Okay, back on track, I hope. What's new in the letters pull this week? First and foremost was response to my inquiry about Legend of Legaia. The results are below, and increase my previously-weak interest in the game. Some of them described its difficulty level with such style and conviction that I'm giving it a try on the basis of these letter recommendations. You oughtta be used car salesmen. :) Next up is the straggling response to my MP3 rant, where I got facts outright wrong, but somehow managed to be at least partially correct nonetheless. Go me! And last, most messily, comes the latest battle in my ongoing war against hardcore gamers and the conceits they hold dear. It's my personal crusade. Open-mindedness to new ideas is my Holy Grail. And lord, have I ever provoked some fights in here about it, as most of you know very well indeed. But, upon reading and rereading the letters I've received on this subject, something's sunk in, and I'm ending my crusade. No, I'm not giving up on the ideals behind it. I still firmly believe that the "hardcore" mentality is arrogant and damaging to the gaming industry, to say nothing of the divisive effect it has on the gaming community as a whole. I say these things openly and without any regrets. But on the other hand, I've ranted for many a moon about how this is supposed to be the column by the readers, for the readers, and it's time to put my muppet where my mouth is. Printing day after day of the FF7 war is an act of provocation on my part. I'm using the column as a vanity project rather than a public discussion forum, and that's wrong. Whether you agree with me or not is irrelevent, though I admit it's gratifying that most of you agree with me in spirit, if not in word. I've provoked a war in this column because I think it's a war that should be fought, not because it's what most of you actually want to talk about. So it's going to end. I'm declaring a moratorium on the war against hardcore gamers. No more FF change discussion for a good long while. GIA is about more than just what I think RPGs should be about, and it's high time this column reflected that. I'll give it my best. As always. | Fixing the MP3 situation | Just to clear things up: - The lawsuit slapped on Nullsoft was by another MP3 Player developerand it was for using that player's code. Apparently, the story goes that fora while, WinAmp used that code with permission. When Nullsoft developedNitrane [sp], they no longer needed that code, and stopped using it. Whatthe exact problem is, I don't know, nor will I until the suit is settled. Onthe lighter side, despite the suit, a new version of WinAmp and SHOUTcastshould be released soon. - The handheld player you're refering to is Diamond's Rio, I believe. Ifthat's the case, then then injunction was not upheld. The RIAA is stillpersuing a permanent injunction, but the temporary injunction failed. Otherthan the Diamond/RIAA suit, there are no other suits to my knowledge, and noother handheld players have been taken off the market. There you have it. MP3 is a very useful and versitile format, and I wouldn'tbe suprised at all if PC games started utilizing it. However, the prospectof MP3s being used by a console system is pretty thin, since you wouldn'tneed to by soundtracks ever again. It's just too risky for the companies. Whatever, Eric Kolb, a.k.a. Dygel |
Mea culpa on the Rio and the Nullsoft info. At least most of you seem to agree with my assertion that, while it might well be a very helpful thing to use in the console industry, it's probably not going to happen. We're agreeing on the pizza, but not the topping. Case, I hope, closed. | Why we hate | Why do people bitch, whine, a moan about every little thing (like FinalFanatsys change)? As long as the game is fun that means its good. So why can'tpeople just enjoy the games? - Spuzzz |
1) Because this is the Internet, and the Internet promotes bitching and whining like no other medium. :) 2. Without criticism, there is no recognition of flaws and avenues for improvement, and nothing ever gets better. 3. Because letters columns are forums for opinions, and especially under the guiding hand of someone like me, there are going to be conflicts. It's okay. It doesn't mean that we can't, or don't, enjoy games also. It just means that we're arguing here. | Legaia stuff | Regarding Slade's observation in yesterday's column about the difficultyof Legend of Legaia--I second it!!! Having been a fan of RPGs since theoriginal Dragon Warrior, I find that Legaia is undoubtedly one of the mostdifficult ones I've ever laid eyes on, if not THE most difficult. Thefirst real dungeon of the game (Drake Castle) required about three visits,simply to build up experience and gold for equipment, before I was able tocomplete it. (As you might have guessed, I used up all my healing itemson the first trip...) Also: I beat the first major boss of the game (thefirst one after you obtain all three characters) with only Noa stillstanding, and at about 1/6 of her max HP and about zero MP to boot. Earlyon, at least, this is NOT a game where you can expect to survive endlessbouts with random enemies without some thought. You've been warned. Other than that, though (perhaps because of that), the game's simplyawesome. Quite well-done. The graphics have some problems, the music'sonly okay, and the game, again, is unbelievably difficult, but I'mhopelessly addicted already. Hats off to Contrail for this one. -- Adrian Packel |
The general consensus, with two dissenters, is that LoL is a tough, tough game. Some claim it as the hardest RPG they've ever played, others say it's just one of the toughest, and two people don't see what the fuss is about. Zeto was mentioned most often as an ass-whooper. I'll be getting my hands on it on Thursday, with any luck, so I'll give my own impressions as we go. Still, a recent hot topic of letters was increasing the difficulty levels of games, and for all those that asked, I point you to LoL. Apparently, you've got your wish. As an aside, extensive LoL coverage is on the way, courtesy of Fritz, including buckets of info, screenshots, and a full walkthrough of the game. Fritz has mad guide-writing skillz, he does. | The diminishing value of 2D | Hey, me personally, I hope those design sketches are for Final Fantasy Tactics II. That's my favorite RPG on the Playstation and 3rd on my list of all time greatest (1st-FF6; 2nd-Chrono Trigger). FF VII and the rest of the "cinimatic RPGs" can kiss my pasty, white ass. I want more old-school 2-D graphics. I mean, think about it. The characters in FFT could do almost anything. Need a guy to stab someone, they could do it. How 'bout a chick bent over vomiting, they could do it. With 2-D you get fluid, expressive animations instead of a bunch of blocks in the shape of a man squating down and then standing up to show he was happy. Thank god for SaGa Frontier 2. - Mark John(s)on P.S.- Did Chrono Trigger really sell badly in the U.S. I'm not really an expert so I don't know, but every even remote RPG player I've talked has played it and loved it. I just wondered because I would really love to see a remake. |
First off, polygonal graphics and cinematic gameplay are not synonymous. Secondly, as technology improves, the advantages of 2D in terms of detail, frame rate, and smoothness of motion are going to be sorely cut back, if not completely overwhelmed. Look at preview pictures of Climax Landers for Dreamcast. Or Shen Mue. These aren't a bunch of blocks. If they are, then sprites can be equally written off as a bunch of dots. Are we at the point where 3D graphics consistently boast the detail and breadth of motion that sprites accomplish? Of course not. Are we reaching such a point? Yep. Odds are, second-generation Dreamcast games are going to make most RPG sprites look outright simplistic and stilted by comparison. The characters in Shen Mue II (or whatever) will be the fluid, expressive ones. Chrono Trigger didn't sell badly in the U.S., but wasn't a smash hit by any means. For example, it was outsold by every incarnation of John Madden football ever published. | Flophouse | Hey, Allan. After reading Ed McGlothlin's Deep Thoughts letter, I started thinking,and while I don't blame Mr. McGlothlin for standing up for Nintendo (aright dangerous action, these days), it does seem like he didn't do hishomework, especially concerning failures by Nintendo. "Sure, Nintendo has had some failed ventures, but how many flop games have they had? Zero." Pardon me for a moment while I list said flop games: Everything for theVirtual Boy, the Power Pad and associated games, both Power Gloves andassociated games, Diddy Kong Racing (it was hyped up the wazoo, but Ihaven't heard a thing about it for several months, which tells methere's no lasting appeal), South Park 64 (the highest rating I've seenthis game receive is a 3.4), and Dual Heroes (shudder). These were the big flops, the ones that died outright. Next, I have fourwords to show that Nintendo is the great pioneer that they're made outto be: "Era of the RPG." Ever since Square created Final Fantasy VII(for Sony, no less!), RPGs have been the topic of discussion and mediaand developer attention. Nintendo, then, seeing the market trend,decided to wade into RPG development with it's groundbreaking game,Quest 64. Unfortunately, many people agree with me when I say Quest 64 was prettymuch a dismal failure. Anyone remember the game Body Harvest? It was one of Nintendo's moremoderately-hyped games, but if you pay close attention to theadvertisements, Nintendo claims the game is an RPG. I want to know ifI'm the only person who thinks this is little more than a vague,off-hand claim to attempt to reap the benefits of Sony's RPG successes. Nintendo is not BAD. Many of the games on the N64 are wonderful.However, there HAVE been flops, and there HAVE been plenty of failures.Sony has had such failures, too (Blasto, anyone?), but to say thatNintendo is somehow immune to the prospect of failure is defending thecompany just a little bit too zealously. And Nintendo is not the only pioneer. RPGs are, I believe, the future ofthe video game market, since just about every new game being createdboasts some sort of RPG-like aspect in their engine. Nintendo stronglyshied away from RPGs with the N64, but just as Sony "walks into a primesituation and reaps the benefits," Nintendo tried to cash in on Sony'sRPG success. Like I said, Nintendo is not bad, but they are not infallible, either. - Keith |
You're right and you're wrong here. I agree with you on principle, namely that Nintendo does have flops to their record. However, Ed was discussing first-party products only, so we can discount Quest 64, South Park, Dual Heroes, and Body Harvest, as none of them were developed in-house. Diddy Kong Racing actually sold pretty well, placing high on sales charts. Not a smash hit, but a solid title. Nintendo's record for endorsing and approving crap is no better or worse than any other company, but their first party software almost universally sold well. They've had some critical flops, and they've lost a lot of money on crap accessories (R.O.B., anyone?), but purely on a software development level, they may boast the most consistent performance in the industry. I agree that Nintendo is not infallible. They've had critical flops, bad market decisions, and an abysmal track record with accessories. But their software sales have been remarkably consistent, and they deserve some credit for that. The average quality is high, I guess, and it instills a lot of trust. They earned their spot. | Another kind of MP3 | Heroes III dosen't use the audio format mp3. It names its maps(I belive the multiplayer maps only) with the *.mp3 file name. The game still uses reedbook audio which it stores on the CD -Tyler Bowlin |
Well, I feel kinda dumb. Thanks for the correction. | Finding the paths to the Holy Sword | It's a bit hard to uncover the relationship between the Mana games (if there actually is one), but I am almost positive that there is one between Final Fantasy Adventure (Seiken Densetsu 1) and Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2). I'll go into detail, but I must warn that a few major plotline spoilers are on the way, so to those who have not yet played both games, PLAY THEM NOW!!!...that, or skip the rest of this letter. ^_^ Alrighty. Final Fantasy Adventure takes place after Secret of Mana for a couple of reasons. First, the main powers who tried (unsuccessfully) to fight off the evil Emperor Vandole in FFA were the Gemma Knights. The hero of FFA becomes the last Gemma Knight at the end of the game to help defend the Mana tree from future threats. Jema, a knight from SoM, defended the realm from the evil Empire with the help of the hero's father, Serin (I believe the hero of SoM's name was Randi in Japan, so I'll refer to him as that from here on). So, does Jema = Gemma? Probably (there have been worse mistranslations of names in videogames before). Jema likely trained knights to fight off any future attackers after the events of SoM, but these knights dwindled in number before the events of FFA. Next support - At the end of FFA, the main female character from the game (the player selects her name) becomes the last Mana tree. Why the last one? Because the woman has no heirs, and her mother (the old Mana tree) is dying. In SoM, the Mana tree is Randi's mother, but she is destroyed by the Mana Fortress. Randi's parents were members of the Mana tribe - the wife becoming the Mana tree, the husband becoming its defender. Therefore, Randi must be the girl from FFA's ancestor, or else things couldn't work out. As for Seiken Densetsu 3...things get a little convoluted here. I'd wager SD3 was the prequel to SoM. During that game, a Goddess was the embodiment of Mana, and turned herself into the Mana tree after creating the world. Mana power had started to dwindle at the beginning of SD3, and separate nations were at war with each other. At the end of SD3, the goddess finally dies, and a fairy created by the dying goddess becomes the next Mana tree. The Mana tribe probably was probably created between SD3 and SoM (maybe this will be the focus of LoM's storyline, eh?). Therefore, Seiken Densetsu 3 ö Secret of Mana ö Final Fantasy Adventure. And boy do my hands hurt. Jason Strohmaier
I haven't played all of the Seiken Densetsu games all the way through(SD2 all the way, and into the beginning of number three - never seenthe first), but I feel pretty confidant in this, so let's go! Ahem. Each Seiken Densetsu (which translates as "The Holy Sword Legend."Did you know that?) game has focused around a different band of heroestrying to save the world, much like the Final Fantasy series, and theplots haven't been chronologically arranged - there is no real sense ofcontinuing history, but the games are still connected. In every Seiken game, a tale has been told about a small band ofoutcasts who realize that Mana, the power of life that holds our worldin balance, is in danger. Slowly discarding their pasts, the few chosenones build their personal strength. They gather the power of theelementals (beings that represent the forces necessary to life - fireand water, wind and earth, light and darkness, moon and forest.Actually, "moon" represents unpredictability... not the ball of rockthat orbits earth). They raise the awareness of the people of the worldto what is happening. And, finally, the chosen outcasts revive the holyand unstoppable power of the Sword of Life - a blade composed not ofmetal, but of the unbreakable will to _live_ that is inherent in everycreature of the world our heroes strive to save. This is the connection that all the Seiken Densetsu games share -the games don't necessarily need to take place on the same world (thoughthey certainly seem to, with Flammies, merchant cats, and other suchthings repeating), but they are all stories of the same struggle - ofthe universal force of life breaking free of those who would choose toendanger it. Just like in the intro to Seiken 2 - Time flows like ariver, and history repeats. Seiken Densetsu is all about repeatinghistory - What happens first or last doesn't matter, so long as there isalways a hero willing to raise the Sword of Life. That's about it. 'Till later! ~Game Cat |
While Jason puts forth a good argument for direction connections between the games, my gut feeling and observations about SD3 lead me to favour GameCat's conclusions. They're thematically and tied together in details, but in some ways are sequels in scope and effect, but I think they really are seperate worlds. Damn, those are good letters. Really good stuff. Wow.
Closing comments Due to the lack of column yesterday, I've got a backlog of extra, excellent letters, so don't be alarmed if yours was passed over today. Then again, I'll be making an extra effort to answer letters individually to all letter-writers, so send in new ones, too. You can never have too many good letters to shape a column out of, I say. Also, please refrain from reaction to the opening rant for a little bit. Let's give this no-crusade thing a week or so, and see how it pans out. I'm hoping that, by focusing our energies and thoughts on a new topic, we can find topics of discussion that don't lead to flames and snotty replies. In a week, we can look back, take stock, and evaluate how effectively I've managed to mend my ways. I hope I can live up to the expectations I'm setting for myself. - Allan Milligan | | | |
