Grazza

I won't pretend to have been there all the way and seen the genre-defining RPGs. However, Dragon Quest VIII is my favourite. I've still not seen one with such a good overworld, soundtrack or general charm. Skies of Arcadia is also good (I prefer the cheery ones). However, I will say this: Dragon Quest IX could (and should) be extremely influencial indeed. Whilst I don't consider it to be as good as VIII, it set up a system that future RPGs would do well to observe. For one thing, it will now seem prehistoric for the clothing characters are wearing not to be visible throughout the game. Furthermore, DQIX combined online features and real-world interaction, making it quite an experience. Supposedly, the 3DS's StreetPass feature is inspired by the "tag mode", which, although I wasn't able to use in DQIX, has immense potential on machines that have this sort of thing built into the operating system. In theory, you could swap/sell items, lend your characters to other people, play online etc. However, that is all speculation. Nonetheless, DQIX has given us plenty of food for thought.

Well, this is all pretty good news, in my opinion. The free games are excellent, and we've only heard what half of them are. I'm hoping for Super Mario World and Metroid: Zero Mission as two of the other GBA games. I don't regret buying mine. I've had loads of fun with it, and if I didn't think it was worth the money at the time, I wouldn't have bought it. It was a fair tactic for Nintendo to bank on the 3D aspect so much. I thought people would be really excited by it. They weren't, but Nintendo just has to dust itself off and get on with it. Regarding what Lens of Truth said about having so many big 1st-party games so early... yes, this is true, but this is a good thing. Nintendo needs to get out the "bridge" titles like Mario Kart and Super Mario. They still haven't done a Zelda (there's no way OOT counts) or a Metroid. Nintendo can easily keep us amused over the next few years, but games machines really get going when they've been made popular. Then the 3rd-party support carries them, like with the DS.

Re: hobbies. I don't think it matters what your hobbies are, just that you're confident about them. They say there's a difference between a geek and a nerd: the former can like as many geeky things as he wants, but still win over people if he has the charm. The latter, on the other hand, will not have the social skills to overcome that. It's a shame. So, even if you like something really weird, if you're confident and can makes girls laugh about it, they'll be impressed with your overall personality.

Personally, I would never start a fight or throw the first punch unless an actual fight had clearly been started by the other person. If he pushed me, I'd push him back harder (and prepare for the consequences), but I wouldn't actually throw a punch until the fight had started. One punch from them could kill you, one punch from me could kill them. I'm pragmatic about it. You can't stop people being morons. Whilst I'm not a target for racism or homophobia, these people are just total, utter, sub-human scum: they'll have a go at anyone. If they shout at me, I'll shout back, but I wouldn't approach them. If they threw something at me, I'd probably report it to the police, because (technically) you are still not in a position where you truly need to fight them. Like it or not (and I don't), it's far more sensible to leave it and get on with your life, and leave them to their moronic existence.

I'm really interested in cryptozoology - the study of unknown animals, like Sasquatch, lake monsters etc. Whilst I do realise the evidence for these is very thin, I just can't resist a good monster story.

Yeah, I disagree with the extensive "tests" and such employers make you do online. What if your net connection goes down? Heck, what if you haven't even got the internet? Doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to do the job. On top of that, there's a massive discrepancy between the ability needed to complete the tests and the quality of the job available. I know very intelligent people who've completed online tests and failed to get even an interview for some quite undemanding jobs.

Yes, I very much agree. And the Monster Arena.

Oh, my word. This is why I love Dragon Quest:

The 3D on the Xevious trailer is amazing. The logo really pops out of the screen! It's an expensive game though, if it's similar to Excitebike... I might get it, but I'm waiting for the points cards to become available. Also, I love watching the Zelda orchestra. However, I'd prefer to be able to download it rather than just stream it.

Thing is, if Nintendo have paid for the orchestra, I'm sure they got them to record as many tracks as they wanted whilst they had their trombones out. Any use of MIDI is probably quite deliberate. The best orchestral score I've had the pleasure of experiencing (Dragon Quest VIII) had plenty of MIDI in it.

Yep, I love the humour in this game, it's got that real cheek back to it. I think it's the best-translated out of the Zenithia Trilogy. Heck, unless I'm mistaken, the poet who can't think of what rhymes with (whatever) is a reference to the brilliant Up Pompeii!

Burger King Bacon Double Cheeseburgers are very tasty. That said, McDonald's Fries are much better. I think McDonald's is better overall. Usually I have a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal (drink is Coke) plus a Hamburger and a Cheesburger. However, for my birthday I'm thinking of ordering two Double Quarter Pounder meals!

Yep, DQ IX was quite something and has accompanied me for the past year. I remember last autumn/winter, slumping in the armchair in front of Strictly Come Dancing. Gavin Henson was dancing, if I recall correctly. I, however, was deep in a Grotto, fighting a boss. I got the 2% drop I'd wanted all night and let out a loud "YESSS!" It's just made me want 3DS RPGs all the more. Imagine the StreetPass features. You could make, say, a really tough Paladin and when you StreetPass with someone, they could use your character in their game. I'd be quite proud to be the Paladin of my home town! You could also list all your duplicate rare items to sell or swap. Even something like getting visitors at the inn would be more likely, as you wouldn't have to have the actual game inserted and at the right place.

There's another huge difficulty spike later: [spoiler=]When you visit the "real" Weaver's Peak, make sure you're tough enough before you try to get the real Hero back. I recommend using the Zombiesbane, and make sure you've explored the world and bought Flame Armour and Flame Shields, as you need to have good defence against both fire and magic. I must say, it is nice to finally have the Flame Armour and Flame Shield - the first set of armour in this game to have really decent elemental defence.

Hmm, I really do fancy something like this on the 3DS, what with its "StreetPass" features and such. The trouble is, I'm not sure I want another one on the DS. The first one, whilst pretty good in many ways, I just couldn't quite get to grips with. I didn't know if you're meant to synthesise your monsters ASAP or build up their skills and then synthesise. I opted for the former and eventually my monsters seemed too weak for the job. Another issue for me is that it's totally unpredictable which type of monster you'll get by synthesising others. You can find out by consulting FAQs, but there's no real logic to it otherwise. Still, I'm tempted and I salute Square-Enix/Nintendo for bringing it over.

I believe Amos is the only missable character, in Scrimsley (which is an optional place after you get the boat). I also believe ol' muggins here is the only one who missed him!

Oh, my word!!! If this is up to standard (and it is WayForward, after all), it'll be a must-buy for me.

Here's a tip: As soon as you see the Zombiesbane for sale, buy it! Also buy as much elemental- and magic defence-boosting gear as you can. Even if you can't afford it, grind for it. Even though I haven't understood much of the story, there was a really touching sequence last night. It brought a tear to my eye.

So do I. You can't beat a bit of cryptozoology. I'm afraid to say, though, that I have seen a simple explanation for this picture: the skull is upside-down. With this knowledge, you can't help but see how similar it is to a whale. Still, there's always another story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2016445/Loch-Ness-like-monster-Alaska-captured-film.html

I was thinking "Honesty is the best policy". I was hoping he'd respect me more for telling the truth. Dragon Quest is a series where you can usually play about by saying a few different things and see what happens. Not this time. Why not? You keep all your spells. When Nevan mastered Priest, for instance, I switched him to Mage and he still healed us just fine. Both are now mastered, and I've got him as a Sage. Personally, I've got: Hero - Monster Master (going to be a Ranger) Carver - Warrior (going to be a Gladiator) Milly - Luminary Nevan - Sage Ashlynn - Armamentalist My logic? The main character needs to master Gladiator, Sage, Luminary or Ranger to become a "Hero" (the others need to master all four, apparently). Since I had obvious candidates for all the others, I chose the latter. That leaves room for a Paladin, but that's no problem, as there are plenty of characters in this game... I make most of them train as a Priest just so we've got plenty of healers.

It's too much, there's no doubt about it. Personally, I did not grind until I had access to Liquid Metal Slimes (in The Bowhole) and then Metal King Slimes. Then we'd all use the "Thunder Thrust" spear ability and hope for the best. Let me tell you, I was soon sick of that place! However, it's a good way to get everyone to level 45 or so in different vocations. That way you can earn loads of skill points and fill out the weapon skills, Agility boosts etc. I can't imagine VI gets as tedious as this, because you basically have to master two or three vocations (ie. get 8 stars of experience), then an advanced vocation, then (if you like) the "Hero" vocation. I'm finding that I can just carry on with the game even if I've just changed vocations.

Personally, I don't believe it's a known type of whale, as there are no ribs or flippers. The head also looks like a reptile's, with "ridged" eyes. However, it's not too dissimilar to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeuglodon Interestingly, a creature like this has been spotted in Canada. All the famous lake monsters, eg. Loch Ness Monster, Champ, Ogopogo are seen on a similar line of latitude, eg. Canada, Scotland, Northern USA.

Haha, I just couldn't understand why he was so snobby about fries. They're great!

I used to like this and, for some reason, always remember the episode where they helped out a chef. As a reward, they asked him to cook them french fries, which he was aghast at!