Double Agent
I'm a dirty rotten liar. - May 28, 2000 - Jeremy Steimel

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this column are those of the participants and the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive material afoot. Hey, I didn't put anything new here yesterday. Don't say we didn't warn you.


Alright, so I said Brian would be doing tonight's column, and yet he's not. All apologies. Unfortunately, he got a little busy with other work and needed to get some sleep, else he'd be "Late, late, for a very important date!" he said while running off with a top-hat on. You just never know what those Canadians are up to, eh?

On another subject, I received some pretty positive responses regarding yesterday's column, so that was good to come home to. Also, sorry this column went up a little late, but I was actually out of state at a party all day without knowing I'd need to do the column, so things are running a little behind schedule.

We have quite a wide range of topics to cover today, and the idea of sleep is a bit alluring at the moment, so let's get on with the show.

And here I thought yesterday was my first column.

Hi, let me start out by saying your coloumn is great I read it whenever it is updated. But today I have a question for you Jeremy. Do you know if the bodys of dead enemies in MGS2 will disappear?? In the first game it really sucked how they did that. It'd be cool if you had to hide the bodies or else the other guards will see them and get suspicious. Thank you

Although I can't give a guaranteed answer to your question, I can speculate. If you've watched the Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty trailer, you may have noticed that a few times Snake was shown dragging bodies to dark corners. Construe from that what you will, but it at least means that there's a chance that bodies won't dissolve Yoda-style in MGS2. Of course, Metal Gear Solid 2 is going to have a very strong focus on stealth, with a combined goal of killing as few enemies as possible. I'm sure Kojima is spending his time trying to think of as many ways to make the stealth aspect as realistic and difficult as possible, to ensure replay value and overall suspense.

Game-based movies - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Dear double agent,

I can think of a lot of great games that would make decent movies, but even though its not my absolute favorite (close to it) I think hands down it would have to be Lufia. Whether it is animated or live action I'd have to say that it would make a better movie than any other current one out there.

The reason for the complete sucking of games brought to the big screen is the lack of an intelligent decision on what game to use. I don't think any director takes this movie genre seriously and it pisses me off. I can think of a hundred games that would make good movies most of them rpg's. Zelda, Tales of Destiny, Suikoden, maybe even shining force or parasite eve.

just putting in my cent and a half

casey

P.S. And as for Legend of Legaia going down in history for the pimp qoute, I don't think it so. No one could stand playing the game long enough to see it.

I'll agree that list of games converted into movies has been rather questionable, but I really don't think making a movie out of RPG game X would make much of a difference. Plain and simply, I just really don't feel that games and movies are a happy mix. 95% of games based off a movie wind up sucking like a Hoover, and a solid 99% of movies based on games are even worse (with the final 1% being left for those who insist that the first Mortal Kombat movie was a work of art).

Most non-RPG based gaming movies seem doomed from the very beginning since they titles don't leave the script writer much to work with. Mario games may be fun as hell to play, but trying to find enough relevant plot throughout the series to make a movie off of proved to be a futile attempt at best. On the other hand, there's far too much plot in most adventure and RPG games to cram into a two hour movie without the final product being a mere empty-shell compared to its corresponding game. I'd love to see John Woo do a Metal Gear Solid movie, but only if it was 8-9 hours long, which would never happen. For the time being, the only game-to-video translations I would want to see are anime series and Saturday morning cartoons (I'd give anything to see Cartoon Network rerun the Zelda cartoons), at least when it comes to direct conversions. The Final Fantasy Movie isn't based on anything related to a single Final Fantasy game, so I really don't even consider it a "videogame movie", at least to an extent.

Y2K1 + PS2 = Yay.
Yesterday in the Double Agent column Jeremy and Brian touched on the topic of a weak PS2 lineup. The obvious reason is that all developers are focusing on the PSX right now. Once the PS2 comes to the states and the enthusiasm for the PSX dies down, we will see more games coming out for the Playstation 2. "The best is yet to come" -Skul

As I said yesterday, I my excitement for the PS2 in the year 2001 is almost unmatched. I don't mean to overly criticize the PS2's Japanese and American launch, because as I said yesterday, I've never been one to be excited by system launches. Simply put, first-generation games never seem to garner much attention from me. Of course, I also find myself wondering if Sony has realized that backwards-compatibility is a double-edged blade, especially when the new system improves the previous console's games. Due to enhanced graphics in the PS2's PSX emulator, developers decided to pour more money and time into their PSX projects rather than focusing on their PS2 launch titles more. Of course, I won't argue their choices one bit - just knowing that I'll be able to play an enhanced version of Activision's Spiderman title later down the road makes it all worth the while for me.

Damnit, my name isn't Glick.
Hey Glicky. How goes it? I simply must ask this, for it is my duty as premiere Soulblazer fan of the universe. Why...WHY won't Enix make another game in the same light of Soulblazer/Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma? That series was fantastic!

Also, what's your fav game soundtrack, big boy?

~Xeria, the original Samurai Chipmunk

Although I've only played bits and pieces of Soulblazer and Terranigma, I was quite the Illusion of Gaia fan during the SNES days. While I would love to see an extension of the series appear on the PlayStation, it looks like that's a missed opportunity. Unfortunately, free-roaming adventure-RPGs (games such as Zelda 3, Secret of Mana, and so forth) were nearly unexistent on the PSX outside of Alundra. One can always hope that the series will make a return on the PlayStation 2, however.

As for choosing a favorite game soundtrack, that's quite the difficult choice. I've always been a Mitsuda fan, so Xenogears and Chrono Cross come to mind immediately (I have a natural affinity for anything with celtic influences). Legend of Mana, Suikoden, Wild Arms 2, Final Fantasy VIII, Tales of Destiny, and Final Fantasy Tactics are all top-ranking as well, however. Of course, if I was able to include Orchestral remixes, I'd definitely have to go with Shen Mue Orchestral for right now. Although my judgement is probably a bit clouded seeing as I only recently acquired it, it's simply an absolutely amazing CD.

Didn't I just say my na...oh, forget it.
Yo, Brian.

I think the GIA is seriously scrweed up these days, man. I mean, what's with all this news and stuff? Who cares about Dragon Quest VII being delayed for the sixtieth time? GIA needs to focus more on, y'know, having some personality. What are you guys playing? What are you guys making fun of? Mean is fun. Let's see you guys kill and eat something, and then pick the dried blood off your teeth with the bones.

Rage out,
Thwack!

Not that I didn't catch the sarcastic tones in this letter, but just as a little secret between me and you, expect to see an expansion on features in the upcoming weeks. There's plenty of personality coming around the corner - probably more than you'd care to be exposed to. All I can really say for right now is to keep your eyes peeled, and that hopefully you'll like what we have in store.

Of course, if you want to see mean, just put me within twenty feet of a keyboard around the time of Legend of Dragoon's release.

There's something fun about controlling other people's spending habits.
Hey Jer -

Looking at Square's upcoming games, it's hard to discern which has the most replay value. As I don't get to purchase many games, I find myself having to play the ones I own over and over again. Vagrant Story was said to only have 10 hours of gameplay, then it suddenly becomes 40. Legend of Mana seems pretty straight-forward, as does Final Fantasy 9 and Parasite Eve 2. Chrono Cross, however, may possess its predecessor's New Game+ option, but I'm not sure. What game should I buy over the summer if I'm looking for hardcore replayability over everything else?

- Steve Ragnone

If you're looking for replayability over anything else, I'd suggest that you limit your choices to Chrono Cross and Legend of Mana. Chrono Cross' replayability is comparable to that of Suikoden, in the sense that there are 45 characters to recruit for your party, although you can't always get them all. You'll have to make choices at times which result in you getting one character, and permanently missing another. While there are two main endings, where which one you get is decided by two major branching points, there will be little many little endings depending on who's in your party at the end of the game and how you make use of New Game +. On the other hand, Legend of Mana will be extremely replayable due to the non-linear, branching game style. As you complete events in Legend of Mana, new events open up as a result of your efforts. Some sequences will only become available to you if you do certain events in a particular order, which means you'll miss many scenarios along the way. The ultimate decision depends on your gaming style - Would you rather play a story-focused game with decent replayability, or a very non-linear game with even higher replayability? Take your pick.

Hardly conclusive evidence.

For those of you who snigger at the name 'Ashley Riot', remember that Solid Snake's real name is....David, if we are not mistaken. Not exactly the most heroic of names, is it?

--The Auditors of Reality

Is David a heroic name? No. Is David generally accepted as a man's name? Yes. A few other readers sent in more thoughts on the BadAss debate as well. Many of you were quick to point out that no real hero would wear clothing that let his ass hang out, while others asked why Riot's twin brother Mary-Kate wasn't allowed to participate in the fight. I haven't even picked up Vagrant Story yet, yet already I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Riot the same again.

Who needs badasses for heroes, bring on the villains! (Spoilers: Final Fantasy 6,7,8)
Salutations,

There are two things I have to comment upon here. First, the Final Fantasies. My favorite remains FF6, and not just for nostalgia's sake. I find myself almost always more interested in the villains of a game, than the heroes. They are almost always infinitely cooler, in every possible way. Kefka was one hell of a villain. His lines were perfect, ranging from the adorable, "I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate you!!!" to the absolutely perfect "This is sickening! You sound like chapters from a self-help book!" Yet, what have we to follow his coolness? Sephiroth, or perhaps Jenova from FF7? Sephiroth, who isn't even evil, but just a momma's boy with a big sword? Or Jenova, who doesn't have any lines. Or any power to speak of. And then, what of FF8? Seifer, while a decent character in his own right, is simply not on of the same calibre. So, we move onto the game's final boss, Ultimecia. Who doesn't appear until moments before you obliterate here, who's only personality trait is to replace the letter "c" with "k," and who's "evil" plan doesn't even seem to have a point? No. They simply will not do. I am looking forward to 9, and can only hope they will give us a villain worth the dirt he/she stands on. Now, the battle of the badasses contest. I would move that the vote of anyone who has not beaten Vagrant Story be immediately discounted. This seems perfectly logical and fair to me; Snake's been around, everyone's heard of him, almost everyone's played his games. And you don't even need to finish MGS to realize that Snake is a total badass. However, until you have beaten Vagrant Story, you don't know half of how cool Agent Riot is. But of course, it's a moot point. All the coolness possesed by both of them, and they are barely fit to lick Sydney's boots. Don't get me wrong here, I love Snake, and Ashley, but Sydney is just too damn cool. Oh well, I've gone on more than long enough.

Good day,
-He who prays for a well done villain in FF9.

While I agree that Kefka was one of the most lively, maniacal villains ever in an RPG, I don't think that qualifies all other villains as sub-par. While each of the last three Final Fantasy titles were made to be an epic, the presentation of that epic varied from title to title. In Final Fantasy VI, a small rebel alliance bands together to fight Kefka, a crazed lunatic bent on destroying the world. There were never any major plot-twists to counteract this setup -- Final Fantasy VI was made to tell the tale of an epic struggle of good versus evil where the good guys rarely came out on top, so of course a megalomaniac of a villain was required. Meanwhile, the search for the truth was what geared the plot for Final Fantasy VII. Sephiroth was just as lost and confused as Cloud was. Where Kefka just wanted to destroy everything, Sephiroth believed he was doing the right thing. He may not have been as inherently evil as Kefka, but Sephiroth managed to commit a few attrocious acts as part of working towards what he believed to be a greater goal. Lastly, in Final Fantasy VIII I never felt that the focus was meant to be on the story itself. To this day, I've never seen characters come more alive than in Final Fantasy VIII. While there was an epic struggle going on around the heroes, the focus was given to the characters themselves and portrayed the effects that being a hero can have. Although I'd be glad to see another villain as cruel as Kefka in Final Fantasy IX, I'd only want to see that type of character if it fit in with the direction that Square took the rest of the game in.

Closing Comments:

Chris returns tomorrow, so be kind and send some mail his way. As for me, this ends my little stint as Double Agent for now, although you never know when I may pop back up again. Until next time,

- Jeremy Steimel, extremely tired.

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