The World Ends With
Godzilla Part Deux
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| May 26th, 2011 |
05/26- 12:00PM EST
Another Sequel crazy contest has begun! Only one entry so far,
but I have a feeling you readers are going to come up with some great
stuff. To give you some motivation, the prizes are now Tales of the Abyss 3D, Persona 2 Innocent Sin, or
something similar. Finally getting the last missing chapter in the Persona series should at the very
least be quite interesting. I'm also still trying to get through Avadon to review it, which is
getting quite tough. I shall win though!
Just a quick programming note: Q&A will be taking a spring break
next week, and shall return the following week.
On to the letters!
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The World Ends With this Sequel
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Hey there Wheels,
I’ll give your contest a shot – World
Ends
With
You
2 for x360/Kinect, multiplayer capable in
combat. I think the only way to “revolutionize” a game like WEWY that was already that unique
and crazy is to bring it to a new platform where activating pins will
require a lot of motion and energy. Obviously, if Square served
up another strong J-Pop/techno musical showing, it’d keep you moving
and energetic in an RPG quite unlike any other. I’d hate to fight
in a 10 chain battle though – it could get exhausting and it’d be weird
to get in shape from an RPG J.
BTW, I’m a big fan of the site and enjoyed your column this week – keep
up the good work.
Regards,
Scott
Wheels
Excellent! The first entry in the contest. I like this idea from
an overall level, looking to match the unique battle system from the
original. I can't say the idea of buying a kinect to play this really
appeals to me, but that's not important considering this is all
theoretical talk. It all makes sense though, make combat almost have a
dance like rhythm to it, based on the battle theme that's playing. I'd
like to hear you expand on this idea some. For example, what would the
story be like (no spoilers of the first game, I'm still playing through
it)? Would it also be a two character system? Glad you enjoy this great
site, and look forward to hearing more of your ideas!
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Another Player Dimension Ex
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The subject title sounded better in my head.
So I was reading your column and FriendofAgnes' letters in particular
about Baroque Redemption - Godslayer, and I just came up with the
perfect game Konami could release to cash in on a possible huge success
of this Baroque game.
Azure Dreams -
Another Dream
Wheels
That is just a... DREAMY title. Yes that was terrible, I'm sorry. I
can't resist terrible puns.
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Sometimes things just happen, you know? I was reading how FriendofAgnes
implemented multiplayer, making it roguelike so everyone starts out at
level 1 every time...
Guess what? That was one of the main features in Azure Dreams. You always started
back at level 1, though your pet didn't. All fine and dandy, but it
would just be a cute animé Pokémon-esque
Monster Hunter
clone now, wouldn't it?
WRONG! Azure Dreams must be
my favourite quirky, odd, and ultimately not very interesting game
ever. It had so many things going for it, but it couldn't quite live up
to the potential. Time to set that straight.
Wheels
You know, there's probably many mediocre games that end up like this,
plenty of great ideas that just aren't done quite right. The issue is
of course that because their execution is bad, there's never a chance
to do a sequel. Let's see how you'd fix this!
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It will take place several years after the original game. In this game,
which could take the form of an MMORPG, or a dedicated server MORPG
(money wasn't an option, right?), the original hero has left town with
his family since he was super loaded anyways, and another legend about
the tower has given rise to a new influx of wannabe heroes hoping for
riches in the tower. As in the original, each time you enter the tower,
you start back at level 0, though you can gain better equipment.
However, when you fall in the tower, you will lose some of your
equipment, so that's the tricky part. This will ensure that players
will never be very far removed from one another in terms of how
powerful they are. In the tower you can find money, items and of course
the famous eggs. Now, these are very rare. You can hatch them, but you
can only keep a few of them, so once you find another, you can sell it
for a hefty sum (far heftier than in the original game). Monsters can
be taken into the tower and will be able to become more powerful,
though they won't keep ALL their levels when leaving the tower. Maybe
just their skills, which can be leveled.
Wheels
This is a very interesting concept. The idea of a MMO Roguelike is
interesting enough, but through in rare pets that can be retain some
levels and skills? Makes for a very interesting experience, and I'd
like to see what kind of economy would spring up around finding and
selling eggs. Sounds far better than the original game so far.
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Anyhoo, the fun part begins outside of the tower, where one can
socialize with other people, trade wares and, wait for it, build
buildings for the betterment of the town! Now, city buildings such as
shops (and upgrades), temples, public baths and all that will be
pre-set, and you can donate for them to be made available. Being a
sponsor in a building will give you certain priviliges and bonuses,
plus your name will be mentioned. You can also build a house for
yourself and your pets, so you can increase your max. amount of
monsters you can have, and all that stuff. Updates wouldn't create new
levels to fight in, but new parts of town to build up and explore.
Of course, one of the servers will be a role-play server because I
don't want my public bath to be sponsored by Sephiroth1982.
Unlike the original, this game will give you the ability to play
different styles. Not classes mind you, developers should just stop
that nonsense, but at the beginning you can choose which stat is
highest, so you can work your way to a specific playstyle should you
wish to do so.
Wheels
Hey, I like class systems, and they do make it simpler to figure out
for some people. Not that it's bad to ditch class systems, as this
allows players to customize characters far more than any class system
could allow.
Anyway, the building up of the town is a very interesting idea. Makes
for an ever changing world, while at the same time keeping the actual
dungeon intact. So you get the best of both worlds, consistency of
player experience, and an ever changing, player controlled world. Sign
me up!
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Man, this game would kick so much butt! I am already excited.
Oh, and about that whole Suikoden dilemma. Konami should stop that
different dimension nonsense. especially if those different dimensions
sport nothing but snotty brats who talk way too fast, and just stick
with the world as we love it. The main appeal of the Suikoden games is
the fact that every game takes place in the same world. Even if there
are no returning characters and the game takes place 100 years after
the previous one, the fact that you know the world in which it takes
place, the history, the people that made a difference, all of that,
makes you feel at home right from the start. And knowing that playing
this game will just make the world bigger for you, more intriguing is
half of what drives you. That is why I love the Suikoden games.
Thanks for listening to my seemingly endless rant.
Daniel Brouwer
Wheels
Oh I agree completely. This is why series like Suikoden and Phantasy Star have such devoted
followings. It's nice to have a game with a good back story, but when
that back story and history is the games themselves? That's a powerful
force, because it gets people discussion and theorizing about a series,
and helps spread the word. Not that this helped Suikoden sales all that much
(although I find the fandom quite infectious). All other things aside,
just look at the likes of Mass Effect
and you can see how powerful a sales force a continuing story can be (a
different kind of continuing story, but still relevant). I really hope
more RPGs will go the route of Suikoden.
Anyway, I enjoyed your endless rant! Feel free to rant some more
sometime
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Hey Wheels!
I remember when Jumes posed the "kaijuu in RPGs" question to me, a few
years back. The first thing that popped into my head was Final
Fantasy
VII, of all things. Remember the attack
of
the
Sapphire
Weapon?
Wheels
I do! That is one of the coolest, and
most memorable sequences in the game. Really, they should have spent
more time on sequence like that instead of some of the lamer cutscenes
in the game. Let's not open up the Final
Fantasy VII can of worms though.
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But to base an RPG around kaijuu as the protagonists, or at
least
the fighting force? That would be a bit more difficult, in my opinion.
A
game
in traditional RPG format wouldn't cut it, since walking around town
isn't
something that giant monsters are known for. Walking "through" town,
yes.
Around, no. For fighting on that scale, I think there's only one way to
go,
and that's in the footsteps of Super Robot Wars, the only other
series I know of wherein the combatants are taller than the surrounding
buildings.
Wheels
That's all well and good (always with the giant robots), but couldn't
you ditch towns entirely, or at least, make some kind of giant monster
town or something? Also, based solely on the characters in Rampage shrinking down to humans,
couldn't that be an option as well? Of course towns could just be
sequences of destruction, I'd be down for that.
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Ever played the fighting game War of the Monsters for PS2?
I'd
imagine something like a cross between that and SRW. Alien forces
invading, only to be repelled. A devious plot to undermine the Earth's
defenses by seeding it with kaijuu-creating energy pods.
Gigantic
abominations of all sorts springing up. The Earth's only hope lies in a
handful of kaijuu which for one reason or another are willing
to
fight on behalf of humans. Perhaps they used to be normal humans, like
the
63-Foot Woman — now working for the gov't because they're the only
ones who can afford her wardrobe. Perhaps they have some memory of
their
former lives that guides them, like Canine Kong's loyalty to the little
girls who raised him as a puppy (named Faye and Raye?). We could have
some
fun here.
Wheels
I have never played this that I can
remember, but it sound hilariously awesome. Would wipe the terrible
memories of that Ultraman
SNES game where you couldn't play as the monsters out of my brain. Are
you about to pitch this as an RPG? I can't wait to see this.
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Half the enjoyment of a kaijuu game is the wreckage, though. So
in
the tradition of Japanese developers creating new sub-genres titles
just
for their latest game, I propose we make Kaijuu RamPaGe a
"melee
free-for-all tactical RPG". Each time a unit gets a turn, it has a set
number of points for movement and action, similar to Breath of Fire
V in action. No tiles or hexes, just open area and distance. B
button
can be used to jump, adding a little platforming element to it. Random
pieces of the battle environment can be ripped from buildings and used
as
makeshift weaponry. Every unit would have their own special skillset,
and
of course everyone in the game could be tossed around or through
buildings.
There could even be a gauge or some other measurement that would give
bonuses or penalties for the amount of damage dealt to the surrounding
area
over the course of the battle.
You know, I'm kind of surprised no one's done this yet.
Your fellow columnist,
Gaijinmonogatari
Wheels
I'm going to go ahead and take your
idea and suggest something more akin to Resonance of Fate. Certainly not as complicated as
that, but it already provides a nice template for a tactical style RPG
in a 3D space. This sounds like a pretty amazing game idea, how has no
one done this? Imagine epic tactical battles where the whole city is
torn into pieces by the end of the battle, with all of it being used as
various forms of weaponry. Someone needs to make this.
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P.S. I've been waiting for your own Monster Hunter clone idea for a
month
now.....
Wheels
I know, I know! By the time this goes
up it will be in your mailbox, honest.
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Dear wheels,
I've beaten FFIII, FFIV, FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, and FFXIII. I was going to buy the Final Fantasy V anthologies PS1
disc, but I held back since it was reportedly going to be released on
the Playstation store. I'm really looking forward to playing FFV, but now there's no news about
it anymore! Do you know if it's still coming out?
-Brad
Wheels
I can reasonably say that yes, it is still coming out. Square-Enix's
classics seem to be doing great on the store (or were while it was up),
so I have little doubt that Final
Fantasy V will show up there as well. Chances are a delay in the
announcement of when it's going to come out is due to the outage of the
PSN store. I'd keep an eye out for news on this in the near future. As
for your list of completed Final
Fantasy games, I see a criminal lack of Final Fantasy XII on there. I think
I've made it plain in Q&A that I think it's a brilliant title, so
you could always play that while you await Final Fantasy V! I think you won't
be disappointed.
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That's it for this week! Just a reminder, Q&A will be off next
week, so you can take that time to get some crazy sequel pitches sent
in, or anything else you want to talk about for that matter.
See you all in 2 weeks!
-Wheels
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