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. Anyone ever seen a magazine called the Robb Report? It's almost enough to make you go socialist. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Two points of interest in the latest Newsweek:

The results of Newsweek's 6/12 online poll regarding violent videogames are surprisingly encouraging to libertarian-minded gamers: 58% percent of those polled said there was no link between violent games and violent actions. Only 21% favored restricting them to 17 and older because of such a link, and only 12% favored banning them outright. 9% were undecided about the correlation. It's nice that such a clear majority would like to see gaming remain uncensored, but it's important to keep in mind that those polled online probably skew more toward the younger, more technically literate members of society, and may not represent the populace as a whole.

Also, Jack Kroll has passed away. As many of you may remember, Mr. Kroll was the author of a short editorial on the artistic worth of video games, an editorial that we and others took him to task for. The fact that Kroll is gone makes his opinion no less wrong - I doubt anyone who's ever visited the GIA would seriously agree with him. However, it would be wrong not to give props where props are due, and even though I mocked Kroll fairly viscously I can't deny that for media other than games, he knew his stuff and wrote well. Any aspiring critic on this or any other website would be lucky to do half as well, career-wise, and I'm sure he'll be missed.

We're gonna be talking about the ending of Vagrant Story today, but fear not, all spoilers will be marked.

Onward.

I was apparently a little better at you with the final boss, since it only took me about 45 minutes. Others have written in claiming to have beaten him with little trouble. It probably comes down to tactics - I was unable to get any kind of attack numbers without resorting to long chain combos, but I didn't play around with weapon and gem settings as much as I probably should have. Anybody who figured out the right class/elemental affinities to attack with, send us a line. I was able to do some significant damage by reflecting Apocalypse back, which seems to be the only attack he can do when you're right in the middle of the circle.

As for what really happened, here's our own Ed McGlothlin with, as they say, the rest of the story.

I'm mostly behind Ed here, although I'm gonna have to go with "some other form of mysticism" rather than time travel for Joshua being Sydney. Some other helpful evidence:

• Joshua doesn't speak until Sydney "dies" in the Cathedral's collapse, which brings up the question of if he's all there when Sydney's around.
• When he does speak, it's to lament Hardin's passing. This doesn't make sense for Joshua to do, since Hardin was his kidnapper, but it does make sense for Sydney to do, since Hardin was his friend.
• The obvious "I wanted to help my father" scene, and the death scene in the Duke's manor.
• When Callo and Ashley "scry" into Sydney's soul, they see Joshua.
• Sydney puts a good deal of effort into capturing Joshua, but doesn't harm him or do anything in particular with him. (Actually my own theory is that Joshua's physical presence is helpful to Sydney - if I remember right, he has much less trouble with mortal wounds when Joshua is near, i.e. in the beginning, he pops right back up from the arrow wound when Hardin brings Joshua in the room, but seems to have more trouble when Hardin leaves. This would make Sydney being some form of projection from Joshua much more likely.)

Thus the final arc of the story looks something like this: Duke Bardorba is aware of the evil power of Lea Monde, and wishes to destroy the city. He enlists Joshua/Sydney, either voluntarily or not, to help him do so since Sydney has the Blood Sin and the powers thereof. Nearly the whole plot is a clever scheme by Sydney to get Ashley into Lea Monde and test if he is the one. (Guildenstern's actions mess this up somewhat.)

By the end of the story, Ashley has the Blood Sin and the associated powers (faking out the guard by looking like Callo) Sydney is released from existence by the Duke, who soon follows, and Lea Monde is destroyed. It's not quite the standard fantasy story ending (because Ashley didn't get the girl) but it's probably the best ending I've yet seen from a game. I'd also give it a 10.

We agree on a fair amount, although I don't think Bardoba's motives were nearly as dark as you do. (I could be wrong, tho.)

It's also interesting that some lines in the "trailer" for the game (the second attract mode) don't make sense until after the end, specifically that Ashley is the Duke's suspected killer. I don't think Sydney or Ashley intended Ashley to be framed, looking like Ashley was just an easy way for Sydney to get inside. Why Ashley turns into a superpowered wanderer, or Vagrant, is less certain, but the subtitle "The Phantom Pain" makes me wonder if this isn't the start of a Vagrant series of games.

(Although that's unlikely if Matsuno is really gone, *sniff*)

Works for me.

The idea of a basic 4 elements well predates Christianity, and if I remember right was even used by some early medieval Christian scholars as a working theory of physics. I will grant you that summoning assorted gods/beasts/demons is a somewhat paganistic idea, tho still not really in the same league as having most recent bosses be angel-like beings.

Your neighbor sounds like he got a bad machine, I'd get it exchanged if possible. The PS2 should run just about all PSX games with no problems, and like I've said before I think the PS2 is an excellent purchase if you don't have a Playstation, if only to access the existing library of titles.

In general I don't see "Mainstream America" as being a monolithic entity with the traits you ascribe to it - the faults you mention are really those of a select few who color the whole much more than they should.

However, it's certainly the case that since many US memes are so pervasive, we're surprised when someone fights back, or doesn't agree entirely. Perhaps a little irreverence is a good thing, although there are other audiences who need it more than RPG fans.

Forget Tia, I wanna play with Callo. Mmm, Callo...

I'm definitely of the opinion that Sydney survived, at least until he got to the Duke, but the fact that Ashley just stood outside the castle while all of this was going on is somewhat suspicious. Ashley got the Rood Inverse from beating Guildenstern, who got it from Sydney. Insisting that there be some exact method for the transfer is probably pushing it, tho. And while there is room for a sequel, I don't see the Cardinal as being a major player anymore - Lea Monde is gone, along with his chances for power. Heck, there's gotta be something else cool that a badass like Ashley Riot can do as a wandering super-shaman.

There's undoubtedly a lot of truth in that statement, as far as the Japanese relating to Christianity. Does this excuse them making sport of another culture's sacred icons? Maybe not, but it does make it more comprehensible. Well said.

I appreciate that you think you have real feelings for these games, but you've got to realize that it's all silicon. Broken down by 40, just watch, and you'll come crawling back to classics like checkers.

In this case it was probably just a fluke, but long-term this may well be what does in 2D. Kids who grow up on 3D will reject it because: "What? You mean you can't go behind/on top of/around the house?"

The existing demand will still be there, but when you consider the difference between games today and 10 years ago, it's hard to imagine that something like Chrono Trigger will still be a viable product in another 10 years.

Sony's planning to have the PS3 out by 2003 I believe, so the PS2 won't be around for long. However, the fact that the system's backward compatible with previous generations will probably mean that transitions between systems will be much less jarring than say, SNES to N64. I doubt there will be any paradigm shifts (hate the word, but it's useful) in gaming with the introduction of new PS systems, except maybe the 3D double-rendering trick somewhere down the road. (Virtual Boy failed, but that was probably poor design as much as anything.) Better graphics, better AI, but nothing revolutionary.

This letter is worth printing because it's the first of its kind I've gotten in quite some time - I can only assume that this means the readers as a whole are pleased with what I've been doing. But if you insist on a cutting reply, Nick, I can certainly oblige:

Why should I write asinine bile of my own in the column, when I've got morons like you to do it for me?

Closing Comments:

Whew, good column. Nick had one point correct in that things haven't quite been up to snuff lately - I've been busy/tired/etc. and ended up skimping on the column, which isn't fair to you guys. But hopefully things will be a bit more settled in the future.

As for tomorrow, things are just getting good with the VS debate, so let's hear some more. Or religion, or 2D, it's all good baby. Later.

-Chris Jones, feeling groovy, but not liking the word groovy