Questions for this month's exclusive podcast

I have been wondering about this. Especially VR in connection to curing PTSD.

Tomas

Question 1: with the recent Konami announcement of Silent Hill 2 Remake, do you think Konami is planning to make a come back? Will they ever make it back to their 90s/2000s glory? Question 2: I just recently finished playing "13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim". Have you guys heard of this game? Will you guys analyze it?

Related to the Xenosaga Episode 1 discussion, what are your thoughts on the fact that the calendar era is Transcend Christ (T.C.)?

Hello, I'm curious if you're played the game 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, or if you're in general familiar with the studio Vanillaware, and what you think of their titles? Secondly I'd be curious to hear, if I ask you to think of who you'd consider the "best written (cast of) characters" in video games, who comes to mind and why?

Hello, I was curious if you saw the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once and what you thought about it. Also if it could be added to the voting poll for a movie analysis if you think it's worth it.

hey guys ! I was wondering what your guys thoughts are on the future of gaming? With the industry much, much more mainstream now and as the overall graphical quality and immersion keeps improving , I wonder if the technology could progress so much that it transcends just being used for entertainment. That perhaps it could evolve to a point where it fundamentally changes the way we live our lives?

Hi guys, here's something I've been pondering a lot lately. Why do Japanese games feel so different to western ones, specifically in the RPG genre? Why do western games strive for freedom in open gameplay spaces while Japanese games focus on more intimate, character focussed stories? Is it simply down to cultural differences or is there more to it in the influences that the artists who craft these games consume? It seems that the games from the west that are remembered fondest are games like Mass Effect and Deus Ex that are essentially telling linear stories within large worlds with some notable exceptions like Morrowind. Is this down to a philosophic difference in the west regarding freedom above almost anything else? Thanks lads.

Blake Walden

I'm a writer and can maybe help with this. One way is to try and create definitive character voices, things only that character would say, not quite a catch phrase but more to craft a manner of speaking that is exclusive to that individual. Once character voice is established, you can play characters off one another more naturally. Small quirks that irritate other members of the group or habits that denote their relationship can go a long way in spicing up dialogue. Another handy tip is to try and break up your dialogue so it's never just doing one thing. Exposition, plot and character building all need to work in harmony. Even the best writers can't make a compelling scene of any one element, conversations stray and subjects change. Staying on one subject too long can feel stilted and if you don't get out everything you want to say in the one conversation, you can have it come up later to open or close a conversation or answer it through action. Hope that helps!

Blake Walden

I finally got some downtime so I took some time to delve into a JRPG to get a feel good experience. Ended up choosing FFIX due to not playing it since its original release. Using the moguri mod it almost feels like a current gen JRPG and I was surprised SPOILERS (to some of the somber moments like the destruction of Alexandria and also the more comidical moments like the mixed up love letter that Eiko wrote. And I had forgotten the fairy tale feeling too!). The game is so dear to my heart now and I see why Sakaguchi feels it is his favorite, I share that sentiment as well now. The point being that tome JRPGs just has a flair for cheering you up and on in life and perhaps it is tied to nostalgia from when you first played it. Though for me 20 years had passed since I last played it and it is a refreshing experience to play due to it feeling so mature in all its whimsical glory. My question is, what JRPG do you return to play for being uplifted in life and why that particular game? Looking forward to the Silent Hill 2 episodes! PS - Have you ever considered analysing artitsts works for a podcast? Like Yoshitaka Amanos or HR Giger or something like that. Would love to hear your thoughts on an artist and their work too.

Tomas

I've noticed a pattern in the Final Fantasy series, and I'm curious as to what your thoughts are on it. I've noticed that, while Creative Business Unit 1 (Nomura, Nojima, Toriyama and Kitase) are not good at telling stories with Sakaguchi no longer around, they're even worse at telling direct sequels (i.e., FFX-2, XIII-2, Lightning Returns and FF7 Remake). To better explain it, for our purposes: They're only half-decent at telling NEW stories in NEW worlds, but they're dreadful at telling NEW stories in PRE-EXISTING worlds. I've thought about it a lot and I suspect the reason for this is because, for all their faults when it comes to storytelling, what they're ALWAYS good at is creating worlds which are so interesting that players will want to become immersed in them. (Even as someone who hates FFXIII, I can at least say that its world is very interesting). However, every time CBU1 has tried writing a sequel, they have ended up retconning or otherwise messing with the worlds in ways which ruin the player's investment. - FFX-2 completely invalidated the emotional impact of X's ending by undoing Tidus' death, and also changed the characters' personalities to such an extent that one can't help but wonder: "What was the point in having this be a sequel?" - FFXIII-2 retcons the ending of XIII in a way that renders the main conflict in that game pointless, and literally NOTHING that happens in XIII-2 mattered either given it's all invalidated by the plot of Lightning Returns. - KH Dream Drop Distance revealed that the ENTIRE series up to that point was ordained by Xehanort via time-travel, rendering all the heroes' struggles in every game up to then pointless. - And now, FF7R is completely invalidating the plot of the original game by altering the lore of the lifestream and rewriting history. (I don't know about you, but I for one liked FF7 A LOT more when the Lifestream was just a place to which souls went when they died, and from which monsters and magic could be summoned. I like it a lot less now that it can resurrect the dead, create omnitemporal ghosts and alter the space-time continuum.) Basically, the mere act of CBU1 writing sequels has become synonymous to me with: "We are going to retcon the plot, world and characters SO HEAVILY that the last installment is now completely pointless in retrospect." Which leads me to ask: "Why? Why do they keep writing sequels which invalidate their predecessors?" Well, part of this is likely due to artistic/creative-ambition (something which Casen alluded to here: https://youtu.be/r5wlwmo5I0o?t=3176 ), but I'm starting to wonder if this is actually a consequence of Sakaguchi's philosophy. Sakaguchi has always believed that an artist should 1) make every game like it's their last, 2) put every idea they can into it, and 3) do something new and original with it. But that philosophy cannot apply to sequels for the simple fact that sequels are almost inherently constrained by the plots, worlds, and characters of their predecessors; A sequel is meant to be an expansion upon/continuation of the concepts that were explored in the first/previous installment(s). As such, they are FAR more limited in terms of what "new ideas" they can explore than are original stories with their own new worlds and characters. If a sequel flagrantly goes against the plot, lore and characters of its predecessor, it will break viewers' suspension of disbelief and in doing so compromise their investment in the fictional universe. Simply put: you cannot treat a sequel the same way you would when building an entirely new plot, world and characters from scratch. ...And yet that is exactly the mistake that CBU1 keeps making: FFX-2, XIII-2, Lightning Returns, KH3D and FF7R are so conceptually antithetical to/divorced from their respective predecessors that they might as well be set in brand-new worlds with entirely new casts of characters (which is WHY they are so divisive within their respective fandoms). You've said in the past that direct sequels are contrary to Sakaguchi's philosophy for storytelling, but it seems to me that the core reason why FF sequels are so divisive isn't because they ignore Sakaguchi's philosophy. Rather, I suspect that it's because Nomura, Nojima, Toriyama and Kitase, it seems, are still trying to apply Sakaguchi's philosophy to sequels, even though the former was NEVER MEANT to apply to the latter (and probably for good reason, as the above examples demonstrate). Thoughts? If this question is too long to read in the podcast, I don't mind if you Ctrl+printscreen it and briefly post it on the video screen. P.S. You guys were planning on doing an episode on voice acting a few years ago (this was late-2019, on the episode wherein you guys talked about Xenoblade Chronicles 2's "moe" art-style). Any update on that, or did it fall through?

Hi guys, Happy Holidays! I wanted to know if either of you have ever played Legend of Legaia and what you think of it? Would it make a possible appearance on the Podcast? I feel it has a really strong story and is often overlooked/forgotten. If you haven’t, same questions for Shenmue.

Alan Chapman

Hello Casen and Mike, my question or questions if you’ll allow me, are for mike in your novel that you’ve been working on how did you go about developing your characters and making them 3 dimensional? And for Casen have you always enjoyed learning different languages or is that something new you’ve started doing, and if you have any tips for developing 3 dimensional characters I would be interested to hear what you have to say as well? Thank you for both for the amazing content looking forward to the silent hill 2 analysis!!! Oh! and I would also like to hear Casen’s tips/insights into playing games in another language as well.

Wesley Rhoads

Hi Mike and Casen. First of all i must say i really enjoy your work on your channel, it is always fun, insightfull and interresting. For my question i would like you both to share some thoughts on what makes a story go from good to great, and perhaps how it applies to the characters within. Furthermore i am curious as to how you prefer to approach unknown/new subjects from an analytical perspective. Keep up the great work!

Hey guys, I have a question regarding how to approach writing dialogue. I'm trying to write a short story but one issue I'm facing is several of my characters' dialogue is samey and frankly uninspired. I am wondering if either of you guys have advice on how to craft dialogue in an interesting way, which highlights each character's distinctive personality.