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Eternal Sonata/Trusty Bell

steve — Tue, 15 May 2007 02:10:15 +0000

Like many people out there is saw a post on Xbox 360 Fanboy that the Japanese Trusty Bell/Eternal Sonata demo works in the states regardless of Microsoft’s new content blocking nonsense in the last dashboard update.Ã‚Â So, I hopped onto my Japanese profile and downloaded a copy myself.Ã‚Â I finally got a chance to sit down and play through it a little while ago.Ã‚Â Not only does it work – it’s in full English.Ã‚Â It appears that it is actaully a multi-region demo just released in Japan first.

The demo is not incredibly long and does not introduce you to the characters but it is enough to give you a feel for the game.Ã‚Â I have to say I really enjoyed it.Ã‚Â It looks great and plays great too.Ã‚Â I was thrown by the battle system for a moment since I expected old school RPG style fighting instead your thrown into a small area with the ability to move about and attack your foes – provided you are near them or have a ranged attack.Ã‚Â There is a battle timer along the left had side of the screen which rapidly decreases.Ã‚Â This setup allows you to say run over to an enemy – beat on him with a normal attack (which helps fill a special meter) and finish with a special attack.

I’m not the biggest RPG player in the world but I may actually pick this one up when it comes out.

Heading Toward Oblivion

steve — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:36:11 +0000

Oblivion is going to ruin my life. I when I bought it the other day I figured that I would have trouble getting into it – but, it has been just the opposite. I haven't had any of the issues that I had when I tried to start Morrowind. Morrowind seemed to start so slow compared to this – or maybe it's because the world, in Oblivion, is presented on such a grand scale. I am now about thirty hours into the game and I've been enjoying it immensely. I had a quest last night, that although very short, I enjoyed because it was based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft. The quest was titled "The Shadow Over Hackdirt". It featured a small isolated town that kidnaps a girl in order to sacrifice her to gain favor with the "Deep Ones" living under the town. I even managed to steal The Bible of The Deep Ones from the town "church". I saved the girl and her horse and I am currently planning on revisiting the tunnels in order to fully explore them.

In fact, I think I'll do that right around now-ish.

Of F.E.A.R. And Oblivion

steve — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 19:54:57 +0000

Nine days ago I received a press release informing me that the single player demo for the upcoming F.E.A.R. expansion – Extraction Point, had been released. So, I figured figured what the hell and downloaded it. Well, I enjoyed the demo so much I decided that I should run out and pick up the original version. Over the next several days I fought my way through the game, mostly playing in the middle of the night (for the best experience). It was terrific – I should have picked it up much sooner. Alma was a bit too much of a Sadako clone for my tastes but I supposed there aren't too many way to portray a creepy little girl. My only problem with the game, now that I've finished it, is that I don't want to replay it because it just won't be as creepy the next time through – guess I'll have to wait till Extraction Point hits next month.

Anyway, if you haven't played it I suggest you pick it up!

While I was out picking up F.E.A.R. I also decided I should get a copy of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion. I'm not too far yet but, I'm going to try to make it to the end of the main quest. I tried to get into Morrowind Game of the Year Edition for Xbox a while back but couldn't – hopefully this time it goes better. One thing I noticed so far is that the system I installed it on needs some more memory.