Read, it does your brain good.

Hey JD...
1) the "FF7 for the Atari 2600" deal was pretty funny... I loved it

JD:
I thought so too. Sephiroth rocks, even as a weird pixel form.

2) Have you read this week's poll... and what are your comments on it? I used to like being able to rename your characters, but it really depends on how often you do it, and what basis do you use for renaming them. I renamed the lead character in Star Ocean 2 after myself (Kerry Kenni is somewhat funny), but that was it. On the other hand, I renamed everyone I could in FF7. I haven't lost my interest in Star Ocean 2 yet... but I have lost my interest in FF7.(prob. because of how I renamed Cloud, Tifa, and Aeris)

To be honest I could care less for renaming characters. I've never used it, or will anytime soon.

3) With Thousand Arms coming out at the same time as FF8 and Suikoden 2... do you think that it might be overlooked? I've seen some scenes from it... and they look pretty good.

This has got to be the biggest blunder in recent RPG marketing. I honestly can't fathom what Atlus' marketing division was thinking. Sadly this gem of a game, Thousand Arms, might be left in the wake of the titans FF8 and Suikoden 2. With a slated mid-September release, it will be right in between FF8(Sept. 9) and Suikoden 2(around the 20th). The game seems very cool, but with this bad timing the game might indeed be overlooked.

4) Have you ever played Monster Rancher? I think it's a very good game, and also somewhat overlooked (with Pokemon beating it into the background) (P.S.-I'm getting it and FF8 for my b-day)

No. That's nice...save me a slice of cake will ya?

5) And to finish... what's your fav. RPG song? My first choice is Aeris' theme (the one played when she dies), and my second choice is the Opera song from FF6 (Celes' theme). By the way... does anyone notice that the two songs are somewhat alike?

I can't decide, I have way too many favorites.

Hi JD,

Will Square re-release FF2/4j here in the U.S. and if so when?

JD:
There are no plans at this point to re-release FF2/4j for the PSX.

Also, do you know when the Final Fantasy Movie will be done?

The latest reports still show the Movie to be on track for a Summer 2001 release.

And lastly, Lunar: SSSC rocks, will EB be even better? Thank you for answering my questions, oh great RPG guru!

Lunar EB is far superior to SSSC in my opinion. The story actually has a ton of surprises, rather than SSSC's somewhat cliche storyline (which I loved by the way).

your humble peon
-Chris (I am Fei Fong Wong!!)

Woah, I have a peon? Didn't know that before.

From what you said in today's column, I didn't realize how lucky I was to get a Thousand Arms demo. For everyone's information, the demo has to be one of the best demo disks ever made for a game--you get an option menu that lets you see a dungeon (with battles), one of the game's scenes, an anime cut scene, and the CG opening. Now while this demo is nice, the battles are very, VERY weird. While you can have up to 8 people in your party, on 3 seem to be able to enter battle with you, and only ONE OF THEM gets to really do anything in the way of attacking. The other two act in a support role with spells and items. So I just wanted to let people know that before they run out and pre-purchase it to learn more about this innovative, but foreign battle system.

-Jordan Davis (another JD, but I've been alive longer)
P.S.--I did see the RPGamer quote on the demo. Cool stuff.

JD:
Thanks for the info. I'm sure those undecided on the TA purchase will find this of interest.

Something big you guys are ignoring is the SFC Dragon Slayer games. I'm not sure how many there were, but Dragon Slayer: Legend of Heroes for SFC is a game I had just recently added to my collection thanks to eBay. This game predates the Duo one mentioned in this guy's letter by a year. I'm not sure of the details, but it's a fun game with a battle system reminiscent of the Dragon Quest games. That's about it.

-Mike Lisman

JD:
Ahh, my favorite series along with YS and Final Fantasy. I have not played the SFC version though, in my mind Falcom's games can only be appreciated in the CD format. I was going to add a ton of DS coverage this summer, until my HD crashed and I lost a ton of my DS data. In any event yes, I do plan to add the series, as well as many other classic rpgs into coverage, as soon as I get some spare time.

As far as Dragon Slayer, if you haven't played the DUO version, I highly suggest it. The Duo verion's music, especially the arranged album, seems like it was forged from the heavens. Then again most falcom music is that way. It remains as one of my favorite games even after 7 years. On the LOH note, Falcom also released a few months ago, Legend of Heroes 3. You might want to check it out. It's in our Games section.

JD,

I've noticed that a great many people complain that the new RPGs just arn't as good as the old school RPGs. Well, there is a good example of a newer RPG with some really nice older elements to it. And that game is, of course, Tales of Destiny. The plot is pretty good, the graphics are 2D there is a lot of playing time in it and it has an innovative battle system. I completely enjoyed this game because of it's old atmosphere, it's good use of the Playstations capabilities in the way of music and speech, and the way that the player can actually have a fair amount of freedom about who is in the party at any given time. Yep, Tales of Phantasia (which we never saw in the US, but it too was very good) and Tales of Destiny are great games. Now go out and buy Tales of Destiny.

-Zaphod Beeblebrox

JD:
Indeed, Tales of Destiny was the sleeper hit or un hit, depending on your opinion, of last year. It is very old school, however I will say the game disappointed me. I suppose I expected too much, after the hype that surrounded Tales of Phantasia. Speaking of Tales of Phantasia, is anyone as upset as I am that Namco has not announced this remake for US release?

Okay, so maybe I was a little too brief in that last letter about how great Ys was, so this time, I am going to take the chance to redeem that little error. You people want 'depth' on the reasons why Ys is the best game ever made, and why Final Fantasy is pure shit, then fine, that is EXACTLY what you are going to get.

Now where should we start....hmmm....how about we start from the ground up? In other words, let's start off by telling you all WHY Final Fantasy is crap. First of all, the Final Fantasy series has the most widely used story in almost every RPG out there - in other words, It's always some bad guy is going to take over the world and destroy it, and the hero always gets into some love triangle with one of the big breasted ladies in the party. Nothing new and nothing original - that is the whole story of ALL the Final Fantasy series. It's called a bad case of REDUNDANCY. Final Fantasy is not a TRUE series because it's a whole different story everytime, even though it's really not a different story, it just has different characters in it. Sure, there are NEW characters in every new installment of Final Fantasy, but none of them are well developed, and it almost seems like they have the same personality traits as their pathetic ancestors before them. To top that off, Final Fantasy has very poor music - most people would not agree, but who gives a crap about them, anyway? Most of them are newbies and have never really heard the power and beauty of Redbook Audio at its finest. And last but not least, Final Fantasy can't even follow it's own namesake - whoever made the name is an idiot with a capital I.

Now we're at the tip of the iceburg, so now it's time to talk about Ys in all it's glory. Ys is so beautiful, it almost can't be put into words, but here goes nothing. Ys is about a 'communist' city which after many generations of happiness and prosperity, suddenly disappears from the face of the planet because of the evil which was slowly engulfing the rest of the world (democracy and capitalism) . The story of Ys is based on a REAL legend about a city called Ys that was off the coast of France that sunk beneath the ocean - Falcom just changed things around a little bit, making the story even more intriguing than it already is. Also, the Ys series is just as the name implies - Ys is like a book series; once you end one book, you continue on the next with everything intact the way it was when you finished the other one - This is wonderful because the characters you begin to know and love continue on throughout the entire series - this makes you know the characters so well, and that is one of the reasons why I think Adol Christin is the best main character EVER in any game. One of the most noticable parts about Ys, however, is the music. The music is so incredible and moving, it's almost impossible to think that someone could actually make music so beautiful. Ys will always be my favorite game because I KNOW no one out there, other than the beautiful people at Falcom, has the talent to make something even greater. For all of you unbelievers out there, I have included some mp4's (wma's) of Ys Book I and II and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys intros for your downloading pleasure. Keep in mind that you will need the FULL install of Winamp 224 to listen to these - which I will also include. http://www.safelink.net/lallman/

I promise to all of you who have open minds - you will become Ys fans, eventually.

-Kadamose

JD:
I'll give you some points for somewhat valid, if not new arguments on the FF issue. In fair light perhaps, YS doesn't have as elaborate a storyline as FF's, I don't care YS rocks. But this isn't the place for me to air out these issues. You square fanatics might try and rip me apart. ;)

Your breath is probably wasted however, I know a couple of square fanatics who won't even accept Falcom's legendary music. Oh well, the world is full of injustices.

"...looking to be the strongest US Console launch in history..." I'm laughing at you right now, if you can't tell. Don't take it personaly though, just when people start yapping about "greatest in history" or "best of all time" it reminds me the funny way people think. It's unbelievable how arrogant we(all people) are. Do you(we) actually think that there will never be a better console launch? Ever? You won't catch me saying Dreamcast will be the best of all time, because the PSX46 will definatly lauch with over twenty million VR games, clean your house, and bear your children. I'm going to save up for one right now. Too bad I'll be dead by then. ;)

-redknight1

JD:
One of my favorite writers to the column. You are usually right on the issues, but on this one, you misconstrued what I said. I was indeed expecting flack for my Stolar defense, this one however was an interesting deviation of the topic. First when I said the Dreamcast US launch looks to have the strongest game line up as far as consoles are concerned, I wasn't stating an opinion, but was stating fact. According to the latest numbers the Dreamcast launch could be 2-2.5x bigger sales wise than any in the US console history. In that sense I am correct for saying "greatest in history."

I do agree on your point about people referencing "best of all time" and other future connotations. Perhaps, it's just human nature.