RPG Classics Mailbag

Evening all! Welcome to another great version of the RPGClassics Mailbag! *fanfare plays* Anyway, since the topic was so generic ("biggest disappointment in an RPG", creatively interpreted), I got a gobload of responses. However, these are generally short, so they ALL got in! *louder fanfare* Yep! Even the ones from people I absolutely hate - and you KNOW who you are. *coughCrystalyscoughattachmentcough* Note that many of these disappointments had to do with endings and whatnot, so there are spoilers in this mailbag. Let us start off with me flexing my new exclamation powers by introducing a newbie named Josh Elle!!!!!!!! *CHRONO CROSS SPOILER*

......The ending to Chrono Cross. I didn't expect to have a conversation with a supposed to be blue haired supposedly eighteen some odd year old about sperm

Gackk... you know, I never thought of it that way... and you know, I think I liked it better when I didn't.

..y'know, that just disgusting and all and stuffs and things like that, you know? I mean, you know, I cant just imagine the conversation, you know?

QUIET. Next up is d galloway (get some capital letters, man! They're even cheaper than exclamation marks!)

All right, just because I wasnt in the last mailbag doesn't change anything. I'm still the slightly-below-average d Galloway. And I think that my previous entry was good compared to my vomit-level previous entries.

Er... you said it.

Anyway, the biggest dissapointment I ever had in any RPG usually stems from my overconfidence in most new games. Probably the biggest overall is the overall ease it takes to kill a final boss nowadays. Come on, they're gods, and yet they can't survive a few Bahamuts or Meteos?! Is that wrong or is it just me?
Example:
Kefka: *Uses Fallen One* Uwee hee hee!
Sabin: *Uses Megalixer*
Kefka: Huh? Hey, you can't do that!
Edgar: Why not?
Kefka: If you heal, I can't beat you!
Terra: Suck ass! *X-fight with Genji Glove, Atma Weapon and Illuminous sword*
Kefka: AHHHHHHHhhhhhh...*dies*
*end example*

I know FF6 is a little old, but this is the major situation with most RPGs. I am thoroughly dissapointed with these bosses, and hope that our loyal developers fix this sometime.

Oh, I dunno... I had a HUGE problem with FF9's final boss. You do know, by the way, that Squaresoft made FF6 easier for us English-speakers, yes?

What?

Yep, they boosted everyone's stats and made all the enemies wimps. Well, not as much as it sounds like, but at least a bit.

Ah-HAH! A conspiracy! They're out to stigmatize all our brains until we can't think at all for ourselves and can only just hold down the A button to beat battles!

Well, looks like it worked for at least one person, anyway.

I'm sorry, can you rephrase that in the form of a question?

Go away. We have here a rare reply by our dedicated RPGC server person, Black Ninja!!!!!! *even louder fanfare*

Three words: Final Fantasy 7.

Well, that just about says it. Move along folks, nothing more to see here. I think Mr. Saturn would agree with you, but don't get near Sephiroth Katana. O_o MegamanX2K has *gasp* a relatively short reply! Take it away! But if you don't bring it back I shall be very angry! *FF6 SPOILER*

I'd have to say General Leo's death. Not Plotwise, mind you, but gameplay-wise. I mean, what a great character...gone to waste...all because Kefka's a lamer...we all know in a fair fight, Kefka would be dead...

Depends what you mean by fair (see mr galloway's response). Then again, if you mean gameplay-wise, it's a disappointment that you can't use Sephiroth in FF7, no? 8p Amazingly enough, someone actually agrees with you! And that someone is named Deedly. *FF6 SPOILER*

Biggest dissapointment... 2 words: General Leo

Why did he have to die???? General Leo was so bad ass! Why! Why! Why! When I first played the game (many years ago) I thought I would actually get him. But no.... He had to die, oh well at least I got to fight with him once. His technique was so awesome! HE was so awesome... Nooooo!

*goes into a corner to cry*
NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Why!!! Why!!! Why!!! Please don't die....... *Goes into a long rant*
*gets up* What was I just talking about?... Oh well
*walks away as if nothing had ever happened*

I should go back to work now.

You do that. Don't be a stranger. Anyway, Jiharn is someone who I've seen on the boards but who has never written in, so hi!!!!!!!!!! *SOUL REAVER SPOILER*

Heyas! Finally, something I can talk about! Let's see...big disappointment. That's pretty easy. Soul Reaver.

This is a bit of a spoiler, so don't read ahead if you don't want it to be spoiled for you.

It's a great game, and I really enjoyed the plot and action, but the ending filled me with anger! After you defeat Kain, he runs through a portal, you follow, and you come face to face with the guardian of time from the previous game! He says something like "welcome", and then the game ends! ARRGH! After all that time playing, that's all I got! It's as bad as opening up a big present for Christmas, only to find out that it's a bunch of underwear. Well, that's the biggest disappointment that I had! Adios!

PS: Here's a bunch of extra "!" in case you run out:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've always depended on the kindness of strangers... anyway, if you're disappointed in the ending, go play Soul Reaver 2; it picks up exactly where number one left off. Here's one by Krafter, a very cool guy who has been to Japan at some point in his life, which is more than most of you can say for yourselves.

Biggest Disappointment ever? Playing the masterful FFVI for 60 hours, running around finding all of the characters who have bees scattered around the globe, going to save the world against Kefka, and beating him in approximately 5 seconds. I sat there waiting for the 'reveal your true form!' part of the fight, and that was it. Do they not play-test these things? Sad.

Oh, no. Stoopid Merkans can't sit through a big tough boss battle. Ohhhh, no. *grumbles*

Hey, that's my line!

It's only your line because I gave it to you! ...Wait a minute, are you trying to fight for your right to grumble?

No! It's not just that! It's deeper than that!

Yes?

It's my right to my uniqueness in being grumbly! You cannot take away my individuality!

Sure I can! See? *presses button*

Why do I bother? *falls*

You know, I think I know why I was being so grumbly... I haven't done that in a while! Ah, now I feel better! With that in mind, here's yet another newbie: Ryu "the Dragonman" Shadow. Kinda like Brett the Hitman Hart, except probably only weighs half as much.

Hmmm... That would be finishing them... Because then they are finished, you can't play anymore without knowing exactly what will happen and what to do when it happenes... Boring...

Go play Star Ocean or its sequel or Chrono Cross and choose different characters... that's enough for some replay value... Here's what I believe is our longest reply, and it's not by anyone you'd think it'd be by: in fact, it is from Hamelin Rackham!

Hey Cidolfas!

Disappointments in an RPG eh? Well, offhand I can think of a few...

Lord of the Rings for Snes, ok, it might have been a good game, but since I didn't have the maps that came with the game, I got hopelessly lost in the caves behind the first town, looking for those damned glasses. Finally I just turned my Snes off after about half an hour of wandering.

Ditto here. Maybe they'll be making a new one now that the movie's coming out again...

Final Fantasy 2 (The Nes one) The translation I had was great, but I just didn't like the leveling system, the characters couldn't become omnipotent, either they were fighters or mages.

As opposed to, say... oh, FF1, 4, 9, and most other games out there, eh?

Pokemon. Oh ho ho, where to start with this... ok, it was a good concept, but there was just too many characters to worry about. Also, it bothered me that they only fainted, those damn things should have died a bloody death like any other respectable random monster. And, I could never remember what items did what.

And finally, the most obvious of all, and I bet at least half the responses covered, Final Fantasy 8. The plot sucked, the characters looked ugly, the card game was pointless, draw is the stupidest way to use magic ever, the magic equipping thing was too time consuming and not worth it, that damn car kept running out of gas, Zell had those stupid pants on, Squall had to be a total idiot, the way he kept blowing off Rinoa, blue magic was useless, only usable at certain times, and the enemies got stronger as you did. I didn't even find it remotely funny, not even the chicken-wuss line.

Remember, before any of you lynch me for bashing on games you may like, this is my opinion and you can't do a damn thing about it.

Oh, I can't. But don't go telling Hades anything like your address or most vulnerable weakness or something like that. And keep him away from the anthrax!

Damn, there goes customer number 43.

Don't go trying to tell me you're selling anthrax. Besides, that many people haven't died yet, thank goodness.

SSSSHHHH! You'll give it away!

Hey, what's this? *tastes white powder* Mmm, sugary!

*sob*

...um... ooh, wait, there's a bit at the end here!

Also, Rackham comes from the book "Ender's Game" there was a starpilot named Mazer Rackham, I highly recommend the book, it's good sci-fi.

I have heard much of this Ender's Game. But I've never seen any of them in libraries, and of course I'm too cheap to actually buy books, so I'll stick to my 14-odd Discworld collection, thanks very much. We now have another reply from the Holy Vault Dweller. Thought you could escape, eh? Thought one week was enough, eh? Ohhh no... if we don't print this guy's insane maniacal letters, we get... The Treatment.

*laughs maniacly, brandishing various humoursly named torture instruments, like ; Rotten Milk Laucher, Solid Jell-o and a couple of other evil stuffs...*

There. See? Not my fault. *FALLOUT 2 and DEUS EX SPOILERS*

*A humongous explosion is heard and the Vault Dweller fly(More crash) in, landing conviently just behind a giant rock. Shoots are heard, of course missing the mentat addict, wich, on his turn, start tossing plasma grenades above his head troward his assailants. Various screams and explosions are heard again...and everything fall in the silence.*

*Vault cough slightly and get up, gazing at the destrcution one seconde, then turn to the cam...I mean, mailbag.*

Hello hello everyones! Excuse the explosive entrance, but it had to happen when thoses Enclave assholes are on your trail...Ahem. Guess it time to answer the mailbag at long last again, huh?

So what the topic this week? Biggest dissapointment in a rpg? Not bad...Your just getting better and better at it, do ya, Cid?...Or it wasent you that though this one out? Mmm?

...Answer, dimmit!

.....

*spaces in* Is he talking to me?

....Oh whatever. One of my biggest dissapointment was in FF7. Sephiroth was such a pussy for a demi god, for cryin' out loud! And I was just level 70! JUST LEVEL 70!...Okay, that a lot, but I dont care much anymore, he was EASY still I say!

*gaze down at a man in power armor, moaning. Vault give him a hard kick*

Oh shut up and die already! The seconde dissapointment have a part of thoses idiots*point to the fallen Enclave soldier, the guy in power armor*Thoses freaks are the villans in Fallout 2. Sure, Frank Horrigan was hell of a badass when you first see him, but your even MORE badass when you face him for real. So much for the 3 meter so tall-cyborg(Was a human) that gibbed a Deathclaw with one punch...I sure wasted him with ease. Of course, the Enclave soldiers are no piece of cake when you first meet them, but when you have a power armor yourself...It make you wonder if they are not feeble scientists hiding in teutonic-armor ripoffs.

Anoter dissapointment: Deus EX. I wanted to frag that damn Bob Page myself! Not blowing up the damn area 51 along with me! Not joining Illuminati! BLARG! I WANTED TO FRAG THAT (?&$(*"/ SO DAMN BAD! He was a good villan, though as you can prolly guess.

Well, this reply was a bit shorter than the previous one, but hey, I cant invent thing, do I?

*A unpined grenade fall by Vault's feets. He gaze down at it*

...Oh crap...GOOD BYE EVERYONES!

*He start running away, various Gauss and Plasma shoots flying by him as he rush into the horizon*

*He drop, however, a paper on his run..and it says*

-Tis was from the Holy Vault Dweller singing off, offical commenditor of the Mentats Co.!

Ah, refreshing. With that out of the way, we now turn to our weekly nutty sailor gal, BSSB.

Ciddiewiddelomazo-CID!,and LuccaFookaBooka! And LuneLune! And the Ozziatron! I have come back to make you feelthe buuurrrnn!!! Wacha!

...Did she just called me LuneLune?

Now,the biggest moment of letdowness to me was in a major old school game,Dragon Warrior/Qest IV.Now I know this game is..like..11 years,but overall it was a good game....until....you got up to the fifth chapter..and you can only control the "hero" and the rest are controled by AI..very...very..very stupid AI..I mean,yeah,but anyway,it was still fun,albeit hard.

Now,I will use the Golden Mascera Phoenix Hyperion Lovely Sonita Boonetia FoomShot! *gaablaster*!!

Honestly, she's making less sense every week. One of these days she'll shoot right out the wrong side of insanity and start sending in Ph.D Nobel Prize-winning reports. Here's a short and sweet one by someone whose e-mail address is FIufMoogle@aol.com. I won't ask.

Chrono Cross.

The CT series has the best and worst RPGs I've played.

*put on some giant glasses and a Albert E. wig*This is a paradox...

I *think* that's a mailbag answer, anyway. Um... this next one is definitely a mailbag answer, by BSSB's fast-becoming rival in girly insanity, PS2Princess. *FF7 and LEGEND OF DRAGOON SPOILERS*

::Appiarates into the huge mailbag w/ carpeting::
hey ya there, Cid-ums, Luna-ums, Ozzi-ums, Evilly Cid-ums !!
Well,this is my second mailbag response((and i REALLYY hope you put it in,cuz i still got that big stick that i mentioned last time! MUHAHAHAHA!! ^_^)) so that doesn't make me newbie anymore,does it? :P N E way,hmmmmmm, lemme think,the BIGGEST disspointment? well,it's simple,it's building up character realllyyy well,only to have their sorry arses die on you! ((FF7,i bulit up Aeris to level 98, dammit!!)) even though,i did like in Legend of Dragoon that after Lavitz died, that Albert got all his EXP and Abilities so i didnt waste bulding him up for nothing((I liked Lavtiz better though,he was awesome, Albert was a sissy boy ^_^)) laterz Ciddy-ums! ::Dissaparates into thin air,becomes a misty cloud then floats away,after running into a few mailbaggie walls ^_^::

Yeah, they're hard to see because of all the carpeting. Who put carpeting in, anyway?

I think it brightens up the place, personally.

Yes, but the - er... death's heads, bloody knives, and Pikachus... they put certain people in the wrong frame of mind, you know?

Good! Keeps the old adrenalin pumping!

*twitches madly when noticing the carptets and goes on a rampage, totaly destroying, analiathing, burning, desintegrating, oblierating them. And Evil Cid on the way too.*

I told him. When Merlin comes in to fix the door, tell him to get us a new carpet too.

*Smoke fills the room as Doc Shinryuu enters* Hey there everyone! Doc Shinryuu here! Hmm... biggest disappointment, eh. I couldn't tell whether or not you wanted to know about the biggest mishap or the worst aspect in an RPG, so I'll tell you both! Anyway... on to the response. As for worst aspect, I'd have to say Chrono Cross's magic/item system. There's no other way to describe it than "Why do you have to buy magic and equip it?" and "Why would one want to equip items as magic? Confusing... And as for biggest mishap... T'was in FF IX, I was in Ipsen's Castle. I fought my way through the place with my weakest weapons in hand, but when I reached the boss, Taharka, I realized that I had run out of both MP AND Ethers, so I had to beat the moron hand-to-hand. Anywhatsis, gotta go! Happy Thanksgiving! *Charges an orb of electric energy in his hands* Air becomes pure energy... BOLT4!*Blasts Ozzie and Leaves through the designated exit*

*Pops back in* By the way Ciddy, you really ought to let some (non-webmaster) people send images with their responses. *leaves again*

Well, you could interpret it any way you like, was what I said, and neither way you did was taken by anyone else. 8p Anyway, NO, no one can send in images. The last thing I need is some moron who has no clue about file sizes and a T1 connection sending me in a 500K picture. I get pictures, my sidekicks get pictures, RPGC staff if they really want it can get pictures, and Bill Gates can get a picture if he pays me lots of money, but that's it. We now have one from someone named bling bling... yes, this is the guy who was banned from the RPGC message board, for obvious reasons... anyone claiming to be a lamer does not last long on boards. Just a tip.

Hey, i'm bling bling, and its time to sing sing, and watch me swing swing, and ching ching my way to fame!!! Anyway, on to the biggest disappointments ever in a rpg!! Three words: Legend of Legaia. I heard about how ''great'' the fighting system was and instantley bought it. Believe me, if you want a good fighting system, go play star ocean 2. This games fighting system sucked. It just......sucked. 20 min. into the game, you get sick of it. I mean, I always thought i would get sick of traditional rpg fighting systems (ff, lunar,) but I never did. And the story sucks!! (Vahn: Hey, my village is getting attacked. Oh no! How can i save it? Oh, of course i'll pray to some dieing tree and get a cool red wristband. Okay, now i'll go and save a few more trees) Seriously,.....that sucks.Now, on to chrono cross. First of all, you get 40 characters. Only like 3 of them have anything to do with the real story.(Kid, serge, and lynx) Now, this wouldnt be to bad, if you were leading 40 soldiers into battle. But what do you get? A army of fisherman, painters, sailors, and demi-humans. This......sucks.Only a handful are worth having at all, and each one is more useless than ozzie. Okay, okay, i'm sorry. The characters arent that bad that there at ozzie's level of suckiness.Well, thats it. I'm gonna go and kick ids ass in xenogears. That always cheers me up!!*Bling looks around* MWAHAHAHA!!! They are all gone! Now, I will assemble my lamer army of ozzie, evil cidolfas, lunaris, and the strongest lamer of all, crystalys!!! Wait a sec, I dont have my glasses on. Here we go.*Bling sees cidolfas and the others stareing at him like he's a madman. He stares back* What the fuck are you looking at? * They continue to stare at him* Well, since you know my plans. I cannot let you live!! Now, I shall choose my 3 warriors! Spike, from cowboy bebop. Pikachu and ultros!*The three run amuck and nearly kill everyone* Time to end this!* dark energy comes to blings hand but before he destroys the maibag his wristwatch beeps* Hmmmmm..it seems Harry potter is coming on. Your lucky this time, but next time i'll destroy this mailbag before you can say quidditch! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! COUGH HACK COUGH!!(what did you expect from a 12yr. old?)

Hands up all who say I should never print anything this guy writes ever again. *everyone raises hands* Damn. Now I need the votes of people who aren't actually my alteregos. 8p Anyway, here's one by someone whose e-mail address is Rawcatslyentist@aol.com. This one I *really* don't want to know. Sign your e-mails, peoples!

Gotta be Obitus for the snes.
Paid 75 bucks and beat it in about three hours.
The secret is to walk backwards to avoid random encounters {Took about 30mins to discover this.}

That's enlightening. 75 bucks, though? O_o Chrono Trigger never cost that much. You got ripped off, dude. Of course I won't mention anything about emulation at the moment. *whistles*

You just did.

Um... yeah, well Crystalys didn't! See, look! *FF TACTICS SPOILERS*

Despite previous warnings I'm signing on.

The greatest disapointment in an RPG I've ever had would have to had happened in Final Fantasy Tactics. Don't get me wrong, Final Fantasy Tactics was a great game. It was even my most favorite game actually. It's just the fact that in the game... everyone dies. I mean not every single person ceases to be, but there's dead bodies everywhere by the end of the day. Both Princes fighting to take over the throne die. Everyone in your party besides you dies at the end of the game. Both your brothers die. Teta dies. Weigraf dies. Izlude dies. the high priest (I forgot his name) dies. All the evil guys die (leaving little room for a sequel). Weigraf's sister dies. Elmdor dies. Algus dies (there's nothing wrong with Algus dying of course). The queen dies... And a lot of other people die...

All these people dying made me cry... :'( and then when they hit that sad music? *sob* So sad. Anyways, besides all people dying it was awesome! See ya later.

Never read Victor Hugo's Hunchback of Notre Dame? Absolutely everyone dies there, besides for one person who gets married, which is even worse for him. Here's a very off one by Drago's Nightmare.

The biggest dissapointment I ever had in an rpg was when I had to play Star Ocean: The Second Story with only four people in a team. I don't know about you guyz but when I play I need a good attack force and good healer and attack mage to decimate any enemy to show who is his ot her daddy! The people that I always wanted on my team was Claude, Rena, Ashton, Precis, and Celine. But I can only choose four people which totally sux. I mean I really like the team to be together but then I have to make the hard decision of taking one valued team member out. I know its personal preference but thats what I think that was the biggest dissapointment in an rpg. Well laterz.

So... you've never played FF6-9 or almost any other RPG, then? O_o You always have to choose who's in your active party. But then you can switch people in and out, which is how everyone gains levels, you see. Anyhoo. Archone is up next.

The biggest disappointment I've had in an RPG series was Ultima VII and beyond. It's not too surprising that Origin systems went out of business shortly after releasing Ultima IX. When the fans keep complaining about where your series is heading, yet you persist in moving away from the wonderful style of Ultima IV, V, and VI to craft poor imitations of Diablo(which many Ultima fans didn't care for anyway)...

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Ah, I love all those references to games I've never played... Sir Fenrir's more on the right track.

the biggest let-down was the fight with rouge in saga frontier, in blue's senario? i heard that it was one of the hardest fights in the game, next to hell lord, and when i got there, it was easier then a fight against a xeno!!!!! he had less hp then i did, and died fromm one hit of the light sword. in six rounds he was gone, as was my hope at a half-way difficult fight.

Well, go finish Riki's quest then, if you want a tough boss. Wanna know something even better? You don't even have to beat Rouge at all! Hah! Whoever you heard that from is a doofus. On to a newbie named Devi and here you go!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd say the biggest disappointment in an RPG was Final Fantasy 8. In my opinion, the best part of an RPG is the plot/story. I loved the system, but the plot wasn't done right. When I read reviews, and asked my friends, they all said it was great. So when I went to the store and bought it, I just hated the plot. It just didn't fit the combat engine at all, so the battles just made no sense. It looked like Square couldn't make up what time period the game was in.

...It's not anthrax, you say?

I sure as hell hope not.

Good. Our final entry comes from a man some know as LiteYear, and others know as "that annoying flashy entrance guy". *OGRE BATTLE 64 SPOILERS*

*Gate forms in the eiling, and I fall through it into the middle of the room*

Hee hee... he said eiling! Eiling!

Um... keep going, don't be depressed or anything. 8p

Hi Cid. Sorry you haven't seen seen me for awhile... hey, don't try to hide the party hats. Well, I've been spending most of my time here: www.lizardfusion.com </spam> No, it isn't my site, we just want more members...

Well, I'll make this quick because I'm tired. Well, the biggest dissappointment I've had in an RPG was in Ogre Battle 64, where *obligatory spoilers warning*
Danika kills Baldwin instead of you. I mean, this guy is the ultimate bastard in the game, and you don't get to stick a sword into him. Instead, Danika gets the honor of killing him, and she's just weak... my unit killed her in two rounds. But you chase him through 20+ scenes, he escapes 4 times, and you don't get to kill him. That's my biggest dissapointment. *obligatory no more spoilers message*

For once, I have nothing more to say. Cya Cid. *Jumps an insanley high jump through the overhead gate.*

Woo-hoo! Well, that's it for today. Next week's topic is: Which RPG do you think is the most underrated, and which one is the most overrated? (Ooh, heated debate! Personal insults! Jerry Springer!) Yes, I know this was done before, but WAAYYY back in mailbag number 2; our readership has changed a bit since then. 8-) And because everyone knows what I'm going to say now, I won't insult your intelligence and I'll just end it right here.

Seeya!

Hey Morons! The address is cidolfas@rpgclassics.com in case you forgot! AND I PITY THE FOO WHO HATE MELONS!