You thought my career as a letters person was over. You thought you were rid of my irreverent answers to your most pressing issues.

You were wrong. AK is back.

Don't let those tears in your eyes swell too much, though. Fear not, the Milliganman will return to his post in eight short days. Until then, kick back, relax, and send me some letters.

Mike Mills wannabe is a better description of me, even though I concentratemore on guitar than bass these days, unlike Mills. (For those wondering,I suck on guitar. And even more so on bass.) Obligatory introductoryREM reference aside, let's consider your main points.

First off, I have to admit that I love traditions. From high school flag-runningto the main FF theme, I hate changes. It's an individual thing, as far as I can tell.Vestal, for example, loves the changes and wants games to completely evolveinto new experiences. On the other hand, while I think there is definitelya place for evolution of the gaming industry, I harbor love for the traditions and old-style games. I wish FF7/8 had leftsome traditions untouched, like the victory fanfare, and I wish theyincluded the main theme within the game, but I don't feel that the changesare a huge detriment to the games. Just personal wishful thinking. Bythe way, Glick says the opening part of the fanfare is still intact, butfollowed by a weird ditty, much like FF7 (in the sense that it sucks).

2) Square also said they would release Parasite Eve simultaneously in Japanand in the U.S., so I no longer trust their word on translations. Ipersonally think that the "translation process" is less of a time consumerthan the "corporate stalling for various reasons."

3) I heard that FF8's last boss is actually an adorable little kitten named Perky.

4) AV's fetish is quite healthy, if you ask me. Some people like chicken,other people like feet. Who are we to judge AV? After all, he is quitethe trend setter for hairstyles. Peace on Earth! Acceptance of all people!Go Greenpeace! Free Tibet!

Hey Osiris, how's it going bud? There have been numerous reports and rumors of the next Nintendosystem, but nothing proven or concrete. What I am sure of, however,is that Nintendo is in better shape than Sega. Nintendo's next system isunannounced, so they can make any changes they want to make sure it stacksup favorably with Sony's system. Sega, on the other hand, has playedall its cards already, and Sony is going to take the pot it looks like.The Dreamcast is about to be made obsolete, and it hasn't even hit US shelves.

Osiris man, I hate to totally thrash your thoughts on the "big badweapon," but the argument holds no water. Two problems come to mindwithout even giving it any thought. First off, with some exceptions, it'svery difficult to get the big weapon. In most cases, it's easier to winthe game without it. Now, honest show of hands. Who got Knights of theRound in FFVII before beating it for the first time, and without outsidehelp such as a FAQ? My guess is not too many. Also, challenge isrelative. Square is trying to appeal to a large audience, and to somepeople, RPGs are a challenge as is, even in games that don't require massivestat-building and careful party planning. So, they include a way to makethe game easier, without cheating. Now, if you want the challenge,you don't have to use their special secrets or characters. Want FF Tacticsto be harder? Just don't put Cid in your party. He's not required to bethere. Come on guys, let's think about solutions, not just problems!

Hey Ian, I'd get over that middle name fetish, bro. It doesn'tattract the chicks. But me nice to me! I'll be nice to you! Sorta!Maybe! Golden rule baby! Golden rule!!

I do like your first point, of character abilities interacting with the game.That adds a neat little touch of realism.

On your next point, about the magic holding system... I'm with you,I liked Terra to be a magician in FF6, and Cloud to be a purebredfighting machine in FF7, stuff like that. It looks like with theDraw System, Square is continuing with that style of magic. But, youknow what? Square doesn't force the gamer to give specific characters"unfitting" materia. If you think of, say, Red XIII a caller-type,then give him call-type spells only! The game doesn't know the difference.It also adds a touch of challenge to games, if you're interested in challenge,like the writer of the previous letter was.

I agree, I think a 4-5 character party is ideal... even though I'm notexactly sure I agree with (or maybe I'm just misunderstanding) your statement thatthe number of characters in the party is a factor in the challenge of battles.Square can adjust enemy AI and strength based on the number of characters.

Allan brought up a splendoriffic point yesterday, which is basicallywhat I thought about FF Tactic's ending, but didn't say as well. Ratherthan use my own words, I'll quote him. "Delita is the generic hero guyfrom a million RPGs who kills dozens of people in the name of 'good',marries the princess, ascends the throne, becomes famous, but in abrilliant twist of the knife, he's lost so much in his quest to do rightthat he's miserable and lonely." To add to Allan's thoughts, I thinkthat Square had Delita kill Ovelia because it showed a transformationwithin Delita. He had become the man he hated early on: a manipulator,killing whatever innocent necessary to get what he wants.

And, err, staff mugs. Good question. I'll get my sizable yetwell trained staff right on the issue.

Bart, have you ever seem someone sleeping that flails his arms about, banging his hands into various objects? That's a sleeper hit! Haha!

Seriously, it's a game that sorta sneaks up on everyone. FF8 can't be a sleeper hit, since everybody and their goldfish knows all about it already. It's got a full head of hype-steam behind it. On the other hand, a sleeper hit would be a game that few people had heard of that turns out to be a quality production and ends up selling many copies based on merit, not hype.

There's been some confusion about what exactly Sony plans to do withthe PSX2. Here's how Vestal explained it to me: the *chip* is powerfulenough for home applications (much more than is needed for, say, aspreadsheet) and that they might try to challenge Intel for chipdominance. This does not necessarily mean that the PSX2 will bea full-fledged computer. For instance, Sony could be planning to sellSony PCs with the same chip that's used in the PSX2. The price is alsounannounced, but I hear it won't be more than $400. We'll see.

Or we might be wrong, and they are trying to do a lot more withthe PSX2... who knows what the future will bring. Let's just stayalert for more news.

And a little drool? I get a little drool when I see a cookie. I'ma fountain of drool for this puppy.

Thanks Eric, happy birthday to you! I hope the Birthday Fairy (he's verydiscreet, sorta like the 8th dwarf, Frankie, so he doesn't get much publicity)brings you lots of cool stuff. "Up" is supremely worthy. A very mysterious,moody, yet marvellously thought provoking and musically spankalicious chunkof music.

I'm not really looking forward to too many games... I'm more lookingforward to finding some time to play them. FF8 has me excited,of course, and Lunar looks great too. Shadow Madness should beinteresting, too.

Closing comments

Well that was fun. Been a while... aah the memories. Anyway, I'll be back, so don't get your hopes up that you'll be rid of me again!

- AK