Andrew,

First off, to the guy wondering about Kingdom Hearts. As far as I know, the lamps in Halloween Town don't do anything other than light up when you hit them. For the treasure chest in Atlantica, you have to hit it from below to dislodge and open it. I believe you can access it through an exit from the area with the sunken ship.

Secondly, that isn't a chocobo in the FF12 poster, it's Jar-Jar Binks, which would explain why the buildings are reminiscent of Coruscant. And while we're on this topic, what do you think of the change in character designers? Akihiko Yoshida did the character designs for both Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story before this, and I quite enjoyed his work in both of those.

Your columns are good,
But lacking in much haiku.
Please fix this problem.

Bart

Hey Andrew,

OK, here's my best RPG moment EVER...I was playing Final Fantasy 1, and got to Gurgu Volcano. I walked inside and my party immediately got decimated...except for my fighter. I ran from that battle, and every other battle in the entire dungeon for that matter, and got to the bottom floor. I was torn between fighting Kary or going for the Flame Armor. In the end I decided to go for the Flame Armor, so I went over, beat the Red Dragon, and got the Flame Armor. At this point I figured I had nothing to lose, so I went to the crystal room, used all the rest of my potions, and fought and defeated Kary! Then I got outside, used a tent, and got back to safety at Crescent Lake! I'm sure there've been other close crapes, but that's the one that always stands out in my mind. And the thing I find most amazing about it is that I still remember crap like this after 13 years, but can't even remember the names of any of the towns in RPGs I've played in the last three years.

Robust Stu

Hi Andrew,

I know you're against having a nickname, but I think I've found one that suits you and that you should consider using: Qualanqui. It means "Angry at Everybody" in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs/Mexica. I borrowed it from Gary Jennings "Aztec"--a book that I can say without use of hyperbole is the greatest book ever written in the history of the English language (Really, I can't espouse it enough. Sex, drugs, violence, human sacrifice, verisimilitude: it has it all.).

Hmm. I suppose I should ask a question while I'm at it. What do you think of Kingdom Hearts? I know a lot of people are singing the praises of it--but dammit, I just can't bring myself to rent/buy it on principle. Should I put aside my dark hatred for all things rodent related and at least give it a try (okay, so technically that was two questions)?

Frankly, the whole concept of that game just baffles the hell out of me. Disney and Square! It's like Marvel and DC, or cheese and porn: a bad combination.

Because I'm an SD(rhymes with "pit reverber") , and therefore aggravating by nature, I thought I'd throw this little gem/rant out there--and overstay my welcome too!

To: All people out there freaking out over the Enix/Square merger
Re: Said merger

Enough already! Sheesh! Never in my twenty-six years on this planet have I seen so much ado about nothing. Calm the heck down.

I believe this union will be relatively painless and beneficial to us all--and that it'll be a least a year or so before we in the gaming community see any consequences, good or ill. All the frothing-at-the-mouth debates and innane speculation going on isn't doing anyone any amount of good, and it sure as hell isn't going to change anything.

And usually when two companies merge, it's to the advantage of both, and you wind up with a company stronger and more competitive for it (don't quote me on that as I'm not a business major). It's called "leveraging synergies", and it's all the rage with the kids.

Ciao

Mixtzin "Oh my God! Cream gravy! It's burning my flesh. But it's so tasty."

A belated Merry Christmas to you Andy,

Got a nice juicy multiparter for you. Don't worry, it won't bite. Only the zombies will.

1. Wasn't Working Designs going to translate and...do all that other stuff to the Growlanser series and release it in the US? Everyone needs more RPGs to play.

2. Will Konami ever make another Symphony of the Night/Nocturne in the Moonlight quality Castlevania game again? One that doesn't end up being for the GBA I mean?

3. Is Chobits really that good? As in, good enough to get me to temporarily put Excel Saga on hold?

4. Son of a submariner. It's not a question, just an amusing line.

"Black as Sin, Red as Blood"
Orochi Yamazaki

Hi Andrew,

Lately, after playing so many RPG's (especially squaresoft games) the main themes and melodies seem to be less and less creative. Originally with games like Chrono Trigger and FF6, Square (and by that I mean mostly Nobuo Uematsu) seemed to have used most of their musical ability in the scores for those two games. Sure, every final fantasy and Square game in general after that had notable, creatively new tracts, but the meat of the songs are mostly previous materal tweaked and played with. My First question: Am I the only person who feels this way? Second: Do you think that Square should hire different people to do the music? Oh yeah, and third : Are there people who read this who have never heard the original Chocobo theme? (If so DOWNLOAD it from this site probably in the FF4 section. The theme has become a time honored tradition in remixing, but make sure you hear the original!)

Thanks,
Argo

I'd have to disagree with you on the Crystalis thing, the FFT team broke up but not their entire company thus leaving the rights to someone. In Crystalis's case, the whole company went under so unless they gave their rights to it to another company its fairly hopeless.

Anyhow, on to questions...

1. Do you think theres any hope for the cube and RPGs in the future?
2. A few weeks ago I asked you about the sonic and knuckles-like lock-on tech being used for the GBA. When I asked it, I meant it in more of a use for multi-cart games rather than addons. Wait, this isn't a question its a comment...no wait, its a question. Feck, I dunno.

-SDHawk

• Stupid letters about .hack.

• Stupid letters about my next blunder.