Q&A Weekly AMA: Beth Uriel (REDUX)

[Ramen Tengoku]

Moptimus Prime ​

This AMA's subject has gone through many usernames, up to the point that most of us simply refer to her as Irene. However, Moptimus Prime is her current username, so let's go with that for this AMA. Give it up for Moptimus Prime!

Now this ain't Moptimus Prime's first AMA here as they were a subject in the past (albeit under a different username). I'd strongly recommend checking out Moptimus Prime's initial AMA from last year just so we don't get a majority of repeat questions. However a good amount of time has passed and some answers may have changed, so at the same time, I wouldn't completely discourage repeats either.

As always, all site rules are in effect. Please try and limit yourself to one post containing up to three questions until Moptimus Prime has answered, then you may ask more. And when asking questions, please keep it civil. Have fun! If you're curious about if you're on the list of future AMAs, refer to this post over in the Social thread. If you're not and you'd like to be added, please send me a message. Even if you've been a subject in the past, you're free to go again! We'll try to draw one name for an AMA each week, so stay tuned! And if you wanna check out some of the older AMAs, please refer to this post in the Social Thread


alright, Verde Coeden Scalesworth , you ready?

I'll start:

1. How would you envision Brian's hypothetical Smash reveal trailer to play out like?
2. Who is your preferred choice for the ARMS rep as Challenger Pack 6?
3. Cats or dogs?

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I'll start:​

1. How would you envision Brian's hypothetical Smash reveal trailer to play out like?
2. Who is your preferred choice for the ARMS rep as Challenger Pack 6?
3. Cats or dogs?

1. I feel something actually not too off from trailers where the hero of the story knocks bad guys out slowly, before being revealed. So the same thing here, knocking someone out with a Fireball Lv 1, a Rock Lv 1, a Wind Cutter Lv 1, and a Water Pillar Lv 1, among the villains, makes sense. I'd probably say Ganondorf, Bowser, King Dedede, and Ridley kind of work. Ganondorf is pretty close to Fargo in terms of being a royal-like badass. King Dedede is a weapon user like King Beigis. Bowser fits Guilty well enough, both having large claws and bodies, and Ridley is the closest you can get to Mammon, a winged demon of Greed. Other than that, DK fits Solvaring's "beast guy" well enough. So after he takes each out one by one(not sure who yet, admittedly I don't have a trailer thought out), he stands up and faces forward with the cape slowly moving for dramatic effect; "Brian Spells Your Doom!" (...Tagline withstanding).
2. Honestly, Dr. Coyle. She's the only one with a hard role in the game as is, as the rest "can" be a protagonist, and being the core antagonist is noteworthy. We'd get a villain first, too. Being a main character feels pretty important as well as simply being a mascot/protagonist. If not her, Spring Man I feel is the best option.
3. Cats. I had two cats that lasted close to 20 years. Still miss them to this day. Being all snugly is nice.

 

[Wademan94]

1. So how have you been keeping busy amidst all the chaos with the virus?
2. What is your ideal video game like? (Could be something new or using an existing series)
3. I don’t remember if you have answered this before, or even have experience with the series, but I can ask a different question if needed. If you had the opportunity to have all your favorite Pokémon irl with you, not to battle but just to travel around and spend time with, what kind of activities would you do with your Pokémon? Including activities you could only accomplish with said Pokémon.

 

[Cyn]

Has your opinion on pancakes vs. waffles changed since the last AMA?

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

1. So how have you been keeping busy amidst all the chaos with the virus?
2. What is your ideal video game like? (Could be something new or using an existing series)
3. I don’t remember if you have answered this before, or even have experience with the series, but I can ask a different question if needed. If you had the opportunity to have all your favorite Pokémon irl with you, not to battle but just to travel around and spend time with, what kind of activities would you do with your Pokémon? Including activities you could only accomplish with said Pokémon.

1. Doing all kinds of Quest stuff, among other things. I literally have all but 25 NPC's in Quest 64 done, heh. Monsters are next~
2. This is kind of hard to answer. For an RPG, definitely turn-based, a great inventory(that is, easy to scroll through, and large), a normal set of experience points for leveling up(but doing other forms of leveling up is cool too), and preferably a good story. What matters most is gameplay.

Though in general, gameplay is what I care about the most. If the gameplay is unplayable, no good amount of story will save it in my eyes. I go by how much is playable vs unplayable for that. For instance, I prefer Sonic 06 over Sonic Unleashed cause more than half of it I can enjoy(Silver, non-Mach Speed Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Amy, Omega, Blaze) but Unleashed has a barely controllable Sonic with very poor stage design, and then you have the awful Tails stages that don't work for me(I cannot play Bullet Hell or "Press X Not To Die" type games whatsoever. I can't enjoy them. They're massively frustrating), though I actually love the Werehog and Hub Sections. To further go into it, I find 06's music far better, but the story is mediocre. Unleashed's music for me is just okay, but the story is way better. So in the end, the gameplay just pushes 06 over to me. Long examples aside, that should get an idea of what I want from a game.
3. That's kind of also hard to say. I mean, for me, I just like pets. They're fun to be around and it keeps me company. I'm not really much of a self-made person and live with my parents, so I'm not sure what special activities beyond that feel needed. I guess at best a Pokemon with Teleport during the Winter to get to some places faster, or those extremely far away from where I live. But that's... kind of it.

Has your opinion on pancakes vs. waffles changed since the last AMA?

No. Pancakes for life~

(For those wondering, I do work on a ton of games, so hey, those are always fun questions to ask about >.>)

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

If you were in control of a Quest 64 remake would you change a lot of it? Or would the majority remain the way it is to appeal to nostalgia? What would you change? How would it look?

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

If you were in control of a Quest 64 remake would you change a lot of it? Or would the majority remain the way it is to appeal to nostalgia? What would you change? How would it look?

Well, some stuff since the last AMA changed, so this'll be a long one;

• For Grand Abbot's sake, the item menu needs a massive rehaul. I'm thinking a larger list similar to Final Fantasy, but it actually lists the items times x in a similar way too. So either a drop down menu, or it still is side scrolling, but with just way less items. With only around 20 items, it's not that bad.
  • Key Items and Wings could have their own sections.
  • Likewise, equipment. Like, seriously, that would improve the game a lot. Quest RPG really added some cool stuff.
• Quest RPG upgraded the magic so it's super useful. It does better damage and MP rises faster.
  • As does Agility. HP should be the 64 versions. Same with Defense. That was none take hours on end to rise.
• Monsters re-balanced a bit. The enemies once you hit Blue Cave hit a bit too hard. Walking Water could be slightly nerfed or Scorpion/Mimic could be a bit less attack power, same with others like Pixie, Grangach, and Fish Man.
  • Solvaring's a bit weaker with like half the defense. This is good. Keep it that way. Kobold could use a bit less attack power too. 7 with Fireball and Cyclone hits you very hard early on. Maybe throw it down to a 6 or 5 instead. It's mostly fair otherwise.
  • Physical attacks don't seem too bad, except Spriggan's and Pinhead's who does severely low damage for where they are. That could be doubled in power for sure.
• Readable signs. More dialogue. A lottery(with a sound test), just the general stuff to make it more fun.
• A smaller thing, but when attacking an enemy, you get MP back too slowly. This makes it unbearable at times. Hitting an enemy successfully should net you 2 MP, and doing nothing in battle should get you back 1. This balances it out better and makes magic more usable. You get drained of it way too fast. Also, the rate of you getting it back could be slightly increased. It's decent in Quest 64, but takes a lot longer in Eltale Monsters, and that's no good.
• I'm not seeing much from the Hard Mode I've played that feels like a good idea. Healing Lv 2 being the upgraded JP version is good though. Healing Lv 1 could heal a bit more than 4 HP from the start. It's just a tedious thing to try and get back to full HP at that point. So upping that a bit is a good idea. It's close to 1/4 Healing Lvl 2 is, so upping it a bit more is good.
  • Ultimate Wind needs a damage boost. Like, double the current power is enough.
  • I'd get rid of some of the Level 2 variants of the spells and make that default. Silence Lv 2 makes more sense as a Level 2 spell, not a Level 3 spell. Likewise, with the MP thing up above, making spells cost more is good too. Some are fine, like the basic 3 spells per element don't get really overpowered even with 3 MP used per hit.
  • Ice Wall needs a bigger range, that's for sure.
    • As do Wind Bomb and Hot Steam Lv 1 and Lv 2. Yes, this means you get hit more.
  • Homing Arrow needs a clear damage upping, but of course, that means the monsters do the same. Good thing grinding is plausible, but you can also lower an enemy's attack stat, so...
  • Rolling Rock Lv 2 should have two rocks come out(not doable yet even with gamesharking/modding, due to odd programming).
  • Water Pillar itself is meaningless when using Lv 2 or 3 besides hitting a flying Enemy or a bunch of them. Make it so it hits the same amount of times per level to make it more useful. Again, a few enemies use the spell, but you'll just have to actually raise defense once in a while, you know?
  • Rock is a difficult one. Having more rocks fly out like Fireball is good(not doable via modding yet, but), but maybe status effects like applying Weakness Lv 1 sometimes, due to it shattering one's defenses. Rock Lv 3 could apply Weakness Lv 2.
  • Compression should hit all enemies. Easily.
  • Frozen and Restricted status are identical. This should be repogrammed. Being Frozen prevents them from moving, but not from attacking if possible. Restricted is a full freeze instead. BTW, Restriction being "hits everyone" for its default might be a bit much if you fix it up like this.
  • Ice Knife hitting all enemies might not be a bad idea. Would need a MP update.
  • Magic Barrier should last 3 turns at least, but it also shouldn't block Silence in return(like the Gameboy game), and it could work a bit less often in return.
  • But yeah, generally, spells need to cost more in some cases. Unfortunately game is programmed poorly, so.
• More bosses. Lavaar, Dragon, Shannon, to name a few. The last one would be a great thing to put in, even if it's a challenge for after-game. And she'd be tougher than Mammon. First one could be a thing at any time, with increasing stats per win. Losing just resets you before the fight, but with items gone if used. Dragon is in Cull Hazard and would be right before the final stretch where it's nothing but Blood Jells. Other areas with no bosses are Blue Cave and Glencoe Forest. Could justify someone there. Glencoe could throw in Leonardo as a mini-boss perhaps. Blue Cave, I dunno. Maybe Epona as a challenge fight too?
• There's actually a lot of plausible spells by doing different elements. Fire > Water > Wind and Fire > Wind > Water for instance. Extinction is one, but why not another?
• More monsters, obviously. Where's the traditional bee/wasp monster? The Chimera? A freaking Rat? It could use some much needed unique stuff.
• One idea I've found of interest is how to do party members;
  • First, they don't work as their own A.I. It should let you switch between them, but not as a completely free action. You already came move around in battle super freely. Switching out should mean you don't have a straight action yet. You could get an item to change that, but you can still make this work. For instance, they get a defense boost that turn, and can already dodge most attacks.
  • Kiliac and Flora were meant to join you in the beta. You can Leonardo too.
  • If we were to add Monsters as an idea, I think they'd work fine as A.I. only, though. They only do a few attacks and can easily be revived afterwards with 1 HP, like a lot of RPG's.
  • With that in mind, your Magic, Healing-wise, or other things like Spirit Armor, should be able to help your teammates. This would use more MP, which is good.
  • Monsters, if you can't control them, have infinite MP like normal. They just target someone else. Recruiting one should give you their item automatically(and all monsters get items this time around or a drop in general. If Spirit Gemstones stay, they get that).
  • Monsters should also slowly grow better just like you. Some could start with about 10% stats, probably where if they have 50 or less, they start at full stats otherwise.
  • With Kiliac, Flora, and maybe later on Leonardo, they need something worth specializing in. They could get new spells, including boss-like ones too.
• Speaking of bosses, a lot of them have no good reason to have dispel magic on everything. Shilf's projectile move can remove it, so it's worthwhile to use your tools against. That's kind of the only case where stretch is impossible. Beigis' laser hits for about 10 more damage, but doesn't dispel anything.
• Magic Barrier should last 3 turns at least, but it also shouldn't block Silence in return(like the Gameboy game), and it could work a bit less often in return.
• Keep the Up/Left/Right/Down spell menu. It's ingenious.
• Basic story thing; do something with Lord Bart. Don't need to be harsh like Quest RPG, but resolve his plot. Nothing is resolved in the 64 versions. He literally is still laying on the ground.
  • Also, aftermath of the world. More bosses, etc. afterwards. You could challenge bosses again who are harder with more attacks. Have some be revived with some silly idea you were able to bring them back thanks to the Eltale Book, for instance. Mammon aside, anyway. Or maybe he is back, but no longer evil, finally see free(Japanese version suggests he was corrupted by mankind, but also a spirit given form thanks to them too. Hard to say what his new role is).
• With new characters, change the specific weapon types. Flora could use a Bow for instance.
  • You should have some indicator where a spell will hit. It's basically a 3D strategy rpg, but more open.
  • Avalanche obviously would show a giant circle of where it can hit, but it's too randomized otherwise.
• Speaking of items, more. Including other spells(like Soul Searcher Lv 2, or just typical damage ones. This could fill it out well).
• Maps for dungeons. Yes. Like, really, they need 'em. Even if some have mini-maps like Brannoch Castle and World of Mammon. Most places are one "giant" spot. No different from the regular maps either.
  • You can mark the map like the JP version. So your compass is remotely useful.
• Critical Hits, Stats go up with an aura/sphere around to note which one, stats go up a bit faster, battle ring is more rounded off.
• Items can drop multiples of each. Perhaps proper money too?
• Increased projectiles at 50 in each element, or just 50 in their respective element. Going down one element helps. Wouldn't affect "literally hit everyone at once" spells, of course. But, say, that Water Pillar Lvl 3 idea would hit 4 times instead of 3, due to 1.5 times. Or 5 instead of 3. Depends if you round up or down.
• Riding vehicles(horse?) would really help. Summon it, get to a place faster. Of course, it'd have to have limitations, like you couldn't do so in your general dungeon itself, save perhaps forests, or they'd get tired and you had to wait it out. Just so you can't dodge all battles entirely. Speaking of, I think the regular encounters are a great and classic way to do it. "Seeing the enemy" is nice, but it would actually take the game too far. In a similar way, the lack of turn-based ruins what makes the game work just right. A spin-off as an adventure rpg would be cool though.
• HUD control. If only cause it's a nice option as is. Or changing where things are, in case you wanted to show off pictures. Seems silly, but hey. Likewise, speaking of maps, you should be able to view a map on the HUD too. Now the real question is how much is it filled out. Do you need a map item in a treasure chest? That could be a cool key item. Zelda does it well, and it's super useful for players who's played few times or less.

That's all I can think of right now. It's a long read, yes. >.>;