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.  So, I hopped onto my Japanese profile and downloaded a copy myself.  I finally got a chance to sit down and play through it a little while ago.  Not only does it work - it’s in full English.  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.  I have to say I really enjoyed it.  It looks great and plays great too.  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.  There is a battle timer along the left had side of the screen which rapidly decreases.  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.

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.

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.