Well, it was more something that I wanted to hear people talk about than an actual hot topic, but carry on!

I can agree with that. Especially considering if it's a game taking place after the previous Mass Effects picking one canon ending or making it ambiguous would make it very difficult to include them. Of course a prequel could work, which would by its very nature then not be able to strongly involve the Reapers.

I think there's tremendous potential here. The first three games created a very interesting universe with plenty of room of stories to go back to without having to worry about how future sequels will handle the multiple endings just yet.

Holy cow, now I want a Mass Effect Noir that will probably never happen, damn it!

That would certainly allow for many different replays. Not only that, but the smaller scale nature of the story would mean there would be very few restrictions on the variety of endings. There's a lot of untapped potential here I think. You could even do dlc bonus cases to do more fun detective stuff.

I agree wholeheartedly. The ending to the trilogy left many of us with mixed feelings, but a lot of that is because of how much we all loved the journey through the incredible universe leading up to that. The choices we made, though they may not have effected the final story much, change the road up to it, even resulting in the life or death of entire races. There's so much more they could do with the universe, and I look forward to seeing what they come up with.

I was hoping someone would tackle this...

I suppose? But how is that determined? While in earlier 3D gaming days it was easier to agree on awful games, it's not so cut and dry anymore. That's not even getting into the fact that some of the publishers and developers notorious for shovelware aren't around any more. While there never was a time where everyone could agree on the quality of any given game, it seems worse so now, or at least opinions seem more extreme.

To each their own I suppose, because I actually found a lot of these sequels actually did bring a lot new to the table (Fire Emblem) or in some cases were just fantastic and solid entries in established series ( Shin Megami Tensei IV). I'm not sure why everything has to "bring something new to the table" to have any sort of value. Gaming history is filled with revered titles that tweaked and solidified existing ideas to a sharp point, without necessarily being completely new or fresh. I see nothing with iterating so long as it results in fun games (I have no complaints about all the versions of Street Fighter IV for example).

Why exactly? The PS1 and PS2 era are filled with games that couldn't quite get past technical limitations. This newer era is filled with games where that is largely no longer an issue, save for games that go too far and create an unstable environment (I'm looking at you Skyrim). Of course, despite better technology where are getting plenty of rehashes like the Call of Duty series. Of course these games that reach for the stars have created many challengers to the throne that clearly didn't have the technical know-how or budget to pull of (hi ArcaniA) so I suppose it's a double edged sword. Still, there's been plenty of fresh titles on portable systems that often go unnoticed. It's not a perfect environment, but are we forgetting the days when the likes of Summoner and King's Field where the representative of your average RPG?

Also your mocking of the MMOs is odd considering how much of a lover letter to past games Final Fantasy XIV often feels like.

It's OK to be in that category, so long as you realize that you are. Getting older largely sucks in this regard. It's hard to be excited for new games when we now have a better idea of what any new game will be. There's less room to be surprised, and enchanted. The games to provide this are out there though. I'm always on the lookout for the next game to do what Resonance of Fate and Dark Souls have done in providing that exact excitement and surprise I thought were impossible. Don't give up! The games you're looking for are out there somewhere.

Thanks! I'm glad people are enjoying it. I can tell you from my perspective it is a million times easier to work with.

Kyle I couldn't agree more on the need for an HD version of Final Fantasy XII on Vita. That game is incredible, and another case of an international version we never saw released in the West. Having that international version with the new license grids and fast forward feature in glorious HD, with a Vita version is a dream that needs to become a reality. Make it so Square Enix! More Final Fantasy on Vita!

Jeff I wanted to disagree but playing the game now and getting things fresh in my mind it's hard to argue that a lot of the music in Final Fantasy X isn't forgettable. I don't think it's bad, and the notable themes are still quite good, but comparing it to the soundtrack that preceded it in Final Fantasy IX does it no favors. Seems to me it was past time at that point for some new composers to takeover the series soundtracks. IX would have made a fitting cap on his Final Fantasy career. Still, it did give us the delightful otherworld.

Ken I think you're right. We're now well past X-2, the VII sequels, and The After Years so X-2 really does look much better in retrospect. I'm certainly enjoying it now. Perhaps just coming out relatively close to X when we were all still very serious about it, made the story particularly harmless to the immediate reactions? Certainly the battle system seems to mostly get praised. After XIII-2 got positive reception from many, and Crisis Core continues to be a favorite of many fans, I have no doubt that we'll probably see more direct sequels in the future. I'm perfectly OK with this, especially if they dare to be as different as X-2 was.