Episode 15: Recording tomorrow/Wednesday

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How is Secret of Mana? I've heard it's the only good Mana title, period.

Secret of Mana is still awesome, can't count the number of times I've gone though it. Think I was about 13 when it came out... rented it so often I may as well have bought it. It's not turn based combat. It's more like Zelda where you run around and stab stuff. All the other RPG elements are there, though. An odd hybrid.

Legend of Mana was horrible! Never heard of Dawn of Mana. I'm not up on my console games anymore, pretty much turned straight up PC. But Legend of Mana was so epically horrible that I wouldn't trust any sequels. Dawn of Crap? But crap doesn't rhyme with mana. It sucked so hard he didn't even feel the need to be clever with his insults.

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Incidentally, have you ever played Star Ocean? I bought it, started it, and I'm not sure I like the animation.

Which Star Ocean? 'Till the End of Time on PS2? That was the last console game I went through. The Star Ocean on PS was awesome, so I had to do the sequel. End of Time is pretty good. There's a ton of content. It's one of those odd games where the very end game stuff isn't the REAL end of the game. You beat the game... but over here on the side is this extra big hard dungeon with all the big hard shit in it. Like a whole bunch of Emerald Weapons from FFVII. Not near that difficult, but you get the idea.

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It does, in fact, NOT suck. If you hated X, you'll probably love XII.

That's the best review you could have given. Too bad I lent my PS2 to my sister so she could play... of all things... FFXII.

Ohhhh I'm nerding out so hardcore. Someone change the subject.

Oh, come on baby; nerd out with me. I have cookies!

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It's more like Zelda where you run around and stab stuff.

XII's battle system is a lot like that. It has all the classic RPG elements, but instead of random battles, you run around and stab stuff. Also, they've finally done away with winning money when you kill a field full of beasts, because let's face it, your average chocobo doesn't carry cash. Instead, they drop stuff that you can sell.

Of course, it's final fantasy, so there is a slight wait for actions (its one concession to turn-based play), but the cool thing is that the length of the wait is determined by the type of weapon your character has. It's basically the battle system that I've been waiting for since I started playing RPGs. I've never been a fan of turn-based combat. I tolerate it in Dragon Quest because that game is fun, and it's pretty to look at, and has lots of off-the-wall elements.

I bought Dragon Quest and Star Ocean at the same time, but only DQVIII has really caught me and pulled me in. Yup, Till the End of Time was the one I purchased. I'm intrigued, but like I said, the animation is sort of creeping me out. I'm only about half an hour into it, so to be fair, I'm going to give it another chance, maybe stick it out for the first hour or so of gameplay time before I make my mind up, ultimately.

Obviously, I'm still quite console heavy. I have a PS2 and a DS. I love that little thing.

If I recall... End of Time has a slow as start. The most difficult part of the entire game for me was that first jungle area they dump you into. Good luck! Hope you stick with it. It's been a few years, and I've forgotten what End of Time combat was like. But the PS Star Ocean wasn't turn based either. Encounters were random, but the battles were run around and kill shit style.

Ever done Grandia? That's my favorite combat system. Turn based... but if you time everything right, you can greatly delay the enemy's turn. Good stuff.

Well I'm sold. Will probably have to go rent FFXII when and if I get my system back.

Yeah, I think I'm still in the middle of the introductory setup. You know how SquEnix games are; super-long intros. I remember playing Kingdom Hearts 2; there was literally four hours of gameplay before you even saw the opening titles.

I will admit that I'm kind of liking End of Time's combat, even if it is a little on the complicated side. Fortunately, button mashing works too, at least at this point. The run around and kill shit style is pretty nice. I'll pick it up again when I finish this second FFXII playthough.

I've never played Grandia, but Grandia III is on my list of games I'd like to give some looks to. I'm a bit of a latecomer to the RPG genre. I've always liked the idea of them, but the execution always left something to be desired. I didn't love FFVII like everyone else in the known universe did. I thought it was kind of boring, and I thought Cloud was whiny and couldn't understand everyone's constant fellating of him and Sephiroth. Later generations of RPGs have been better though, and it's been interesting learning about the other, smaller companies that also make decent RPGs, like Atlus. Their latest release, Odin Sphere, looks amazing. I can't wait to play it.

What in the hell was all of that discussion!?

Console Role-Playing Games (RPGs).

It would seem that meathorse and I are HUGE nerds.

It would seem that way....

Just...try not to let that get around. I have cred.

Oh whatever; it's geek cred.

Former geek cred! I'll have you know I haven't picked up a fresh console RPG in 3 years!

Of course... I have 3 level 70s in World of Warcraft.

.... shit

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I thought it was kind of boring, and I thought Cloud was whiny and couldn't understand everyone's constant fellating of him and Sephiroth.

Yeah... uh... I don't know. Maybe it's the hair. If you mix big spiky hair with a samurai sword... the kids just go nuts :)

Boring? That's odd. That one's probably my favorite. There's just something about being able to breed chocobos that amused me greatly. When someone asked me what I was doing I could say, "Forcing my chickens to fuck each other."

Good times.