12/20-
7:00PM EST
Welcome to another episode of Q&A! Sorry
about the lack of a Q&A last week, I
needed to get that Guided
Fate Paradox review completed. I
also of course was distracted by the amazing
Link Between Worlds. I've also been
digging further into Adventure Time
: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON'T
KNOW and of course new Ys so
plenty to play this holiday season.
Anyway, let's jump right in! Lot's of
questions to catch up on.
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Getting back to old
habits
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Hey Wheels,
I am at work now, so I figured I'd write in
again, teehee.
So, I recently installed Steam, after my
best friend raved about Starbound.
Cool game, but my crappy laptop combined
with the game being in Beta stage means I
can't fully enjoy it. Still, it's a fun
game. Exploration, sandbox and 2D retro
graphics? Count me in! Plus I have a huge
amount of sympathy for indie developers so
love to back them when I can.
Wheels
Sounds like a
pretty neat game! I think
someone gifted me the beta, but
I haven't gotten around to it
yet. I just don't game on my
computer very often! Now I
really need to check it out.
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Still, I knew installing Steam was going to
be a bad idea. They allow me to buy games
without Paypal or a credit card. Will it be
the end of me (and my bank account)? I hope
not.
It did shed a very good light on the current
state of videogaming. Indies are so taking
over the stage, and retro is the new...
new... (or something). I love how indies
have found a way to incorporate new
techniques and things without them feeling
like they don't belong in the retro
aesthetic of the game... Not sure if I am
making sense, but what I mean is, the games
FEEL like they are NES or SNES games, but
with the frustrating elements being replaced
with new things without losing that NES/SNES
feel.
Wheels
Retro is very
in! I can't tell how that even
happened either, because it
doesn't appear to be just people
with nostalgia for NES/SNES
games that are into it. Heck
it's even something that's shown
up in more main stream games as
well thanks to the efforts of
Wayforward. Variety is the spice
of life and it's nice to see
more 2D games showing up and
succeeding. As you say many of
them are quality games that
don't just ape everything
NES/SNES games did, but learn
from them and often fix some old
issues.
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What I would love to see is a game where I
can really do whatever I want to do in a
fantasy world. So that means I can feel like
hunting some wolves for food at one point,
be a bit bolder when I find a dungeon and
raid it for treasure, but then tend to some
sheep, get their wool and create a cool
looking new outfit for me or my fellow
NPC's, chop some wood to build a new house,
all that stuff. NPCs I've befriended could
be issued these kinds of jobs as well. The
game would create a new world for me to
enjoy, but I suppose there would also be a
selection of online servers for those of the
MMO inclination. Offline, I could choose to
be a part of a group of NPC's (which I could
randomly generate or create myself) and
build a village for myself, trying to defend
it from the big bad world while my NPC
friends do the same.
However, other NPCs would be able do the
same. It would be a living world, sort of.
This also means that things like wolves
could die out or be driven out of a region
if I killed too many of them. Money wouldn't
be dropped by them either, money would be
scarce. Money would be made by miners
and minters, but since they need protection
adventurers would get a part of that simply
for protecting the prospectors. The economy
would be a living thing as well. I'd go for
a 3D game preferably.... a bit like Elder
Scrolls I suppose... but not too high
end because I like my graphics to be a bit
vintage.
Wheels
What you
describe sounds like a bigger
and more expansive Rune
Factory mixed with the
combat and exploration of the Elder
Scrolls games.
That could be something truly
wonderful! Sign me up.
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Obviously we are slowly inching towards
hardcore realism and roleplaying, and we
still want the game to be fun, so I suppose
things like hunger would only have a slight
effect, making you weaker but not killing
you for not eating or drinking for days. I
suppose stamina or somesuch stat would go
down, and permantent deaths would be
optional. Also, NPCs are blank slates and
they don't have preferences, so if you
wanted an NPC to be a farmer, he'd be a
farmer... Unless his STR was through the
roof and you obviously want him by your side
when you find a dungeon. This, again, is
part of the sandbox feel, make the game what
you want it to be.
Basically, I would love a game where we put
games like Elder Scrolls, Ultima
Online, World of Warcraft, Mabinogi,
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Animal
Crossing, Minecraft, Cubeworld
and Dwarf Fortress in a blender and
bring out this result. And yes, it would be
offline as well as online.
Go for it indie developers!! Count me in for
one of the more premium pledges.
Wheels
That would
likely be a pretty massive indie
project! I could see perhaps an
indie dev doing something like
this in more of a 2D setting.
Then perhaps someone like
Bethesda could try something
more extensive. We'll have to
see! Open world type games are
getting a bit too abundant, so I
hope such a game wouldn't just
get lost in the shuffle.
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Oh, questions... What are your thoughts on
these ideas of mine?
Wheels
I kind of fit
my main thoughts in there, but
basically I'd be all for a more
expansive Rune Factory
type game that takes the concept
and creates a full on "life RPG"
with combat and the whole
shebang. There's a lot of
complications with such a
project, but the end result
could be incredible. Come on
devs! Make it so!
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And to answer the question you gave me after
my last letter, I loved Illusion of Time
soooo much! It was epic without it being
epic for the sake of being epic. The game
focused on friendships as much as it focused
on issues concerning the bigger picture. It
had some surprisingly heartbreaking moments
for a game that felt like it was going to be
very lighthearted, and the characters were
very memorable. It was a small game compared
to some of the mammoths of its days, but
that's what made it great.
Hope my letter wasn't too big.
Cheers,
Daniel
Wheels
You pretty much
described my exact feelings for
the game, and in fact I think I
need to dust it off sometime
soon! Illusion of Gaia was
one of my all time favorite
games as a kid, but I haven't
played it in some time. Time to
fix this I think!
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Hey Wheels, I've got a couple of questions
for you.
I have fond memories of FF X and
I've been looking forward to playing it on
my Vita (hopefully Square Enix gives us some
details on the western release soon).
However I remember the limit breaks in that
game requiring you to madly bash buttons and
spin the analog sticks around. Am I
remembering that right?
Wheels
I don't believe
so. I think Final Fantasy X
managed to avoid all that sort
of nonsense in the summons and
just stick to turn based stuff.
Perhaps you're thinking of XII
or XIII? My memory could
be really bad, but I recall
summons providing the same kind
of turn based combat as the main
battles.
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Did the button mashing really make that big
of a difference?
I'm thinking I might be better off with the
PS3 version where at least I could replace a
broken controller and protect my precious
Vita.
Wheels
Well as you've
surmised the only worry you'll
have would be if blitzball makes
you chuck your Vita at the wall
or something. Nothing in game
will directly make you overwork
the controls. Just sit back and
enjoy!
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Shifting gears, are there any games you have
wanted to play this year but have not gotten
to touch?
Josh
Wheels
There's a few.
Primarily is Mario and Luigi
Dream Team which I haven't
even started yet because the
right time just hasn't come up
yet. On the same note, I still
have some unfinished business in
Luigi's Mansion 2. Tales
of Xillia I need to get
back to as a few review games on
the system kept me from it. The
final one would just be Monster
Hunter 3 Ultimate. Not
that I didn't play that game
enough, more that I haven't
completed the upper levels of
multiplayer!
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Hello Wheels!
I've got a half-formed idea in my head here
I'd like to run by you. I hope you don't
mind if this letter meanders a bit.
I don't know how versed you are in the realm
of voice acting. I myself mostly know about
actors who work on dubbed anime and
admittedly not much else. As you may have
noticed, many localized Japanese games use
the same pool of several dozen voice actors
based in California that many anime series
use. I don't really mind this. I am familiar
with these actors and adore the work of
several of them. I do, however, know people
who are tired of hearing the likes of Johnny
Yong Bosch, Laura Bailey, Yuri Lowenthal,
Michelle Ruff and the single most unbiquitos
voice actor in the business (at least as far
as dubbing anime and RPGs go) Wendee Lee in
both animation and video games.
Wheels
I don't know
that I'd call myself well versed
or anything but I am familiar
with a lot of the big names and
have bought games on occasion
simply because they had Nolan
North, Yuri Lowenthal, and a few
others.
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While I don't mind if this reliance on the
actors, it would be nice to hear more
variety in the games localized by
Atlus, XSEED, Namco Bandai and the
like. Square Enix is interesting in that
they mix these Californian staples with
other actors depending on the game's
budget. Even if for some reason they
wanted to stick to actors familiar with
anime, there's a wide pool of them located
in Texas, often employeed by Funimation. I'd
love to hear Chris Patton, Luci Christian,
Caitlin Glass, and Greg Ayres in RPGs more
often. Heck, despite the flack they get from
their association with 4KIDS, there are
several actors I like based here in New York
like Veronica Taylor, Lisa Ortiz, Dan Green,
and Jamie Mcgonnigal.
Wheels
As voice acting
becomes a bigger part of games
variety is certainly something
that we're all going to need.
It's fine to see some of the
better voice actors showing up
more often, but more variety
wouldn't hurt. Sounds like
there's many more good actors in
the anime world that would fit
video games just fine.
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I could be wrong, but if I had to guess why
they usually use Californian actors, it's
because these publishers are based in
California. Even so, variety would be nice,
right? For a time I noticed a few
"Texan" actors were being employeed in RPGs
such as Laura Bailey, Vic Mignogna, Travis
Willingham, and Spike Spencer, but I have
since learned that Laura and Travis now live
in Los Angeles. The same might apply to the
other two, though I'm not sure.
Wheels
I'm sure that's
got something to do with it,
given those involved in a
localization are probably on
site during voice recording. I'm
sure there's more voice actors
in California though, and being
directly on site might not
always be required. Then again
maybe publishers have contracts
with certain voice acting
agencies? Sounds like a good
interview question the next time
we're able though.
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What are your thoughts? Are you tired of
these same actors for RPGs and other
localized Japanese games? Perhaps you play
enough other games with voice acting not to
notice? Are there any actors you'd like to
hear more often in RPGs, or just video games
in general?
-Strawberry Eggs
Wheels
Honestly I'm
really not tired of them! I
could use some more Nolan North
in my JRPGs since he was so
great in Resonance of Fate.
I can't disagree of course.
Variety is a good thing and who
knows what kind of talent is out
there that we haven't heard yet.
At the very least I'm happy to
see a lot of voice actors
getting the recognition they
deserve.
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Hi, Wheels. It's been a while.
I've been itching with anticipation as the
new year, Tales of Symphonia Chronicles,
and Tales of Xillia 2 draws ever
closer. That being said, who is your
favorite Tales protagonist and why?
Also, who is your least favorite? Why so?
Sincerely,
Solitas
Wheels
2014 is looking like it will be
a good year for Tales
fans right? My favorite is
absolutely Luke from Tales
of the Abyss. I think he's
not only a fantastically
developed and entertaining
character, but everything about
the story does a great job
playing off his whole secret
back story. Of course it helps
that his voice actor does a
brilliant job in the English
version. Perhaps it's just
because it was the first game in
the series to suck me in, but
I've yet to have a protagonist
draw me in as much as him.
As for least favorite? That
would have to go to Cless
(Cress?) from Tales of
Phantasia. It's a bit
unfair, but it really has
nothing to do with him and
everything to do with me just
disliking that game as a whole
and the way he controls. I'm
glad they didn't try and remake
that game for the latest
anniversary (I've jinxed this
and it's going to happen now
isn't it?) coming up next year.
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See you all next week!
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