Hey there Drew,

I've been waiting for a Chrono Trigger sequel for several years now and it has finally come and I'm complaining about it already. Nobuteru Yuuki can suck it, and that's all there is to it. There's no way I'm playing a game where the main character looked like he just got done from a photo shoot for the cover of the Shadow Madness box, and where there's a girl who looks like she just got done filming a Pipi Longstocking movie. What's this guy trying to do? He's ripping a lot off of American pop culture(I guess It's pop culture). Serge is dressed like Raven(from WCW and ECW) from the waist down, and like the guy from the (American made) Shadow Madness box from the waist up, Kid was already explained, and why did Square have to go 3-D? It's like Square saw what we liked about CT1, and decided to make it all backwards to make us mad, and don't tell me about accepting change, It's not always good (new Coke comes to mind). Well I'm done with my little bitch about Squares newest game. I'll be sure to buy it now just to bitch at it some more while I play it and compare how it sucked towards the original.

-ChewbaccaX

Drew, I agree with you on the fact that some people don't enjoy certain games because they think it'll suck before they even play it. Nameles thought Chrono Cross would suck because of a personal bias of the way Square has done things recently. My RPG days began with CT, BTW. To quote from the day before yesterday's article, a guy said about Square "all graphical flash and no plot." What's he talking about!? He's stuck in the semipermanent state of Every Square Game That Will Ever Be Made By Them Again Will Be On Par With Ergheiz And Chocobo Racing. This is not a good thing. While the point taken that Ergheiz and CR had no flah OR plot, this should not condemn Chrono Cross. To switch points for a minute, there are people ALREADY who are bashing FFVIII. To them I say, "The game isn't even out here and all you have seen are 14 English screenshots!" I blame the vocal minority, who need to be hunted down in the night. The vocal minority made everyone think that Xenogears sucks because of slow text speed. FFVII is still a good game in my eye, although the VM has run the game over with an M-1 tank, so to speak.

Ever see the movie "Stripes" with Bill Murray? There's this scene where these Army recruits are in the barracks and one says "If you sleep on my bed, I'll kill you. If you touch my stuff, I'll kill you. If you call me Francais instead of Mad Dog, I'll kill you." The the colonel says "Lighten up Francais." This is what I say to all who are complaining about Chrono Cross after TWO DAYS of hearing about it.

-Sewer Rat

Well you probably guessed what this letter is about, since everyone probably sent a letter about what they think of CT2. There IS a message board and I see way too much editorials in the Q&A section. Anyway I won't be different than the majority:P

People wanted a sequel, now they start crying. Of course at first I think everyone said YUCK! or something like that. But if people didn't try to be the first to post a message on the messgae board about CT2, maybe they would have looked at the pictures a little longer. It seems everyone think the game is entirely 3D when it ISN'T! Ok? The background are probably the most beautifull hand drawn pictures I ever saw, with a lot of details, but people seem to think it's in full 3D or pre-rendered... ok.

I don't want to pass judgement but I think people in America "the continent:P" are being way to selfish and annoying over what they want. They always get pissed off when it's not the way they want it.

If I make my own RPG I will make a perfect RPG based on MY opinion, and I will think it is perfect. This is probably what most programmers think when they make a game anyway, so make your own game if you really want to like something and stop crying about what Squaresoft or other companies decide to do with -their- games.

Hummm... what do you think?

-Phil "Osirus"

Hey I think you did an excellent job describing what Square is doing. Even though you are supposed to remain neutral in most discussions, it sometimes adds a twist to the Square loving whores attitudes. I hate Square now because of their ego. Back a while ago when they were still making SNES games they actually encouraged players to express what they thought about their games by calling in or writing in. Now they just think that everybody loves their games and think that they can pass off any game now-a-days, such as Parasite Eve and Brave Fencer. I used to love Square because they took care of their fans, back when they were a minority. I have found a new company to embrace though. I even bought a Saturn for their games. That company is Working Designs. They have the upmost respect for their fans. Take Lunar: Silver Star Story for the PSX for instance. Square would never package the making of a game, music, a hardcover instruction manual, and even a freakin' cloth map! Working Designs attitude is different than Square, because they are trying to reach the top, Square on the other hand has already reached the top, and in my opinion don't give a rats ass what anyone thinks of their games, because they know they will sell. Well that's all I will say today. As a closing note, I think many companies are getting this way, ahem EA, cough. Check out Next Generation's July interview with Bing Gordon (what an asshole..) about the view of EA's plans to produce games for Dreamcast. Or how about Namco, like these other two they have reached the top and swear no allegiance to anyone, this in my opinion will be their undoing.

-METROID_X

Drew: In response to Allan's desire for "alternative" settings in RPGs, and Al 'David, who wished for the Mediterranean settings, there were two action-RPGs (one for the Genesis, one for the Saturn), called Beyond Oasis and Legend of Oasis which had what could be termed "alternate settings." In them, you basically ran around as a guy in pantaloons, and had your choice of weapons (sword, bow, etc.). If you enjoy action-RPGs (i.e., Zelda, Alundra, etc.), definitely check them out. The art is 2D all the way, and has a definite Middle Eastern/Arabian influence to them, with large, brightly colored sprites--and the story on both is pretty good, if somewhat straightforward.

Anyway, that's my two cents, and good luck with Double Agent!

-Greg (yes, it's a boring name)

square's hosting an 'extreme' crap-a-thon on espn2? does this mean the headlining 'event' >snicker< is the bahamut ZERO summon race? or the meteor slingshot? or maybe it's the readable FFT english translation?

damn, making fun of square CAN be fun. . .

-juno reactor

Just thought I'd make SO:2 a little more scary for you. The horribly crappy voices aren't just post battle. The voices are used before, during, and after a fight. Sadly I had to mute SO:2, the music was good, but not good enough to sit through the voices.

-Locke828

Hi. I am a very observant gamer AND consumer and I would like to bring up a big reason as to why I believe that the "next Playstation" will be less than these "experts" are guessing. I noticed that the only experts predicting prices above $400 are a third party group, some unknown from MSNBC, and Sega's President. First off the third party probably wouldn't have a good idea of the cost of the system. As for the guy from MSNBC, well I think he has VERY LITTLE interest into videogames. And finally, why would you even ask the president of Sega, the only "superpower" without a system currently in the US, yet still a main competitor of Sony, of the prices. Now I know soome of you are die hard Dreamcast supporters (and I pray for your misguided souls every night), but I kinda think that one of the big competitors would WANT TO spread bad PR about the big competition which has a chance of out selling them. Thank you.

-Solidus

Allow myself to introduce... myself. I've never thought that voice acting is necessary in a game. As a wanker, I like to imagine the voices characters might have. Makes it more personal and involving, I think. However, if it is done well, voices add a lot to a game. Silent Hill and RE2 were awful I thought, and the only thing I enjoyed was imitating the voices with my brother. The memories. The only game that impressed me was Lunar: SSSC, very well done acting. The singing and voices added a lot to the already involving story. Working Designs has a rep for good translation, and Lunar had the best one I've ever seen. They rewrote the entire game dialogue with American pop culture references, that made the story more real to me. If Square would work with the American audience more they'd be better loved. With better games. But why waste time with plot and words when all that really matters is graphics?

-The Man with the Golden Gun

You know, all i've heard anymore is complaints about the voice acting in starocean, how they sound bad, and cheezy , and funny...Well, maybe they were MEANT to be that way. I mean, they add a bit of lightheartedness to the ends of battles, and give you a good idea how strong the enemy is at the beginning. Besides that, they aren't That bad...for instance, they aren't nearly as bad as RE, but then, i don't think anything could be as bad as that...Lets see, new example...they aren't Nearly as bad as brave frencer was....i never beat htat game, i just got sick of the damn princess, she reminds me of people from saved by the bell...Anyhow, i just thought i would make a point

-Bob, the three legged, four footed spider who steals from the downtrodden and gives to Andy Rooney

All right explain your problems with Star Ocean 2 because I liked it