Ludicrous as it is, that's precisely why I love him so much. So many RPG characters are one-note archetypes. Doc was a multifaceted man with a number of talents, and genuine concerns. Before the much spoken of "dadification" of games that we're going through now, Citan was a truly good husband and father. A skilled…

The extent to which Citan is one of my heroes cannot be understated. The opening hour or so of Xenogears is so powerful, so ripe with meaning, that I get all weepy just thinking about it. (The rest of the game is too. lol)

Is anyone else really bummed that Dustforce and Cubetractor didn't go on sale at all?

Excellent. It's prettymuch the same with me. Then I also wound up working at said shop for like 5 years, which really boosted my education. Telenet is wonderful. I can't even fathom how much time I've spend in my life hunting down complete copies of Renovation published titles for my Genesis.

I'm just pleased to be having a conversation around these parts with someone who actually knows what Wolfteam is. That's some quality game history name dropping if ever I heard any. People still look at me like I'm an idiot when I tell them that the Star Ocean and Tales games really are distant cousins.

I love Tri-Ace. They don't always produce the absolute best games (case in point Infinite Undiscovery) but their willingness to experiment has done so much for the genre. Also . . . Valkyrie Profile.

That's a fair position to take.

That's the attitude that seems to pervade in every review I read. What they tried to do is great, but the execution is lacking. Clearly the game was made on a tight budget. I'll be happy to add it to my collection as a curiosity specifically because of that . . . but as I said earlier . . . not at full price.

I've always considered the RPG part a very important component of the label. Games like Fire Emblem or Disgaea or FF:Tactics possess very specific traditional role playing elements in the way that characters permanently develop, learn abilities, collect and use items, etc. This is in strong opposition to a selection…

Glad to hear that someone out there is liking it. The reviews have been atrocious, so I've been pretty scared. In general though, I'm a huge fan of ImageEpoch games, and I tend to enjoy titles that are "flawed but interesting," so I do retain some optimism that I'll get something good out of it regardless. I plan on…

Very true. If anything, it had more of an active "on-the-field" battle system like an MMO, or akin to Xenoblade of FFXII. I also recall rudimentary stealth elements in some areas. A JRPG through and through, but far from traditional turn-based.

I'm really with you on this. I've been uncomfortable with the recent trend of lumping tactical/strategy games in with JRPGs simply because their turn based, have level up mechanics and equipment, and/or happen to be developed in Japan. This mainly comes from me being a curmudgeonly old man who is specifically proud of…

Holy crap SoulBlazer. Or as I like to call it, Dark Cloud Beta Ver. Not a game you hear namedropped too often these days. Props

No I didn't play any of it. That's kinda the point of my post. I'm waiting to own it all on disc before I pay for the downloads. The DLC I care about most is the Ultros and Gilgamesh monsters, to be completely honest. Prior reviews/writeups I read on that Lightning DLC used some confusing language and lead me to…

I was under that impression, yes. Thanks for clearing it up.

The DLC for XIII-2 just reached unacceptable levels when the actual correct ending of the game was a download chapter. I understand weapons, costumes, monsters and characters, but don't put the full resolution to a story that I already paid full price to enjoy behind an additional paywall.

I wonder if the US will ever get the "Complete" version of XIII-2 with all the (non-licensed) DLC on disc that was announced for Japan a while back. My ability to get excited for Lightning Returns is very depended on whether or not that happens. If we get that version of 2, then reason stands be believe that we'd get…

Mega Man 25th Anniversary Complete Works book from Udon.

That's the one I'm waiting for.

There are those of us who prefer pad to stick. I'm not hardcore competitive. I only play at home and jump online occasionally. I didn't grow up in arcades, so using a joystick isn't second nature to me. My weapon of choice is the Horii Fight Commander 3 Pro.