A Q&A SaGa
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| March 9th, 2011 |
03/09- 12:00PM EST
After an awesome recording of RPG Backtrack about the SaGa series, so I'm in a SaGa kind of mood this week. I
think I'll play some Unlimited Saga, and try and finish up the SaGa 2 remake. How many of you out
there are fans of the series? Anyway, I'd like to thank you all for the
fantastic contest entries! There's even more that I haven't yet
responded to, and you're welcome to keep sending in your crazy ideas
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Why Is Nintendo Leaving us in the
Xeno-Dark?
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Dear Wheels,
Sorry for not sending a letter in a while. I've been sort of busy, but
perhaps you already knew that, heh.
Wheels
Indeed, welcome to the staff! RPGamer is much better with you on board.
This also increases the number of Tales
fans on-staff.
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Anyway, it seems that everywhere I go, people are worrying about
whether or not Xenoblade,
formerly known as "Monado: The
Beginning of the World" will be localized. While I understand
the anxiety, I have to wonder if people haven't heard certain bits of
information which, I believe, indicate that there is still a decent
chance of this game being released in North America (can't say the same
for PAL regions, I'm afraid):
1) The old "Monado" title was
retrademarked last December. It interestingly co-incided with the
removal of Monado from NoA's
official site.
2) The web domain www.xenoblade.com exists, though it relinks to NoA.
3) The game was first revealed at E3 2009, under the old Monado title.
Wheels
To provide further evidence, amazon.com has a pre-order page for the
game, complete with screen shots and a mock-up box art. This is more
than they usually have for announced games with unknown release dates.
So that's certainly a good sign. I have a feeling that Nintendo is
holding off some Wii releases as not to interfear with the release of
the 3DS.
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As I understand it, trademarking and retrademarking names does not
necessarily mean said game will ever come out. However, why go through
the trouble of removing the game AND retrademarking its name if
Nintendo decided against releasing the game? I believe this may
indicate that they will actually be releasing the game as "Xenoblade" rather than "Monado," and kept the Monado trademark for whatever legal
reasons they have. The web domain could support this, though i'm
less sure on that. I imagine that, at the soonest, we won't hear about
this game until E3 to confirm any localization or name changes. On some
level, I'm surprised about people forgetting the game's debut, but I
remind myself that not all game shown at E3s get released. I should
note that people who have sent emails to Nintendo inquiring about Xenoblade have gotten the basic
response of "the game will be called 'Mondo:
The
Beginning of the World' and is listed as TBD'" I wonder if
that response has changed with the recent removal of the game's name.
Wheels
That's a good question, one of which I hope someone will ask of them. I
plan on inquiring about the game while I'm at Pax East. I really do
think this is all a matter of timing though. Nintendo has been gearing
up for the 3DS launch, not to mention a new entry in a certain
collecting based RPG. I think the title I'm more worried about is the
latest Fire Emblem for DS.
We've been getting all the games in the series for awhile now, so it'd
be a shame to miss one.
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So, what do you think? Do we have a decent shot at getting this game,
or is all my optimism misplaced?
Well, that's all for now. Until next time, Wheels!
-Strawberry Eggs
Wheels
I think your optimism is well placed, and I expect to hear about this,
and hopefully The Last Story
as well in the near future. The only time I would be worried is if E3
comes and goes without any news. There's still plenty of time before
that though!
'Til next time.
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Yo wheels, what's crackin'?
You asked which ending would go along with my sequel idea. To that, I point you
to a list of endings because it's just way easier this way.
Wheels
Are there really that many endings?
I didn't even realize it. I need to pick this game up again some time
and try and get all of them. Nice excuse to play Chrono Trigger again!
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On that page, 12a or 12b would be the perfect endings. 12a because it
gives Crono a reason to keep time traveling, or 12b because in the
sequel you obviously wouldn't want the Epoch sitting in Lucca's garage
waiting to be exploited. Your idea to choose one and go from there
would certainly work with these two endings as well. Even though I
don't think Crono would necessarily be the main character of the sequel
(though I certainly am not against the idea), it could determine
when/how you meet up with him or any of the others throughout your game
as well as whether or not you get the old Epoch to fly around in or
have to find/rely on some new mode of travel. I love flying...
Wheels
That's kind of a goofy ending to go with (mom wandering into a time
portal) but that would give you an excuse to keep the sequel more
light-hearted. That's a great starting point to work from anyway,
perhaps some new threat shows up in the wake of Lavos?
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As for the way fighting is handled, the more I think about Rogue Galaxy and FFXII having super amazing battle
systems, the more I realize that a combination of those two systems
would work best. Have the RPG/turn-based style refelect FFXII (possibly even have the
gambit system return in some form) while the character cooperation and
teamwork acts more like Rogue Galaxy.
Wheels
Sounds good by me! Since the original involved combo and tri-attacks,
this would make perfect sense for the series. Include all new kinds of
combination attacks, and of course recreate some of the old ones in
glorious 3D. Considering how much I love Final Fantasy XII, anything similar
to that would be good by me.
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To back up my desire of having the game on a console, I would like to
add that having more time-lines as DLC would probably be about the best
thing ever. Along with that each DLC could offer more endings to unlock
as well. As a bit of a stretch, maybe the DLC could offer new
characters to play. If he wasn't already in the game, I'd certainly be
willing to pay a couple bucks to have Frog journey with me through CT2. Or as a super stretch, Sora.
Because why hasn't that been an option for RPGs yet? Downloadable
characters with new builds, weapons, etc... Maybe people would've liked
FFXIII more
if they could've downloaded Serah to replace Vanille or Fang. Or Sazh.
Or anyone else... Sorry. Just really hated FFXIII. SPOILER (Anyone else think
Hope should totally've iced Snow when he had the chance? It would've
made the game so much more epic as far as the storyline was concerned.)
Anyway!
Wheels
Hey, I actually liked Snow, in battle anyway. Anyway, downloadable
characters would have been a cool idea, but based on the story of Final Fantasy XIII, it would have
been hard to have them make sense in the larger story. That's the major
problem with doing downloadable characters. Unless your game is
something like Mass Effect 2,
or even Disgaea 3, where
characters can easily be excluded from the plot, it's difficult
to throw in new characters. Of course, if this sequel is more like Chrono Cross, with many characters
that often just add some comments here and there, it could work.
Regardless, downloadable Frog would be the best thing ever.
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My friends have been trying to get me to pick up New Vegas. I am still unsure. One
of them (a very tactical, number-crunching gamer) says that pretty much
any build you make ends up being way overpowered (Seriously,
one-shotting the Legendary Death Claw on Very Hard? Why is that
possible?). Another complains about it as much as he praises it, and I
have yet to see any videos or read any opinions that would sway me
otherwise. Am I missing something?
Thanks for your time,
Kain Vinosec (whom is now totally an author by the way)
www.EmbracingFate.com
Wheels
You are missing something. While the game doesn't change much from Fallout 3 in terms of gameplay,
it's world is a vast improvement over that game. That's Obsidian's
specialty, and considering some that worked there helped create the Fallout series, it is very
interesting to see them working on it again. All and all, it is more
than worthy of your time, especially considering it has dropped in
price.
Look forward to hearing from you again!
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Mirror Mirror, Who's the biggest Chrono
fan of them All?
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It would be bold and foolish of me to say that I am the biggest Chrono fan. So I won't. Having
said that, however, I am indeed the biggest Chrono fan.
Wheels
You think that do you? I still use an
AOL instant messanger name I created 15 years ago based on my love for
the game, can you top that?
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When I first played Chrono Cross,
I
had been aching for seven years to find out what was next. What could
possibly come after the greatest game of all time? I was incredibly
disappointed at first because Cross was nothing at all like Trigger,
and any references made to the first instalment seemed somewhat forced.
Except the music--the way they remixed the Trigger tunes was absolutely
brilliant.
However, after I finished the game and set it aside for a while I dared
to give it a second chance and I realised something: Chrono Cross is a good game. My
mistake was to compare it to the first. Despite the connections, Cross is really not a continuation
of Trigger. As a stand-alone
game, Cross does quite well
for itself--and I think that's the key for creating a new instalment in
the Chrono series. Thus far,
the Chrono series, in terms
of commonality between games lies somewhere between Final Fantasy and Mana.
See, when you create something great, it's sometimes a mistake to
attempt to expand on or continue what you have. Chrono Trigger's story has been
told, so Chrono Cross didn't
need to say that much more about it. And, as someone else
commented, since time travel had already been covered, it was
necessary to examine inter-dimensional travel.
Wheels
Man, I can't really add much because you pretty much hit the nail on
the head. I'll just mainly add that Chrono
Cross was also developed by a different team. I'm sure they
wanted to make something of their own, not just an easy follow up. I
commend them for being that bold and doing something different. I'll
bet the reason many dislike the
game is simply because it isn't a carbon copy of Chrono Trigger, which is a shame.
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So, where do I want to see the next Chrono
instalment go? I want it to have as much to do with Trigger or Cross, as CC had to do with CT. Let's tell a new story. From
what we understand, Lavos has been doing more than wreaking havoc on
this world. Where else has it laid waste? I'd like to see its effects
on another world. Perhaps in another world where its inhabitants are
not so lucky as to have the secrets of time/dimensional travel
available. Naturally, some element of time must be incorporated to make
it a Chrono game. But what if
it examined the unyielding effects time has on people? It could be a
kind of survival-esque game that shows how time trudges on, and
sometimes no matter how hard you fight, you just don't have enough time
and are helpless to change what could have been. I know that sounds
kind of dark, but "good guys" don't always win--or its effects are not
necessarily immediately evident. Imagine a game with 12 different
endings that always showed you losing. Depressing? Realistic?
Refreshing? Sometimes, the future refuses to change.
~Simon
Wheels
Wow, that is pretty dark. Maybe throw
in one really hard to get ending that's somewhat happy? I like the idea
though. They can't beat Lavos, and the game is more about the journy
they take trying to do so, and the personal story of the people
involved. I think this could make for a really touching and mature game
if done right. What would you call it though? Great idea though! I'd
like you to write back and expand on it some more, if you would!
Look forward to hearing more of your ideas!
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Hidei ho good virtual neighbor!!
I was sitting @home one day thinking of all the Q and A's I have read
of @Wheels columns I don't know if there was a question asked or
answered about the Shing Force
series. So here goes: "Wheels, I enjoyed Shining Force 1-3 for the genesis
and saturn as well as the sega cd version. I even played the remake of
the first one on GBA. Why do you think they haven't packaged them
together for nostalgia's sake? I would buy them. I know they have 1 and 2 for the genesis collection. I wish they
would bring out Shining Force Feather
for the ds,
instead they make Shining Force
spin-offs like neo, exa and tears ( I like tears though)" what are your
thoughts on this o great Wheels of the Q and A column?
til next time
Gamer emporium
Wheels
Well I'm sure I've talked about Shining
Force at some point, as it's one of my favorite series of all
time. I'd love to see a Shining
Force collection, but I don't get the feeling that Sega thinks
there's a big enough audience to release something like that. I mean,
there hasn't even been one in Japan! I'm sure the difficulties of
Saturn emulation would make including Shining
Force
3 difficult, but I don't believe there's been a collection
of the other games. The worst part about the games you mention, is I
can't even blame Sega all that much for trying to reinvent the series
in different ways. With the original developer, Camelot, no longer
working with Sega, it seems they've just struggled finding any kind of
direction for the series. It was nice to see Shining Force Feather take the
series back to its SRPG roots, however I don't think it did much in the
Japanese market, and thus never made its way here. My current hope is
not even for the Shining series.
At
this point I'd settle for Camelot to just make more SRPGs, perhaps
based on the world of Golden Sun.
You
can always check out Shining Force Central's campaign to save the series.
It's
nothing if not an admirable effort.
We all miss Shining Force Sega!
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That's all for this week! Next week I'm not sure when I'll be able to
get Q&A up, as I'll have some Pax East writeups to do. However,
there will be a column! Keep the great questions coming.
-Wheels
Current Backlog: Need more Shining Force
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