, especially the first two gameboy games. While they often have
obtuse mechanics for leveling characters, it's never something that's
impossible to wrap your head around. Just ignore the negativity towards
the series and give the games a try yourself. This is my message for
everyone!
Anyway thanks for the content, more please!
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Dear Wheels, (I
wrote with a sigh)
I have come wishing to ask why
Turn Based RPGS Persist
When the combat consists
Of a menu that's rolling a die?
Wheels
Man clearly you are not enjoying
the deliciousness that is Etrian
Odyssey 3. I agree that generic turn-based systems have gotten
pretty boring, but there have been some brilliant turn-based RPGs of
late, everything from 7th Dragon
to Persona 3 & 4. There
are still a ton of different ways you can spice up classic turn-based
battles to make them very tactical and difficult, and I don't want to
see them go away any time soon. Granted games like Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate provide the same
thing in real-time form, but I firmly believe that think turn-based
RPGs have a place in modern gaming. So long as we have less games with
invisible random encounters (a real relic of the old days).
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Now granted, I
realize there's more
But for the the simple fact is I abhor
All the ridiculous stats
Equipping clothes boots and hats
Just for chance to be all that wins wars
Wheels
I'm sad to hear that because stats are just the heart and soul of most
RPGs. The great ones are all about mixing and matching things to make
the best possible party/character you can for the given task at hand.
It sounds like more action focused RPGs are your thing, you should play
some Ys. That series is all
about minimal stats and lots of monster bashing (and great music).
Stats and RPGs go hand and hand, and that is just a fact.
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In my heart I deeply
believe
and surely you too can precise
That there must be a way
to make games fun to play
without use of such old gameplay themes?
Wheels
This is true, but people still love these old gameplay themes, and
honestly they have stood the test of time. I mean I'm currently playing
Etrian
Odyssey 3 which is just a complete throwback of a game, and yet
all of its gameplay still feels fresh and modern, thanks to smart
gameplay design. There's still a ton of fun to be had with these old
concepts. At the same time, it's always nice to see new things, and the
Mass Effect
games are very exciting because they show how fantastic a shooter/RPG
mix can be, and I'd throw Alpha
Protocol in that mix as well. There are plenty of new things
that can be done with RPGs, but there's nothing wrong with a lot of the
old concepts! Dragon Quest IX's
success proves that people still like them as well.
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That sucked. I hold you personally responsible!
-Beat
Wheels
Well I guess I am since I responded to it!
Write in again Beat, maybe less poetically next time?
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Twittering About the Classics
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@AskWheels What are some classic PS1 titles you'd like to see appear on
PSN? Similarly, what RPGs would you like to see on VC?
- Merrygodown
Wheels
Now that is a fantastic question! I'll start with the PSN. My first
hopes would be for the Final Fantasy
PS1 games, but thankfully we got those first, so we're all set there.
There are a bunch of other PS1 RPGs that could really stand to see a
release though. Most notably would be some Working Designs games, such
as Alundra and The Arc the Lad Collection (both of
which will apparently be coming), along with the Lunar games would be nice to see.
Other than that, there's a lot of Square-Enix games that I would love
to see, most notably SaGa Frontier
(already on Japanese PSN) and Legend
of Mana (coming to PSN in Japan). I know it's long as heck, but
Dragon Warrior VII would also be fantastic to have in portable form.
Other than that the big one would have to be Suikoden II, which is odd
to not see on there since the first game is. I'm sure we'll see many of
these games at some point, but I just wish they wouldn't take so long.
My wishes for Virtual Console are all SNES games. I'll start with the
obvious Lufia games, which
would be a nice tie-in to the upcoming DS game. 7th Saga is an interesting little
RPG by Square-Enix that would be cool to see. Speaking of Square-Enix,
they need to get some more games up there! we need, Final Fantasy VI we need, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Evermore deserves some
love, Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
would even be nice. There's also of course Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia, but I'm not sure
who even owns the rights to those anymore.
There's just so many RPGs that are not on these services, and the worst
of it is people are probably illegally downloading these games, even
though they would buy them if available! Anyway, great tweet, send
another!
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That's it for this week. Next week I'll have details on the next
contest (and we'll be back to a full column). Send in some more more
letters and tweets! There's lot's of good topics to discuss. What do
you think of the new HD Disgaea
look? Will Fallout: New Vegas
eclipse Fallout 3? What's
your favorite Dragon Age
downloadable content? Perhaps you'd even want to discuss Secret of Evermore. Whatever is on
your mind!
-Wheels
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What I can't wait for:
1. Ys: Oath in Felghana for PSP
2. Z.H.P.
3. Fallout: New Vegas
4. Halo: Reach DLC
5. 4 Warriors of Light
On my Playlist:
1. Ys Origin Soundtrack
2. Green Day
3. Random 80s Rock
Hot Topics:
1. Duke Nukem Forever is actually going to come
out, does this mean we still have a chance at getting Mother 3? and 7th
Dragon? and Secret of Mana 2?
2. SaGa 3 remake, will it be handled by Kawazu, so he can Kawazu it up?
3. If someone were to make a Halo RPG, who would you want to make it,
and what should it be like?
4. If you had to choice for Atlus to release Persona 2 (both parts) on
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choose?
5. What are your favorite RPGs that are missing from Virtual Console?
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