Wow, the holiday really didn't slow people down as much as I thought.

Posted by Dani ★

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Do you still keep a VCR or VHS player around, just in case?

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I think I still have a VCR somewhere around here. I would have to dig for it, though...

Posted by ゼンガー・ゾンボルト

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How do you like shmups then?

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They aren't my favorite genre, but they can be fun. I still have a soft spot for Super Earth Defense Force on SNES. It's honestly the first one I ever beat.

Posted by Dani ★

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What's your favorite of the Final Fantasy games?

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At the risk of sounding cliche, Final Fantasy 6. To me, the best FF games have ensemble casts full of unique characters from a gameplay perspective. 9 is still high on my list for this reason, but 6 had the far better villain and setting.

Posted by ゼンガー・ゾンボルト

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?

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Pretty lights go boom. Bullets always.

Posted by Dani ★

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Ever played any of the Shadow Hearts games?

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Can't say I have.

Speaking of Final Fantasy, XII and Kingdom Hearts 2 pretty much killed virtually all of my enthusiasm for JRPGS. I saw where Square-Enix was going creatively, and I didn't like it one bit. I have not played a JRPG since.

Moxley lowers his shield, quickly following the rest of the group in their escape.

"Thanks, miss. I'm sure we could have taken them out, but it would have been some very messy business."

"By the way, miss...what is your name?"

Posted by ゼンガー・ゾンボルト

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What about other jrpgs? Older ones?

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In hindsight, I think I need to clarify my stance on this. Yes, I still love the older 2D JRPGS. I'm sure more modern JRPGS are very good as well. However, too many JRPGs in my eyes focus too much on making things "pretty" than delivering a good story with compelling characters, so I'm less likely to try them.

Final Fantasy, in particular, has fallen prey to what I have come to call "Final Fantasy 7 Syndrome", where a good game makes some innovations that seem to make the creators forget what made the series great to begin with.

In the case of FF7, it was a great game to be sure, but all anyone ever talked about was the graphics. Thus, FF8 became a game that looked great, but I felt it suffered in the gameplay and character departments, and this trend seemed to continue today (with some exceptions like FF9). Resident Evil 4 was similar. It was an amazing game, but it's success made the series focus far too much on action instead of the survival horror that made it great. Hopefully RE7 is the game to break this cycle.

Kingdom Hearts did this a little bit too. The first game was a fun romp through Disney worlds with a tight battle system, but future games focused less on the Disney and wonder, instead choosing to focus on a convoluted, hastily constructed story and shallow, cliche characters that sound like they were written and named by a middle schooler who got a B+ in creative writing.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. I am now turned off by modern JRPGs in general at this point, and Kingdom Hearts sucks now. Fight me.

Posted by Dani ★

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Chrono Trigger is still the best, isn't it?

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Now we're talking. Great characters, ensemble cast, super tight gameplay mechanics, engaging story, and inspired art direction. It's second only to Earthbound as my favorite RPG of all time.

Posted by Schezo

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If the X makes everything cooler, why is CSS more acceptable than XSS?

*shot*

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Because the '90s ended.

Posted by Dani ★

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Still think the Epoch is the best timeship ever created?

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My brain says yes, but my heart says the Back to the Future DeLorian is still the king.

Posted by Dani ★

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What kind of fuel did the Epoch run on anyway, magic?

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Reptite piss. (But shit, it was 99 cents!)

Posted by Trelior

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What is your all time favorite space movie?
Spaceballs. I'm not the biggest fan of Star Wars, but Mel Brooks was a parodic genius.

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What's it like having superior taste?

Incineroar's Z-Move is called Malicious Moonsault, but the move is actually a Shooting Star Press.

The Pokemon Company can't into wrestling.

I was waiting for an explanation for this title.

Although given the wide range of subject matter that I've seen covered in anime at this point, I'm not shocked that ice skating is presentable.

Posted by ゼンガー・ゾンボルト

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Romancing Saga? Lufia 2? Treasure of the Rudras?







There are three good games. You have three Romancing Saga games on the SNES too but not all of them have a complete english translation.

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I actually came so close to beating Lufia II, but there was always one dungeon puzzle or another that gave me trouble. Fun game though.

Posted by Dani ★

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What's your favorite PS1/Saturn-era RPG?

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As great as FF7 is, I have to go with Final Fantasy 9.

Also, I just discovered Vivi dolls exist. That's kinda neat.

"After that little encounter, forgive me if I'm a bit hesitant to consider this trip safe." Moxley says, putting away his shield.

He snaps his fingers, and Harper's Chance reappears in a flash of light. Mounting back up on his steed, he turns to Zarik. "Humor me for a moment. Are there any other native flora or fauna around here that we should be aware of?"

Posted by Dani ★

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Think the Sega Saturn would have had a chance if Sega had a more competent CEO in America in 1996?

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Could be. I loved Virtua Fighter, and I still feel that Clockwork Knight was really underrated. Still never got to play Nights, though.

These next few days are going to be real interesting.

Anyone have any good plans for New Year's Eve?

Happy Birthday! It's nice to see an OG from the I1 days is still going strong! All the best to you and yours.

What's it like being over 200 years old?

Posted by Dani ★

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Are alternative rock and heavy metal in jeopardy because of the opiate crisis?

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Nope. The opiate situation largely seems to be a relic of a bygone era, and does not necessarily go hand in hand with music as in years past. No more "forever 27s", please.

Posted by Dani ★

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Why do they call it Forever 21 if you don't have to be 21 to shop there?

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Because the "21" is not an actual age, but a state of mind. It represents an age largely considered by many to be the prime of one's life in terms of potential and physical beauty.

Though this can be an enjoyable shopping experience for many, for others it can also come to represent both the worst of an American consumer culture and toxic perceptions regarding feminine youth and beauty norms.

...And now I'm ranting about toxic North American beauty standards as dictated by the advertising industry. How do I get on these tangents?