Podcast Topic Suggestions!

The first Trails in the Sky and Trails of Cold Steel games (only ones I've played) portrayed the religion of that world in a positive/neutral light. Not sure how it's portrayed in the sequels. But I agree it's often an exception to the rule, it seems like religion is a negative influence in JRPGs more often than not.

In Octopath Traveller, the religious organization remains noble and good throughout the story, which surprised many fans because of how often the Corrupt Church cliche is used in JRPGs.

Who’s your favorite final fantasy character, and who do you relate to the most? I think each character remind us of ourselves in some way and betray us in others. Btw, just for fun, don’t have to answer :)

I am by no means an extremely religious person but I’ve notice that in many fantasy storylines religions are almost never portrayed in a positive light. It’s an overused trope in my eyes. How do you feel about religious institutions being the “Big Bad” in many video games? Also, are there any games where the religion is either good or at least benign? I can only think of Dragon Quest.

I second this one as well.

Which games did you ended up not liking as much because of UI/UX reasons? How important is UI to your enjoyment of a game? I'm playing Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition and while I didn't play the original a lot of the upgrades seem to me like basic functionality of the game. I believe I wouldn't have liked the gameplay (particularly the quests) of the original Xenoblade that much. Another example would be Vagrant Story which I liked a lot but hated many aspects of the UI/UX.

Weird Mammal

I want to know guys if you are planning to play 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim or Yakuza 7 :D

FFXIIKD

Who is a final fantasy character that you thought had great potential/design but didn’t quite get the back story or development that they needed?

In terms of storytelling, what are the major differences between JRPGs and Western RPGs, and are these differences still prevalent today?

At this stage in your lives do you prefer traditional japanese rpgs or western rpgs?

Hunter Springate

A non-game question: Are there, in your minds, any advantages to adapting an animated television series or film to live action? I keep seeing how poorly received all the live action Disney films are, then there's the upcoming Avatar: The Last Airbender Netflix adaptation coming up which the original creators of the animated show left because they disagreed with the direction Netflix was taking it. I'm seriously starting to believe that the only way to get a meaningful result out of adapting animation to live action is if the live action take is a different interpretation altogether. Otherwise, live action seems pointless and inferior to the animated original in just about every way. On the other hand, can adapting a live action show/movie to animation have any advantages? It just occurred to me as I was writing this question how saddened I was that The Dark Crystal television show was cancelled after only one season (despite being one of the best television shows I had seen in a long time). Then I wondered...what if that series was continued in animated form? Would it work? Or would it be a disservice to the puppetry of the original show? For the record, I do think the Netflix live action take on Avatar: The Last Airbender will likely fail as a great adaptation.

All of the FF games post FFX have been controversial in some way but what can the creators of FFXVI learn from these entries (including spin offs, sequels and remakes) What mistakes should they not repeat? What systems/ideas could be carried forwards in new forms?

ChocolateRob

Question: Is the relative decline of the Final Fantasy franchise an overall good thing for the JRPG genre in the long term? Background: JRPG’s have always been a niche genre outside of Japan, with Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Pokemon being the exceptions to the rule. But starting around the late PS2 era and the PS3 era especially, the JRPG genre saw a decline in overall quality and popularity. However, the long development times and mixed reception for FF games in the PS2 and PS3 eras gave many FF fans the desire to go back and try out other JRPGs that they may have missed or passed on during the SNES and PS1 eras (thanks to emulation and backward compatibility). As a result, lesser known franchises that had been around for quite a while like Dragon Quest, Tales, Persona, Fire Emblem, Trails, etc, started to grow their Western fanbases from "very niche" to "niche". Franchises like Tales, Fire Emblem, and Persona especially took advantage of this new interest from a less “FF-centralized” Western JRPG fanbase. Many long running JRPG franchises now sell much better in the West than they did back when FF was be all end all of JRPGs in the West. Which means these other JRPGs are now much more likely to get localized and released in the West on a consistent basis compared to the 80's, 90’s and 2000’s. I do wish that modern FF titles would have stayed closer to the franchise’s original design philosophy. But given the reality that FF is never going back to the way it was in the 90’s, isn’t the overall stability of the JRPG genre better now since Western JRPG fans are more familiar with and more willing to support other franchises? Would 2011’s Operation rainfall have had enough support if FF12 and FF13 were as well received as FF6 and FF7 were? Would smaller titles like Eiyuden Chronicle even have a chance of getting funded or localized in the 2020’s if Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Pokemon were still the only JRPG Franchises that could manage to sell 1 million+ copies in the West?

Video Game adaptations and why tv shows work better: my personal opinion, but The Mandalorian has shown why tv would be perfect for a video game, because that show watches like one: character walks into town looking for something, someone says “I’ll give you info but you have to do this task for me” and so on, while also juggling a larger over arching plot. Doesn’t get more video game than that. Heck, the entire truck sequence in the last ep felt like it was straight out of a video game.

Do you guys enjoy any kind of tabletop gaming such as D&D? As a form of group storytelling, it can be quite amazing. It allows for many types of play, along with fun and on the fly storytelling.

Mitch McDonough