Penny Arcade Episode 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Episode two builds on the successful gameplay of episode one and introduces new characters and a broader game environment. It's also slightly cheaper. Episode two stands on its own, but is even more enjoyable if you've played episode one first.

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Game is in English only. Want more crazy dialogue and outrageous enemies? Upgrade to the full version of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode Two to see the mystery continue and Gabe and Tycho banter in classic Penny Arcade style. Plus, there are leaderboard rankings and achievements to earn, so get started now! This game requires the Xbox 360 hard drive or the 512MB Memory Unit for storage. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.

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Record of Agarest War Review

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(More customer reviews)Ok, this game definitely has a target demographic. For you to find this review helpful, you probably should fall into most of these categories:
-You like LONG games (50 hrs minimum)
-You like STRATEGY RPGs (moving around on squares, turn-based)
-You like JAPANESE RPGs (anime style)
-You like JAPANESE styled stories (sometimes corny, slighty perverted romance-type)
-You DONT ABSOLUTELY NEED English dialogue (its all japanese, subtitled)
-You like VARYING ENDINGS based on your decisions throughout the game
Alright. So if you satisfy 4 of those traits, you don't want to miss this game.
Before getting into the specifics of the game, I'll say that Xbox360 doesnt have enough RPGs in the first place, so if you are like me, you will feel like you HAVE to at least try it. I don't think you will be dissappointed in most cases.
GRAPHICS/AUDIO/ETC
It's all anime style drawings. The graphics aren't impressive. The audio isn't impressive. It's all gameplay focused, and looks like you are basically playing Final Fantasy Tactics on a nintendo DS. The 'cutscences' are basically just a visual novel. You have to read a bunch to get the story.
THE STORY
It is what you expect from a Japanese RPG. One defining factor, though, is that you aren't the same hero the entire game. The story spans over several generations. Each new generation present a new hero. He is NOT the same guy as the previous one. You will like some of them and you won't like others. The story is DEFINITELY good enough for most people to get over the fact that its all text instead of cutscenes.
I am the kind of guy who hates the play through a game twice. I pretty much lose enough interest to play another 40 hours if I already know the story. But there is even enough variety in this game's story for me to play again. Thats saying alot for me.
Overall, you have to like the Japanese tyle of storytelling to really get into it. As long as you aren't taking it too seriously, you will love it.
THE BATTLE SYSTEM
With enemies constantly changing from area to area, the battle system delivers the diversity necessary to play a game for 100 hours. STRATEGY is extremely important, more so than brute strength. This is a very good thing, as it eliminates the necessity to grind levels before moving on. You can grind if you want to, and end up powering through your next few enemies, but it isnt at all necessary on easy or normal difficulty. That is even more important, for reasons I will get to later.
Basically, you are on a big field of squares, where you use action points(AP) to move and attack. Each turn is divided into a movement stage and an action stage. You have to use AP to move, and to perform attack skills. The amount of AP a character has is determined by their agility, weapons, armor, *and* the location of their teammates. Each character has a unique set of "extended areas," which give them more AP if one of their teammates is located in them. It is the main reason you must strateically think out every movement you make. In addition, you can do combination attacks with the teammates that are in your extended area. These are the most important attacks, and are absolutely necessary to defeat powerful enemies. In some cases, you will have to risk recieving greater damage by turning your back on the enemy in order to link up with your teammates. All things must be considered.
Throughout the game, you will even uncover new battle formations and fields, allowing you to choose a differently-shaped 'field of squares' that best compliments your battle style.
Overall, if you appreciate the strategic elements of the battle system, and don't mind that it looks so old-school, you will never get bored with the fighting.
THE OVERALL GAME SYSTEM
Your decisions are important. Some decisions that dont seem important end up affecting you later in the game in ways you didn't expect. You can make decisions that move you between the "dark" and "light" side of the guage. Unfortunately, sometimes you cant really tell which way a decision will send you. There are even some decisions that you must make during actual battles, such as not attacking a certain person. I did not fully comprehend the consequences of alot of actions until it was too late, but that is a good sign that you have to be thinking about more than battles to get the results you want.
Your actions affect how the female characters in the game like you. This is important because at the end of every generation, you have to choose a bride to make the hero of the next generation! You will choose your bride based on her strengths and yours, and that will determin the strength of the next hero. So if you like to use physical attacks, it is better for you to do the things the more physical heroine likes. If you want a magic user, then you need to get on the good side of the more mage-like females. It is more in-depth than it seems: That bride's level of affection for you also determines how strong the next hero will be, so you can't just ride the middle fence the whole time, or your son will not be as powerful.
Each generation, you have 3 brides to choose from, leading to 3 different next-generation heroes. The bride from the 1st generation, though, also affects your options for EVERY generation after that. The variety of possible end-game heroes, therefore, is unprecedented.
Throughout the game, you collect items, weapons, armor, and even monsters that can be upgraded, augmented, and converted into new items, with which you can create more powerful ones. The amount of customization in this game is impressive.
Back to the grinding issue. Every battle and even in the story consumes "1 turn." The game keeps track of how many turns you use. If you spend a bunch of turns grinding levels, you will miss some big events, and eventually change the ending of the entire game! Getting to a certain point in the game too late may cause you to miss a new partner, or a variety of other events. If you skip too many optional battles, you will find yourself underpowered in the next boss battle, or you may miss some powerful items. You have to consider all of these things with every move you make.
The story is not presented in a very interesting way. Basically, you just move from battle to battle, with various events mixed in between.
It's a stragy game, and RPG, a great story, and partially a dating sim. None of these elements are ground-breaking in themselves. But when you combine all of them in this manner, you have something that hasn't quite been achieved before.
THE GOOD
-Strategy based battles emphasize your decision-making instead of brute strength. (no grinding required)
-Decision system makes your decisions from every generation important for the entire game
-Immersive storyline holds the player's interest for the duration, and is interesting enough to play through multiple times
-HP is restored after battles, preventing the need to use recovery items outside of battle
-Plenty of different characters to team up with, allowing you to choose how to fight your battles
THE BAD
-All japanese dialogue, and no subtitles during battles. Archaic system of story-telling that you expect more on a handheld game without cutscenes.
-Sometimes hard to figure out whether your choice is going to be considered 'dark' or 'light'
-Characters have limited amount of slots to assign skills to, causing you to use the same attacks over and over again.
-Graphics and audio quality are mediocre compared to the console games of this era
-Relatively limited selection of the most powerful move combinations in battleCONCLUSION
This is a game that requires alot of strategic thought and patience. And there is no focus on impressive visual/audio effects. You definitely have to really commit to playing it, but if you do, you WILL NOT be dissapointed. You will be immersed, challeged, and satisfied.


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Story At the dawn of time, a terrible war raged between the forces of good and evil, ending in the destruction of the world of Agarest. After their victory, the Gods of Light unified the decaying bodies of the Gods of Darkness and created a new world. Now, the forces of darkness are awakening once again...Choose the path of Darkness or Light through a truly epic story, spanning multiple generations. Battle hundreds of different creatures using an array of character abilities, in a compelling and innovative turn-based combat system. Build your ultimate army of warriors and master extra skills, special arts and over kills to defeat colossal enemies. Unite with your chosen heroine and use the "Soul Breed" system to shape the fate of the next generation of heroes, that will follow in your footsteps.

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Lost Odyssey Review

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(More customer reviews)One prominent feature of JRPGs is the emo male protagonist. Only a handful of games break this mold. One such game would be Lunar: Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue. While Lunar held to the same themes as most JRPGs by discussing the importance of friendship, the battle of Good versus Evil, it maintained a general sense of joviality. Even when things inevitably went dark, the characters kept their happy-go-lucky attitude.
Lost Odyssey is the antithesis of Lunar.
Kaim is your typical tortured soul protagonist, except that, unlike most others who write bad poetry while metaphorically slitting their wrists and bemoaning their wretched life, he actually has a reason to be. He's an immortal, apparently cursed to live forever and has already lived 1,000 years. So, when the game begins with a climactic battle involving a meteor, he's had many lifetimes of sorrow, guilt, death and tragedy that would obviously make anyone's existence incredibly dour. If you're a sucker for sad stories, Kaim's tale will undoubtably tug at your heart strings.
Basically, two stories are going on at once in Lost Odyssey. There's the current story that I'll get to in a bit. There's also the back story that comes flitting through in written form every once in awhile. You see, Kaim suffers from another JRPG staple: the amnesiac hero. He, and other immortals like him, don't remember much about their past for some reason. And so, as Kaim continues his quest, events will trigger memories and you have the option of reading them. These little vignettes are written by Kiyoshi Shigematsu, an award-winning Japanese novelist, and it shows.
These 34 stories, in fact, often overshadow the main story line. The main quest involves discovering why Kaim and the other immortals are amnesiac and they quickly become embroiled in a political landscape more polarizing than the current times we live in. A few different countries eye each other ominously and one of the main points of contention comes down to technology and magic. Add in some political backstabbing and enough emotional baggage to sink the Titanic and you basically have the very interesting and mature story in a nutshell.
The combat is typical JRPG; turn-based and random. Eschewing their previous game's encounter system (Blue Dragon), Lost Odyssey has plenty of random encounters. Fortunately, with the exception of a few areas, the encounters aren't as frequent as they have been in some games. A couple additions to the combat and leveling system add to the thrill. For instance, taking a cue from Shadow Hearts, you can equip various "Rings" on characters which will add various abilities to their attacks. The twist is that you have to trigger these additions by holding the right trigger and releasing it as a big circle perfectly shrinks to match a smaller circle. This little homage to Shadow Hearts should be expected since Feel Plus, a studio working with Mistwalker on this title, is comprised of some ex-Sacnoth employees who had created the Shadow Hearts series.
The leveling system is also pretty interesting as you have Immortals who don't learn skills when they level and Mortals who do. Consequently, you can "skill link" an Immortal to a specific Mortal Skill and learn it eventually. This creates an interesting dynamic where you want to have Mortals and Immortals in your party to gain their knowledge and also to have them level up. The one complaint I have is that members not in your party don't automatically gain experience. And due to the fact that you'll want your mortals to level so you can learn more skills, you'll constantly be flipping your formation around (you can have five members in your party at a time).
From a sound perspective, Lost Odyssey surprised me. The score from Final Fantasy mainstay Nobuo Uematsu is familiar and different, bringing to mind some of his excellent compositions from Final Fantasy. Meanwhile, this is one of the few JRPGs to offer a Japanese vocal track if you'd like to listen to that...and it's one of the only games where I don't want it. The English vocal staff is excellent for the most part. I really, really like it and the dialogue is (mostly) written well.
So there's obviously a big elephant in the room. Lost Odyssey is very reminiscient of Final Fantasy which is to be expected since you have Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of the entire Final Fantasy series, and his cohort in musical crime onboard. Then you add in the fact that Feel Plus is made of ex-Sacnoth employees who were, in turn, former Square employees...and you have the recipe for a game that's pretty close to Square's long-winded series.
Along with the aforementioned party-swapping to level, a few other complaints bring the score down. For one, there's a lot of load times. And load times during cut scenes which is a huge no-no in my book. The frame rate does take a few dips every so often and while it's not a deal-breaker, it is noticeable. And the beautiful graphics are often marred with aliasing issues, resulting in what's called "jaggies." Combat also takes awhile to load into, as the game shows you various images, then the main characters are introduced before finally showing the enemies and the battle starts. All of this is to hide the load times, I'm sure, but it slows combat down a lot.
Ultimately, though, the complaints are minor nuisances in what is a great addition to the JRPG line. It's fun, mature, dark and sad, sometimes all at once. Unfortunately, Lost Odyssey seems to be taking a beating in the mainstream gaming press who have said it's "soooo old fashioned," a claim that probably wouldn't be made if you switch the words "Lost" and "Odyssey" with "Final" and "Fantasy" with some roman numeral...maybe with a dash and a number.

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Tales of Vesperia Review

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(More customer reviews)Ever since the previews last December, Tales of Vesperia looked amazing! Even now at its release, it still continues to excite me. At first, the graphics wowed me. Definitely a great step for the series. The music, done again by Motoi Sakuraba, is amazing. I love the Ring a Bell remixes that were done. Even the opening song, Ring a Bell by BONNIE PINK, is amazing. It's one of my favorite songs. I didn't really have an opinion about the characters until I played the game. My favorite characters are Judith and Raven (how can you not love them?). The cutscenes themselves are amazing. There really isn't anything negative I can say about this game. If you have a 360, then get the game. If you don't, then get out and get one! This is one game you should definitely not miss out on!!!

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A power struggle begins in a civilization dependant on an ancient technology, the blastia, and the Empire that controls it. The fates of two friends traveling separate paths intertwine in an epic adventure that threatens the existence of all. Tales of Vesperia marks the first Tales RPG release in high-def with detail and graphics never before seen in the series. Now, real-time battles are more exciting than ever with over limits, the ability to unleash fatal strikes, combinations and burst artes. The next evolution of the revered role-playing series comes to the Xbox 360.

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Mass Effect 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)INTRODUCTION
Mass Effect, by Electronic Arts (EA), sets the benchmark for third person role playing actions games. It is as close to a DVD movie as a video game can get, because, unlike most first person games, players can see and hear the player character as well as the non-player characters (NPCs). This movie-like quality greatly enhances the compelling story, which is the hallmark of the Mass Effect Trilogy.
THE PLOT
**Spoiler Alert**
This second episode of the Mass Effect Trilogy begins with the death (yes, DEATH) of Commander Shepard, in a fiery ambush of the Normandy, two years after he/she defeated the traitorous Saren Arterius in the battle of the Citadel. But, thank the goddess, he/she is later resurrected in Project Lazarus by the Illusive Man, leader of Cerberus, a shadowy and ruthless "human supremacist" organization, for the sole purpose of sending the legendary commander to investigate a new cataclysmic event in the Galaxy: entire human colonies have been vanishing without a trace, leaving behind empty buildings. To confront the threat, Shepard travels across the Galaxy to recruit up to a dozen of the most dangerous characters to his/her elite team, at locations including Illium, an asari colony, and Omega, a lawless mining station built on a hollowed out asteroid in the Terminus Systems, for a mission from which every member of the team, including Commander Shepard, may never return.
**End of Possible Spoilers**
THE CHARACTERS
Players who had completed Mass Effect 1 (ME1) can import a Save Game from the list of Character Saves into Mass Effect 2 (ME2). During the file transfer, they have the option of changing the class of Commander Shepard, for example, from adept to vanguard, as well as his/her physical characteristics. This is possible in the storyline on account of Project Lazarus--a very clever way of putting Shepard on reset. If Shepard was imported at a high level in ME1, players will be awarded with bonus squad points and research metals at the start. (See my comment dated 2/3/10.) All the NPCs who were alive at the end of the ME1 are transferred. Furthermore, the story in ME2 unfolds in accordance with the decisions made by the players in ME1, for example, whether Shepard set the Rachni queen free in Noveria, whether he/she resolved the conflict with Wrex on Virmire peacefully, or whether he/she called in the human fleet to save the Council in the battle of the Citadel. The main storyline, however, remains unchanged. For those who never play ME1, ME2 can be played stand-alone with new characters and certain pre-set assumptions on events in ME1. New characters in ME2 include Thane, a drell master assassin, Legion, a free-thinking geth, who is stalking Commander Shepard, and Subject Zero, a female human biotic gang and cult member, with head-to-toe tattoos. Other than the geth and the Reapers, new enemies emerge in ME2. They include the Collectors, a winged insect-like species who are suspected to be working for the Reapers, and Scions, which are grotesque experiments of the Reaper, as well as monstrous beings created by the Reapers out of other species they abducted.
THE GAME/COMBAT SYSTEM
The Artificial Intelligence (AI) and combat system have been vastly improved in ME2. Gone are those annoying texture pop-ups in ME1. So are those long elevator rides--they are replaced with loading screens. Battle scenes are more realistic: enemies are thrown against walls, limbs are blown off, and wounded fighters continue to fight by crawling on the ground. Players can hit the enemies where they place the reticles, like in a shooter. (This is not so in ME1, where hits are calculated based on the number of skill points assigned by the players to the characters.) Players can now issue attack orders to Shepard's squad mates by using the directional-pad of the controller (of the Xbox 360), and manually prompt Commander Shepard to duck behind covers. The limitless ammo is no more in ME2. It is replaced with removable "thermal clips". When a clip is spent, it must be ejected and replaced with a new one. Players are therefore advised to take note of the amount of thermo clips available during battles. Instead of only four weapon types as in ME1, there are nineteen in ME2. One of my gripes with ME1 was the lack of heavy hand-held weapons. In ME2, they are available to the soldier class player character (as well as Commander Shepard of all classes). These heavy weapons knock down multiple enemies in one gigantic blast. A sentinel class player character now dons an ablation tactical armor, which makes him/her very tough to kill. An engineer class player character can launch a drone to aid him/her in battle. An adept class player character can spawn micro-singularities around the enemies, annihilating them en masse. Tactical cloak, which renders a combatant invisible briefly, is available to an infiltrator class player character. A vanguard class player character can dash around the battlefield with a new biotic power--the "biotic charge", which propels him/her forward at tremendous speed and force, to attack or evade the enemies. There is no longer any class restriction in armor. Medi-gel, used in the ME1 to regenerate health, is replaced with auto-regeneration, although the players still need it to cast the Unity reviving power. (Note: auto-regeneration is also available in ME1, but only as an upgrade to the armors.)
THE DIALOGUE
The dialogue wheel in ME1 is the most innovative dialogue system in all the games I have ever played. When used probably, it delivers a continuous and seamless dialogue, and hence the movie-like quality of the game. In ME2, the dialogue wheel is further improved. A new "interrupt" system is introduced. When prompted by the players with the left or right trigger of the controller (of the Xbox 360), Commander Shepard can interrupt the dialogue with "heroic" or "hostile" action to get the answer he/she wants. Furthermore, instead of the previous static camera position in ME1, the camera moves around during conversations in ME2, adding further cinematic effect to the game.
THE CHOICES
Like in ME1, choices made by the players influence the outcome of the game in ME2. For example, in ME1, on the planet Virmire, Commander Shepard (and hence the players), was called upon to decide which of the two squad mates he/she would rescue; the one left behind was consumed in a subsequent nuclear blast. In the same manner, decisions of the players in ME2 throughout the game may eventually lead to the annihilation of the entire ground team in the final mission, including Commander Shepard, or the survival of every team member, or something in between. Players with a "dead" Shepard will not be able to import him/her into ME3. The same thing is true with a "dead" teammate. They can play ME3 with a generic Shepard, but not "their" Shepard. Furthermore, with Shepard killed, players can't return to the game world after the final mission and continue to play, for example, to complete a side quest, or to explore a new locale. They will have to start a new game or reload with a previous save-file and replay part of the game for a different outcome. This gives incentive to players to make sound decisions throughout the game, before heading into the final mission. (See my comment dated 4/23/10.)
THE CERBERUS NETWORK
The Cerberus Network is a cleverly designed in-game portal through which players can access "Downloadable Contents (DLCs)" from EA.Players activate this network with a one-time access code, which is included in every new game purchase. Game renters and used game buyers will have to pay for the code. This arrangement is apparently a ploy by EA to combat the rental and used game market, which has been undermining retail sales of new games. Players who access the network will receive the first DLC pack on January 26, 2010, the date on which the game is released in North America. This first DLC introduces Zaeed, a rough and tumble mercenary who will join Shepard's elite team. A future DLC will introduce the Hammerhead, a hover tank to replace the much-maligned Mako in ME1. (Note: There is no driveable vehicle in the core game.) In addition, new missions and in-game items will be released to gamers by EA through this network.
CONCLUSION
ME2 comes with 2 discs. Players have to swap discs (twice per game) at some points. There are 90 voice actors playing 546 characters with over 30,000 lines of dialogue. New voice actors in ME2 include D.C. Douglas, Martin Sheen and Adam Baldwin. In conclusion, ME2 is a role-playing game with the look and feel of a shooter. It is a must-have game of the year.


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Story Two years after Commander Shepard repelled invading Reapers bent on the destruction of organic life, a mysterious new danger has emerged. On the fringes of known space, something is silently abducting entire human colonies. Now Shepard must work with Cerberus, a ruthless organization devoted to human survival at any cost, to stop the most terrifying threat mankind has ever faced. To even attempt this perilous mission, Shepard must assemble the galaxy's most elite team and command the most powerful ship ever built. Even then, doubters say it would be suicide. Commander Shepard intends to prove them wrong. Gameplay An space-based action RPG like its predecessor, gameplay in Mass Effect 2 revolves around the player's particular version of Commander Shepardand continuing development of this character as the game proceeds. As the game opens a variety of character classes are made available to the player, with talents, both exclusive and general, associated with each. With experience these talents are leveled up, resulting in the unlocking of related abilities and/or entirely new talents. The player has the ability to customize their Commander Shepard in a number of ways including physical appearance, gender, and certain aspects of their personal history, with the rub being that these choices can influence things like available missions, dialogue choices with non-player characters (NPCs), and character background. Accompanying this main character are a number of preset supporting characters that the player can direct and develop relationships with, which again, will alter the outcome of the story. All the characters from the original game make an appearance in Mass Effect 2, but the immediate characters surrounding Commander Shepard are new. Additional new features that players can expect to experience include new alien races; a more realistic damage system; a new heavy weapons system allowing for maximum damage; a regenerative health system; a dramatic increase in the number of character animations available to Shepard; and updates to the dialogue mechanic used when conversing with NPCs. Integration with the Original Mass Effect Mass Effect 2 allows players of the original Mass Effect game to import save games to continue the story of their own Commander Shepard. In doing this, the decisions that were made in the first game will affect the events of the second game. In addition, characters from the first game will return, as long as they were not killed off by the player in the first game. On the other hand, new players coming to the series for the first time in Mass Effect 2 will start a brand-new character, discover the events of the previous games as they progress and embark on a thrilling stand-alone adventure that does not require the previous game for play. Key Features
Futuristic Weapons - Choose from 19 different weapons, including devastating heavy weapons that can end a battle in seconds.
Elite Specialists - Recruit up to a dozen of the galaxy's most dangerous operatives to help you in your mission. Train and equip your team to survive insurmountable odds.
Explore the Galaxy - Scan planets to uncover unique secret missions in the Mass Effect universe.
Integration with Original Mass Effect - Players of the first Mass Effect can import save games to continue the story of their own Commander Shepard. New players will find a thrilling stand-alone adventure awaits them, a polished and action packed journey that surpasses the first game in nearly every possible way.
Intense Third-Person Combat - Increased intensity with precision shooter controls to let you control the action and overcome insurmountable odds.
New Damage System - New location based damage system allows for targeting of key weak points, blasting off limbs, igniting enemies, or crippling and disabling enemy troops.
Character Customization - Choose a player class, customize your appearance, and tailor your own abilities and strengths. As you progress, so do Shepard's abilities.
Improved Dialogue Mechanic - Improved NPC conversation system where Commander Shepard can take matters into your own hands – interrupting or using force to get the answer required.

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Rise of the Argonauts Review

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(More customer reviews)Rise of the Argonauts is a strange game. The idea of creating a game around the saga of Jason and the Argonauts is a great one, and has lots of potential. The idea of creating a Mass Effect type game set in ancient Greece is a great one, with lots of potential. RPG-type power up system mixed with hack and slash gaming is a great idea too
The problems come in on the "but..." end of things. Great idea to use the Argonauts myth, BUT they basically wrecked that by making the game have absolutely zero to do with Greek mythology. All the character names are the same, but none of the characters are doing anything that they're supposed to be doing. The Argo is full of all new people, ie, NOT the actual Argonauts, and the quest for the golden fleece is still the same in name but they want it for a completely different purpose
None of the character relationships are the same either. People who are half-brothers in Greek myth are uncle and nephew in this game. People who are married in Greek myth are vague acquaintances in this game. People who live in completely different eras are united in the same time and place. No idea why they would do this, its completely unexplainable
One might as well have a Bible game that has Noah, Moses and Jesus wandering through the desert for 40 years together with the Jews, and at the end of it they fight the battle of Armageddon. That's the kind of hodgepodge you're faced with here
The dialogue trees are a good idea it seems, at first, until you realize that absolutely nothing you say makes any difference. Regardless of your choice, the people you're talking to will give you the same item or response. Occasionally you will talk to them and they will just repeat themselves over and over til you get to the part of the quest that causes them to change to a new set of selections
Tons of bugs too. Occasionally you'll talk to people who aren't there. People will appear and disappear for no reason. You select certain "god powers" which are basically just power up attacks from the D pad, and when you push down it gives you the power that's on the right, or you push up and get the down power. Just totally unexplainable things like that
Don't get me wrong, none of that makes the game unplayable. Its a pretty decent game, fun to play if a little unchallenging. I'm maybe 15 hours into it and plan on beating it before I put it down. Its by no means a 5 star game though, not another Mass Effect like some people here are claiming. Not a 1 star game either, like some people are saying
Basically if you want a game with lots of sword fighting and not much chance of actually dying, this is it. A game with lots of choices but no consequences if you make a bad one, this is it. A game that plays out like a movie, but not a movie you'd really want to see twice. Here it is
Hope that helps you make a decision on whether or not to give it a try

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Go back in time to an era where the Gods themselves walked the earth, and where the battles that occurred brought such fame to their heroes that their stories still resound today. With Rise of the Argonauts for the Xbox 360, gamers can immerse themselves in one of the grandest tales to be told in the history of modern civilization.
The Story Unfolds As the King of Iolcus, Jason had everything: a prosperous kingdom, the respect of his peers and a beautiful fiance, the princess Alceme. But when she was assassinated on their wedding day, Jason vowed to take revenge on her killers, and to restore her life. To accomplish this feat, you, as Jason, must seek out the Golden Fleece with the help of Greek mythology's greatest heroes. An epic-scale, action role-playing game (RPG), Rise of the Argonauts immerses gamers in a gladiatorial adventure engaged in brutal combat, with warriors such as Hercules, Pan and Achilles as they traverse a world ruled by mythological gods.
Incredibly Absorbing Play Rise of the Argonauts immerses players completely in the world of ancient Greece. One way this is accomplished is by streamlining the RPG elements in exciting new ways. For example, rather than increasing arbitrary stats like 'Intelligence plus one', items and upgrades give Jason unique, tangible abilities like the Fist of Ares, which causes shields to explode, ripping apart nearby enemies. And individual battles aren't dependant upon a hit-point and dice system. If you manage to get behind a shield and slice into your enemies' neck, their head will be cleaved from their shoulders. The developers also spent time researching the look and feel of ancient Greek artwork, crafts and architecture for a richness of surrounding that is astonishing.
As in ancient Greece, in Rise of the Argonauts players must curry the favor of the Gods. As you achieve deeds, you can dedicate them to different gods. A god's favor will also be affected by choices you make in conversations with non-player characters. As your favor, or disfavor, with a particular god rises, your abilities will be affected accordingly. But be careful, because the gods like few things better than meddling in the lives of their human subjects.
Amazing Battles are Loads of Fun The battle system in Rise of the Argonauts is simple enough to pick up quickly, but has more finesse than your typical button masher. In battling enemies you weaken their armor, then their limbs, eventually finishing them off. Weapons can be switched mid-battle to unleash devastating combos, while using god-granted powers can also cause serious damage. Players can also choose how to defeat their enemies, and in so doing find interesting new allies. For example, in one of your battles you will fight Medusa herself. If you kill her, her brother Perseus will grieve for her but join you on your quest. If you save Medusa, however, Athena will command her to join your crew as a beginning to her penance for her misdeeds.
In Rise of the Argonauts gamers will find a deep, and enthralling story that is matched only by the fun of playing it. With a wide range of upgradeable weapons, loads of different heroes to help you, gods to entreat, and an ever-changing story that is constantly affected by the choices you make, the possibilities seem endless. Add to that stunning visuals, a musical score created by film composer Tyler Bates, and a smooth blend of action and RPG that is new to the genre, and this is a game you simply must check out. You'll recognize characters from classic myths such as Medusa and her head of snakes.

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Magna Carta 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)Extra points if you know what the title is quoted from, but anyway...
This game is simple. So I'm going to give you a simple review. This is a JRPG in the finest sense. If you've played most if not all of the RPGs on the 360, you've played this game before. It borrows VERY heavily from almost every single original (meaning, non-sequel) one, and I'm going to focus on that, but first a little back story. Your character is Juto, a young man who has washed up on an island with amnesia (Infinite Undiscovery anyone?). Melissa finds him, and takes him in as family, showing him the basics of combat and survival during the ongoing war that is taking place (Blue Dragon anyone?).
The battle engine uses a controlled action engine, identical to the one found in Infinite Undiscovery. If you didn't like that battle engine, you won't like this one, period. The graphics are strikingly similar to Infinite Undiscovery as well, also making use of the Unreal Engine. The war backstory feels like a toned down version of The Last Remnant, not quite as large scale. And, as in Infinite Undiscovery, you'll encounter a runaway princess accompanied by her guardian. (Trust me, I'm not done yet...)
There also happens to be "Kan", which is a form of energy that gives humans extraordinary powers. This is not unlike the energy in Infinite Undiscovery that gave people powers of the moon, since the hero, Strauss, also comes from another planet. But what really made me giggle is the presence of "Doomseeds" in the game...some sort of light shower which seem to be related to Kan in some way and affect Kan users negatively when exposed to it. (Infinite Undiscovery players, does any of this sound familiar?)
Basically...this game really does rip off a lot from Infinite Undiscovery. That's not a bad thing, but if you couldn't stand that game, PLEASE skip this.=-= What Magna Carta 2 Does RIGHT =-=
- Graphics are quite beautiful.
- Lots of cutscenes, some manually controlled, some static with text, others fully CGI.
- Battle engine is easy to get into (see WRONG below though...)
- 100% camera control in multiple directions, including up and down.
- If you install to the hard drive the load times are almost nonexistent.
- Fairly deep story. It's easy to see that story is what drives this game, along with graphics.
- Music is light, not overpowering, just enough to get you into the environment.=-= What Magna Carta 2 Does WRONG =-=
- Inefficient use of button commands. I mean, if I need to switch skills, why do I have to press RT, then Dpad, Then RT, then X? Why can't I just have RT cycle through the options and then X when I'm done? That's just one example; don't even get me started on the Drive Chain.
- Drive and Chain and all of the variations are absolutely mind numbingly confusing. It's not explained well in the first place, and given the button inefficiency I mentioned above...
- Quest explanations are stupid. One quest asks you to basically use Fire Tap (Crocell's Special) to generate Fire Kan. Never is it explained exactly how to trigger his Fire Tap, unless I missed it somewhere.
- Forced requirement to go back and "check in" with requesters. I understand this is real and all, but the problem is that the game is structured such that if you proceed a certain length, you will get to a point where you cannot return, thus if there is a quest that exists at the very end of one of these parts, there's usually a single event (which you can't back out of) that is your point of no return. Since you didn't know in advance, even if you did the quest correctly, you can't go back to check in and thus you lose those Experience points.
- A LOT of backtracking due to the aforementioned "check in" requirement. The land is huge, so this gets annoying.
- I find the voice acting to be subpar. Maybe it's just me.So...do I recommend it? If you liked Infinite Undiscovery, yes. If you never played that game, you might want to play that first to see if you like that direction. It's scary how identical it really is to that game. You might consider renting Magna Carta 2 if you really feel like taking a plunge. I will say though for the record, for everyone who is reading. THIS IS A JRPG. THIS IS NOT OBLIVION, IT's NOT FALLOUT 3. Please don't come in here blasting it for "sticking to the old formula". Yes, it does. And there's nothing wrong with that, for people who enjoy that formula. It's not going to change the face of RPG gaming. Doubtful it'll end up on PS3. But it's a solid addition to the RPG library for 360 and well worth at least a playthrough, as long as you can accept it for being the very basic of RPG.

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Magnacarta 2 introduces an original new storyline driven by intense themes of love, hate, politics, betrayal and the ultimate question of choosing one's own fate. Players are immersed in the world of the Lanzheim Continent, a conflict-ridden land deeply divided by a fierce civil war. Powered by the Unreal Engine3 and featuring character designs by famed Korean artist Hyung-Tae Kim, the game bears a striking visual style unlike any other RPG through its blend of photo-realism and Japanese manga influences. The deeply emotional story is driven by beautifully rendered CGI cut-scenes featuring fully voiced dialogue to draw players into the immersive experience.Delivering more than 40 hours of gameplay, Magnacarta 2 features a unique battle system which combines strategic turn-based battles and real-time gameplay, creating a fresh twist on the traditional RPG formula. The game seamlessly blends world navigation and battles as everything happens in the same environment with no load screens or abrupt changes in the action when a fight begins or ends. Players can utilize objects found in the environment to their advantage and likewise, creatures and field objects dynamically react to the player's actions. A free roaming camera further adds to the unrestricted interaction with the world. Players are also given flexible control over their party with the ability to pre-assign attributes for each AI character and freedom to easily switch control between all the characters at any time.

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Dragon Age: Origins Awakening Review

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(More customer reviews)Dragon Age: Origins was a real treat for me. I was absolutely absorbed by the lore Bioware created for it, and instantly fell in love with the characters with whom I eventually traveled Ferelden. On the whole, I almost liked it BETTER than even MASS EFFECT 2, because I felt like I was playing out MY story, not Shepard's story. That's a feeling I've not had since KotOR. But, similarly to KotOR, the production values of DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS felt last generation, which hindered the experience in many ways.
So, I was surprised to hear about this expansion so soon after the main game's release. I mean...when I first heard about this at the beginning of the year: barely two months after DA:O came out. I was concerned that this was just going to be a moneygrab by Bioware/EA, since...who has ever made an expansion that quickly? (Maybe EVERQUEST). Additionally, though Bioware have proven that they are the best at creating absorbing story/character-driven video games, they absolutely suck at DLC. (Pinnacle Station RAGE!)
Is this expansion worth buying? That's difficult for me to say. Hopefully my experience will help you make up your mind.
Chances are very good that this expansion will not snugly sync up with your ending from the main game. In my case, I had made it pretty clear to everyone that I was going to leave with Zevran to track down Morrigan. Then, I begin DA:O - AWAKENING to discover that I had apparently changed my mind and decided to become a commander of the Crown's army. A small scene to show how my character was drawn back into the fray would have solved this, but this is just one of many instances where your decisions from the last game have almost no effect on this storyline. (And to the poor souls who began the game wearing nothing but their underwear: my condolences.)
This was a major downer, and I am very disappointed that Bioware didn't put a little more time (god knows Bioware fans are used to the long development cycles by now) to make the transition much easier. Don't even get me started on the import system. It's not as fine-tuned as that of MASS EFFECT 2; it takes data from your last save point. I had started up an old save at some point on DA:O, so I began AWAKENING with my character at level 17. It was an hour before I had realized what had happened. EDIT: Just so there's no confusion, I was able to open up an "advanced" menu and select the right save file, but words cannot communicate the frustration involved with immediately replaying that bit again.
But that's not to say I hated this game; I enjoyed the story in AWAKENING and I REALLY enjoyed the new characters. At times, it felt like the best parts of DA:O. In addition to this, some new talents and specializations, a higher level cap and, finally, someplace to store equipment: I was a happy camper for a while. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to rule Amaranthine, and I wish that Bioware had expanded upon this a bit more. Carrying out prisoner sentencing in a fantasy setting has to be one of the coolest features ever.
On "normal" difficulty, getting all (but one) of the achievements, and completing almost every quest in the game, I enjoyed just over 13 hours of gameplay.
Was it worth $40? No, probably not. I think anyone who has reservations about this expansion should trust their instincts and wait for the price to drop. Bioware really should have taken the price down to justify the content, rather than place it at $40 and keep people like myself wondering why there isn't more. I don't exactly feel cheated, since I really did enjoy the expansion, but I paid just as much for the first 4 expansions of FALLOUT 3 and those actually felt like EXPANSIONS. DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS - AWAKENING feels like an episode: almost completely isolated from the last game in terms of both content and story.
There is much that can be loved in this "expansion" for fans of DRAGON AGE, but this should be a very clear example to Bioware of why some gamers insist on buying their video games used.

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Dragon Age: Origins- Awakening for Xbox 360 is the first expansion to the award-winningsingle player RPG, Dragon Age: Origins. Developed by role-playinggame (RPG) specialists, BioWare, Awakenings is a standalone expansion,meaning that ownership of the original game is not necessary, although playersof the original game are afforded the choice of utilizing their characterfrom the original game or starting with a fresh character. Additional featuresinclude an expanded storyline, new creatures, locations and more.

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Blue Dragon Review

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(More customer reviews)Blue Dragon brings back a lot of good memories of classic RPGs ive played over the years. While not groundbreaking in any way, Blue Dragon takes all the eastern rpg conventions to near-perfection.
This may come off as a kids game when you see the childlike characters and cartoony animation style, but for every time you see some cute animals dancing you hear someone yell "that bastard!" or you encounter some ridiculously challenging boss. even the hardcore RPGer will find a challenge in some of these bosses.
The music is always fitting and usually quite beautiful. when you have the composer of FF I-V would you expect any less? i gotta say though, the boss battle theme feels a bit out of place. the total cheezemetal wouldnt be as bad without the vocals, and i know Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) is capable of much better. the voice work was all done exceptionally well though, with the main character Shu being voiced by the same actor as Izzy from the original cast of digimon. very recognizeable voice. i hadnt seen that show in at leased 5 years and i knew who it was right away. thats kind of pointless info, but i thought it was cool.
The main thing that drew me toward this game was the job system. If you've played Final Fantasy V you'll feel right at home with this job system. you select a class (sword master, black mage, ect) for each character. you can freely change class when not in battle, and as you grow in each class you learn the skills and abilities associated with that class. as your characters grow in level you can unlock new classes for them, although there are only 9 classes total, which i found a little disappointing; however, the job system is still my favorite aspect of the game. character growth and trying to balance the right mixes of classes for each is done better in this game than most others ive played. its simple yet very effective, like most aspects of this game.
Graphically, i think this game looks great. the world is full of unique and beautiful environments. from the characters to the environments and buildings, this is Akira Toriyama art all the way. this is one of the most cinematic games i have ever played. impressive pixar quality cutscenes and animations abound.
Blue Dragon plays out in the standard turn based style, however, there are no random encounters. you see your enemies walk around the areas as you explore. making contact with them will start the battle. when the battle starts you have a list of commands (attack, defend, spell, ect) and you choose one for each character. i feel a much stronger sense of strategy in this than any other game like this ive played. there is a list at the top of the screen showing you the next 4-10 turns. certain skills can be charged to increase power. the more you strengthen the attack, the more turns you have to wait for it to actualy happen. the charging is done with a mini game similar to the 3 click swing of golf games. little things like this add some extra depth to the combat.
the story itself doesnt shatter any conventions by any means. if you've played Japanese RPGs before you know the idea. evil being trying to overthrow the world/ragtag group of young heros set out to stop him and meet new friends along the way. its just that, like the gameplay, the characters and their underlying stories are done so well. i find myself actually caring what fate is in store for these characters. nearly everyone in this story has such a strong sense of charm and perseverance that you cant help but root for them.
The experience offered by Blue Dragon will make the seasoned RPG player remember exactly what got them into these games in the first place. For those who havent played one of the many Japanese RPGs over the last 20 years, this is one of the best places to start.

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Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS will probably go down as one of the best games that I've ever played. It's an RPG of a dying breed. Your character is silent, the lore is extensive, and success only comes about after trial, error, and numerous deaths. A game that all but demands that you invest yourself emotionally and fill your character's shoes as much as possible. It follows the classic D&D tradition that few games submit to these days (not even DRAGON AGE II will be in the same vein) and a masterful story that only the good writers at BioWare could deliver.
If you haven't had a chance to play this game, start with this "Ultimate Edition." No question about it. DA:O is certainly good enough as is, but BioWare released a series of add-ons since its release that aren't quite worth the price tag they were given. This collection, on the other hand, is a great deal. Buying DA:O, its "expansion," and every piece of DLC at release would have cost you a grand total of $160. Unacceptable and insulting, especially considering the quality of some of the DLC. On the other hand, the cost for the "Ultimate Edition" is a fine price for you to enjoy the heck out of DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS, and make up your own mind about the add-ons without conflict.
NOTE: The package includes two discs. The first contains only DA:O, while the second is an installation disc for the add-ons. You WILL have to install the DLC from the second disc to play them. They're not terribly big files, but people with limited HD space should take this into account.
-DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS (5/5 Stars): In my old Amazon review, I gave this game 4/5 stars because of its difficulty, but that was nearly a year ago...and I'm still playing. If the sheer amount of content doesn't keep you playing, then maybe the fact that merely playing as a character of a different gender will dramatically change the way the story progresses. You will never play the same game twice. This is fantasy fiction at its best, and one of the best fantasy RPGs in years and years.
The writing is great, the lore is perhaps TOO detailed, and the characters are extremely likable. If you love in-depth or classic RPGs that stay away from modern trappings, this is the game for you. Perhaps one of the LAST games for you.
(The DLC reviews are in the order I think they should be played for full enjoyment. The first three, you should play before you complete the game.)
-THE STONE PRISONER (3/5 Stars): The quest itself is largely uninteresting, but it unlocks a new party member, Shale. It's a well-written character to be sure and is sure handy in a fight, but don't expect to get a ton out of its backstory.
-WARDEN'S KEEP (4/5 Stars): This has a nice little storyline that's only about an hour in length (as is most of the DLC). You are tasked with helping a descendant of a Grey Warden clear his family's name. To do so, you must clear out a place called Soldier's Peak, which, afterward, will grant you a place to store your goods. For the impulsive looter, this is a gift, though I think it should have been a part of the actual game. Having a guy in your camp asking you to buy Xbox Live content doesn't do much for immersion.
-RETURN TO OSTAGAR (5/5 Stars): This one worked so well on account of its emotional significance to me. Ostagar is The Place where your adventure begins, where you become a Grey Warden, and lose quite a bit. To come back to it was a heart-wrenching experience. It won't take you very long to hack through it, but the items that you can find throughout have great meaning, and the ending brings with it a satisfying sense of closure.
-DRAGON AGE: AWAKENING (4/5 Stars): Without the outrageous $40 price tag attached to it, you can now enjoy this in full confidence. This is a 13-15 hour adventure through the Arling of Amaranthine, which will give you new locations, party members, armor, and an opportunity to rule over the land. It's definitely the best out of all the add-ons, but it probably won't sync up very well with your ending from ORIGINS, which is definitely a downer. And the ending was a bit rushed for my taste.
-GOLEMS OF AMGARRAK (3/5 Stars): I liked the idea of my Warden answering a call for help, but I DREADED going back to the Deep Roads again. AGAIN! There are other places to explore in Ferelden, BioWare...Anyway, this wasn't bad, but there just wasn't much to it. You explore an old dwarven thaig, uncover a few ancient secrets and fight a boss. If it takes you more than two hours to complete, I'd be surprised (that goes for most of the DLC).
-WITCH HUNT (4/5 Stars): The infamous Morrigan romance. If you felt it didn't end the way you'd expected in ORIGINS, here's your chance to get that feeling back again. The story takes place a little over two years after the end of ORIGINS, and your Warden is searching for Morrigan (your intentions, good or ill, are up to you). There's quite a bit of lore to be found here, some humor from your party members, and it provides you with enough foreshadowing to make you remember DRAGON AGE II is right around the corner. Beyond that, Witch Hunt is little more than a fine way to kill an hour, but I liked it. NOTE: This DLC will pretty much serve as the end of your Warden's story until DA2, so plan accordingly.
-LELIANA'S SONG (2/5 Stars): This DLC didn't serve much of a purpose to me. Leliana told her story sufficiently enough in ORIGINS; there was just no reason to play through it. It actually made her character all the more confusing because it doesn't really give you a good, meaningful reason as to why she joined the Chantry. It almost makes it sound like she joined "just because." Way to take a neat story and make it boring. Also, the almost French accents were terribly annoying and poorly done here.
-THE DARKSPAWN CHRONICLES (1/5 Stars): Another pointless piece of DLC. It basically shows what would happened if you, the Warden, had never been found. You command a Hurlock and a party of other Darkspawn through the final battle, killing all of the Warden's companions along the way. This would have been a neat little "what-if?" story, but there is absolutely no voice-work here. Not one word, so it just amounts to an hour of killing things with no real purpose. And all the locations are recycled, let's not forget that.
So, in closing, I do want to reiterate my love for this game and how much of a true RPG experience it is. BioWare might have gone a little crazy with the DLC, but this is a truly great package when everything is said and done. This is my second time buying DA:O (my copy was throughly abused and broken after my friend and I were done with it), and it was my first time playing and of the add-ons with the exception of AWAKENING. I had a lot of fun, despite the questionable quality of a few of them.
This really is as good as it gets. And judging by the current "simplified, modern, give-a-voice-to-the-main-character" trend in RPGs, this may very well be one of your last opportunities to enjoy a game inspired by the classics of the genre.
See you at the Joining, Warden.

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Get the ultimate Dragon Age experience! Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition includes: Dragon Age: Origins. You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of this legendary order of guardians. With the return of mankind's ancient foe and the kingdom engulfed in civil war, you have been chosen by fate to unite the shattered lands and slay the archdemon once and for all. Explore a stunning world, make complex moral choices, and engage in bone-crushing combat against massive and terrifying creatures. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening Expansion Pack. The story of the Grey Wardens continues as you are named their commander. Fight new enemies, learn new skills and spells, and explore an all-new area of the world, Amaranthine. All Nine Content Packs Extend your adventure with The Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar, Feastday Gifts, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Feastday Pranks, Leliana's Song, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt. Collect new rewards, gain new party members, and more as you delve deeper into the Dragon Age storyline.

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N3II: Ninety-Nine Nights Review

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(More customer reviews)This game bears little resemblance to the original and plays more like Dynasty Warriors now. Everything that was unique about N3 has been removed. The over-the-top orb spark attacks have been nerfed and are no longer very impressive. All characters play EXACTLY the same, including the same available spells, unlike the first game where everyone had their own moves and abilities. Cut-scenes, levels and boss battles are reused between characters, and you can play down any the characters' paths in whatever order you want, which seems like an okay idea but really undercuts the narrative. Voice acting is pretty bad on like half the characters.
All that aside, the game is fine for what it is -- a Dynasty Warriors clone. If you go in expecting it to be like the original Ninety-Nine Nights, you'll be disappointed. If you just want to play something like DW but with different characters then this game is pretty good.

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Story In a mystical world of miracles and magic, humans coexist alongsidemany other races including the elves, goblins, and ogres. But whenthe "Lord of the Night" suddenly appears, in a mere 3 months the fertilefields of the land are reduced to scorched earth and before long,Orphea, the sacred land to the north, is besieged by the Army of theNight. Amidst the roar of battle, one man thunderously bursts throughthe ranks of a legion like a bolt of lightning – he is "Galen," theultimate warrior. Alone, he storms forward as he lays waste to thedark forces, letting nothing stop him in his path to Orphea Castle.Galen must battle through the hordes of enemies that await him andthis onslaught escalates with imposing monstrous creatures that jointhe fray. Centering on "the inheritance of life," a new battle betweenlight and dark begins.

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Oblivion Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been playing this game for a while now and it's hand down my favorite game. I was a huge fan of Morrowind as well. It's so awesome and there are so many possibilities in this game, I just wish I had more time to play it. I'm always trying to talk people into buying this game and for $20 you'd be crazy not to just try it. I'm hoping they come out with a new one soon. :)

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Oblivion Game of the Year edition presents one of the best RPGs of all time like never before. Step inside the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. With a powerful combination of freeform gameplay and unprecedented graphics, you can unravel the main quest at your own pace or explore the vast world and find your own challenges. Also included in the Game of the Year edition are Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles expansion, adding new and unique quests and content to the already massive world of Oblivion.

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Dragon Age 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)I have mixed feelings about this game after playing it all day. Some of the things that other reviewers didn't like really don't bother me. For example, I don't mind that you can't pick a few different races this time around. That really only changed the first hour or so anyway. The reworked art style seems much better to me. In the original, although I loved the game, there was nothing spectacular or "dark" about the setting, considering they called it dark fantasy. I think they are closer this time around.
They really dumbed a lot of it down, just like with ME2, and I think that was a mistake in some respects. You can no longer deck out your other party members with the best gear, because the only thing you can do is upgrade their equipment with runes. Want them to use a different weapon or give them better armor? Too bad.
I actually also don't mind the narrative style of the storytelling either, although it does have its drawbacks. The real problems start with the new button-mash style of play. On the one hand the original system did need some fixing. When you'd highlight an opponent to attack, you would have to move into range. Sometimes the target was running towards you at the time, so you'd literally run by him without attacking, then have to chase him down. I think they could have fixed that problem without changing it to a button mash fest. I started with the rogue and after a few hours, frankly, I had to change to an archer. Now I paly a LOT of video games, but when you are hip-deep in darkspawn, having to mash that button hundreds of times will take its toll on your poor hands. And if you've played the rogue set up with dual weapons, you know that means a LOT of button presses. For goodness sakes if its going to be that way just let us hold the attack button in!
The combat is certainly more savage and fun to watch, but when you have to press a button for every single attack, it gets to the point where you can't enjoy it anymore. The original game play let you use strategy and then watch the results of your choices play out. This new system is almost too fast and hectic to be appreciated. They made a similar choice with the path they took after the original KOTOR, which I also loved and still play. When they moved on to Jade Empire they went with the button masher scheme. I was so thrilled when the first DA came out because they switched back to a truly great system, but now they have switched yet again.
Although I think many of the reviewers are being a little harsh in their assessment, I think there is a lot of truth to their comments. I'm enjoying the game, don't get me wrong, but I think they lost focus of the core audience that made the original such a hit. I also really don't like how there is no real connection to the first game. Yes you'll see some of the characters from the original game pop up here and there, but it still seems very disconnected. Its almost like--we know you played the first game, now come play it again--but with a different guy that we will create for you--oh and you have to mash a lot of buttons too.
Surprisingly, some folks are even unhappy with the fact that the main character actually has a voice this time. Frankly I love that. I thought it was REALLY a poor choice the first time around to not give the hero a voice because it really detracted from the epic feeling of the game. So I don't empathize with folks on that point. For what its worth, I also don't like how they stripped down ME2 in terms of skills and leveling, but I still really enjoyed the game.
I'm a little concerned not only about the future of this franchise, but of Bioware in general. When they made a game--I bought it--period. You KNEW it was going to be good. But this is a really shaky installment for the quality that I'm used to expecting from them, and I hope they turn things around if there is another one. I don't feel like the game was "rushed", like many reviewers. I just feel like they stripped it down a bit too much. I think they could have kept the original gameplay mechanics with a couple of fixes and still got the game out just as quickly.
Please, Bioware, think hard about how you move forward. You have never been satisifed making games that are like everyone elses, so please don't start now.
**Update
Now that I've finished the game its time for an update! I've cooled off on some of the criticisms I had early on but gotten a little more irritated with other things, so overall my rating will stay put. But a few things to comment on...
I don't know how some folks can say that the game only lasted 30 hours. The only way you could finish that fast is if you put it on casual difficulty and ignore all the side quests. I put in nearly twice that many hours, so I'm happy with the game length.
Originally I wasn't able to change my other characters' weapons and armor. I had tried initially and it wouldn't let me so I didn't try again until a fellow reviewer told me you could do that a little while into the game, at least as far as the weapons go. You can't change the armor for any of the other characters, aside from buying these stupid little mods for their armor. I thought it was a step in the wrong direction. The cool thing about the first game was that when your main character got a cool new set of armor, you passed on your old set to one of your crew. Not possible here.
The one unforgiveable thing about the game is the repetitive use of maps. You will go back to the same areas over and over and over again. Combined with the whole "stuck in town" feeling of the game, it really detracts from the epic nature of the original game. You were out there exploring the world, seeing new places all the time. Here you're in town and occasionally you go out of town briefly to do something, unfortunately its almost always back to the same three locations.
Another small matter was the lack of the party camp. I really liked that from the first game. All your characters were together in one place and it made you feel like your party was in this terrible mess together. Now you have everyone who has their own house around town--it feels very odd to me for some reason. Why not have them all hang out at Hawke's place?
All in all a very solid game. Takes a while to warm up to some of the changes but for the most part you will. I'd probably give it 3.5 stars if I could, but its definitely not a four star game the way it is. If they had added a little variety in the maps and put a little more work into the plot they could have easily made this better than the first game, even with the changes to the combat system. But now we know how they got the game on the market so fast.

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Dragon Age II is a single player role-playing game (RPG) for play on the Xbox 360. Epic sequel to the BioWare developed 2009 Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age II continues the adventure with a new hero, Hawke, and utilizes the choices made by the player to affect a story that spans ten years worth of time in-game. Additional game features include: the ability to choose your character's class and sex, a new cinematic in-game experience, a nonlinear narrative and the ability to import saved information from earlier Dragon Age games.

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The Last Remnant Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've played almost every Square Enix game there is, and when I saw the across the board bad reviews for Last Remnant, I was a bit worried. But I bought it anyway, and I don't regret it. Just for some background, here's my preference for Final Fantasy games, so you can compare with your own tastes and see if TLR might be for you. I thought FF3 (6 US) was the best hands down, FF2 (4 US) and 7 were tied for second, 10 and 1 (for the sake of nostalgia if nothing else) were tied for 3rd. 12 is next, 9 was not terrible, but it was definitely forgettable. And 8 was a steaming pile of garbage.
With that out of the way, there's one thing you have to accept before you get into this game. If you don't just accept it going in you won't appreciate the game, and if you do you will. And that is the fact that the hallmark of this game is the battle system. That was their #1 priority. Story came second, even graphics came second. Don't get me wrong, I think the graphics are fantastic personally and the story is fine. But the battle system is very impressive and there are a lot of intricacies to it, and it really shows that they were willing to sacrifice other areas of the game for a stellar battle system.
The levelling system has been redesigned as well, although it's up to your taste whether you'll like it. You don't actually "level" your character, instead your skills go up as you use them. For example use a lot of combat skills and they'll become more powerful, use a lot of magic and you'll get new spells. Do a lot of physical attacks and your strength / attack power will go up, get hit a lot and your HP will go up. Etc. Again, some people will like this and some won't, I personally get a sense of satisfaction about hearing that ding every time I raise a level, and keeping track of how much more exp I need to get there, but I can live with this system, it's not that bad once you get used to it. One interesting aspect of it is that it really requires your characters to specialize, since you want to get access to the more powerful techniques you have to keep using that same type of technique over and over, and using some other type of technique will delay you getting the stronger ones from the original category.
The slowdown and stuttering that everyone talks about is indeed an issue, but one that I hardly notice. It's completely forgivable as far as I'm concerned and it doesn't interfere with my enjoyment of the game at all, period. And that's with the disc in the drive, if you install it to the hard drive it may be even less of an issue.
The main complaints I have about this game are as follows:
- Exploration has been eliminated. I like the fact that I can go anywhere I want, whenever I want in an RPG. This game doesn't have that. The second you accept a quest, you are teleported to the dungeon / place where the quest takes place instantly. This is just weird, is it really that hard for me to walk there? A side effect of this is that you usually only have one quest active at once.
- Travel is instantaneous. Again I like walking, or taking a boat or something. Opening a map and just clicking something and bam I'm there takes away from the nostalgia feel, makes me lose sense of how big and expansive the world is. You can still travel to any previously visited place at any time, even if for example a bunch of people join your party and yell "We must get to Elysion with haste, Rush let's go now!" You can still take your entire party and travel around to lots of previously visted places. In fact doing this you might find a few secrets :P But nevertheless, it also makes the game feel more linear that no matter how far away something is, you can get there instantly.
That's pretty much it. If you're an RPG fan, if you can accept this game for what it is, I think you'll find it to be of good quality.

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The Last Remnant for the Xbox 360 is the first role-playing game in a new series from Square Enix. This game delivers breathtaking visuals only possible on next-generation platforms, a mysterious storyline full of powerful artifacts, and a massive battlefield where you'll be surrounded by countless foes and friends alike. The Story Unfolds In ancient times mysterious artifacts, referred to as Remnants, were discovered all over the world. People used these objects for their awesome powers -- a choice that eventually caused a rift in the world's balance. A thousands years later, the story of The Last Remnant begins.
Rush Sykes and his sister Irina are children of scientists researching the esoteric Remnants. One day, Irina is kidnapped right before Rush's eyes. Determined to rescue his sister, Rush joins forces with David Nassau, the marquis of a small city-state called Athlum. Together they are determined to pursue the criminals and save Irina from her strange captors.
Meanwhile, the world is thrust into confusion as ruling powers bicker over dividing the Remnants' powers. Soon a mysterious man appears calling himself the Conqueror. His presences escalates tensions as everyone eagerly attempts to answer the question: Into whose hands will the power of the Remnants fall? Before he knows it, Rush becomes wrapped up in this international power struggle and realizes that he is somehow connected to the enigmatic Conqueror.
Allies and Enemies Before her kidnapping, Rush Sykes lived a peaceful life with his 14-year-old sister, Irina Sykes. Irina is a cheerful, resilient girl who stays upbeat even during the toughest of times. Some mysterious power seems to rest within here, but she herself has no understanding of what it is or what it can do. David Nassau, the 19-year-old who rules over the state of Athlum, spends his days working towards better his homeland. Although he decides to join Rush on his quest to rescue Irina, his motives are his own. Emma Honeywell, the matriarch of the Honeywells clan, Plagus, Blocter, and Torgal round out the allies.
The man known only as the Conqueror and his minions are eager to seize the Remnants throughout the lands. His origin is shrouded in mystery, but it appears that something strange and elusive connects this villain to Rush. Enamored with the Conqueror, Roeas has declared her eternal allegiance to him and acts as the ambassador of the Conqueror's Army. Although beautiful in form and voice, Roeas is sadistic and menacing on the battlefield. Originating from a large-bodied species with pronounced fighting abilities, Castanea is Roeas right-hand-man. He rarely speaks or expresses himself, so it is difficult to decipher his thoughts -- although Roeas seems to understand him easily. In addition, the strongest fighters in the Conqueror's army are referred to as The Seven. The Seven lead their own troops and report to Roeas and Castanea.
Combat Systems: Morale, Battle Unions, and Deadlock Battles are fought between multiple friendly and enemy unions -- groups of up to five characters who fight together. Players give commands to unions as a whole, who then carry out the actions. Orders in battle are given in a command-select style that is familiar to most role playing gamers. However, The Last Remnant commands are not delivered with standard terms, such as "Item" or "Magic." Instead, players control unions with specialized commands, such as "Slam 'em with status ailments!" or "Do area attacks from afar!" Available commands change depending on the current battle situation or the distance and positions of friendly and hostile unions.
The Last Remnant adds a Morale component to the gameplay. Players can check current morale via the gauge across the top of the screen. The higher the morale, the more damage is dealt and less damage is taken by friendly unions, and vice-versa. When friendly and enemy unions go toe-to-toe and engage in melee combat, they enter a state called Deadlock. Once in Deadlock, the two unions must fight each other until one union has been completely destroyed.
Enemy monsters roam the land where they can be avoided or engaged at will. When battle is initiated, the scene changes to a specialized battle map where friend and foe can fight it out. Horizontal lined icons labeled A, B, C, etc. represent the on-field battle unions. Players choose which hostile union they wish to attack on this screen. The Last Remnant offers a wide variety of commands that focus on dealing damage or executing defensive maneuvers. Knowing which commands are most suitable for each situation is the key to winning battles.
The Last Remnant delivers breathtaking visuals, a mysterious storyline full of powerful artifacts, and a massive battlefield.

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Final Fantasy XI: The Vana'diel Collection 2008 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've started my third year playing this game after a six month break and am now enjoying it more than ever. This is a game that requires a lot of time for everything. Time to go from place to place, time to level up your jobs (I don't say character because you play any job you want to and switch from job to job without making a new character). It also takes a lot of time to make money and there are many ways to make money in the game it just requires ALOT of patience.
Getting started in this game can be very difficult and frustrating at times but if you talk to people most of them will help you out and guide you to where you need to get to. The game starts you out with you choosing the race you want to play as throught the game. The races you get to choose from are Hume's (male or female), Elvaan's (male or female), Mithra's (female only), Galka's (male only) and the Tarutaru's (male and female). Although there aren't a lot of different races there are many different combinations you can make for each character so running into a similiar character isn't so frequent. This is also where you will pick your main job and there are six jobs to choose from when you first start. After that you choose which country your character lives/comes from and there are three to choose from. The three countries are Bastok, Windurst and Sandoria. Bastok is made up of the Hume's and Galka's, Windy has the Mithra's and Tarutaru's and Sandy is home of the elvaans but you can choose whichever one you want.
Races: Depending on what job you want to do might help you choose the race you want to play as each race is proficient in certain jobs. The Galka's are made for jobs such as Paladin and Warrior classes (tanks jobs in pt's), Elvaan's are geared towards Monk and Dark Knight (Damage Dealer's in pts or DD's if you will), Mithra's are for the Thief and Ranger jobs (support or pullers for ur party), Hume's are the basic all around character and are proficient in any job but don't specialize in a paraticular one and Tarutaru's are the magic wielding jobs such as the White Mage and Black Mage jobs (healer's and debuffs in the party). However, you can pick whatever race you want and whatever job you want just remember that Galka's are not gonna be as good as Tarutaru's in magic and Tarutaru's aren't gonna be as good as Galka's for tanking.
Jobs: The player is given six jobs to choose from called your basic jobs. They are warrior, thief, monk, white mage, black mage and red mage. I'm not gonna go into details because that could take to long. There are 14 other jobs available once the player reaches 30. The player has to do quests to unlock the other jobs and can find out how to by asking someone or just looking it up online. The other jobs are ranger, dark knight, paladin, blue mage, samurai, ninja, corsair, bard, beastmaster, puppetmaster, summoner, scholar, dancer and dragoon. Also for jobs you get to have a subjob which means you have a main job and a job to support it. For instance, say the player is a paladin, the player then gets to choose a job to support that. The player will want to choose a subjob that will support the main job, so that player will most likely choose warrior for the defense bonuses and job abilities that warrior has. Also the subjob is half the level of the main job so if the paladin is lvl 30 the warrior will be lvl 15 with all the abilites the warrior gets at 15. Also by adding warrior as a subjob extra hit points are added onto you're character because of the job warrior. Each subjob presents its own pros and cons, so the player needs to know what subjob best supports the main job.
The storyline progresses at the players leisure and since there are tons of quests and missions that the player will be doing its easy to forget what you've done unless you're progressing really fast which is highly unlikely. Doing missions earns your rank in your home country and quests earn you fame in different countries which definately benefit the player. One example is the "Lure of the Wildcat" quest in each town (Sandy, Basty, Windy and Jeuno) when completed gives the player to get teleported to Aht Urghan Whitegate from whatever town they teleported from which will save a lot of time and only costs 300 gil per teleport.
The game is definitely geared for the hardcore people who can spend a lot of time in the game. This is definitely a game where you reap what you sew. If the player just wants to casually play the game and just party and level and talk to friends they can. The thing is that by playing casually the player will most likely not get the really best gear in the game and around level 50 will either start another job or just slowly stop playing the game. The game requires a lot of time, gil and patience for the good armor and weapons in the game if the player is willing to sacrifice it.
This particular edition of final fantasy xi combines the original release plus all the expansions up to the latest wings of the goddess. Each expansion has added new jobs, areas to explore and more missions and quests. I'm not sure what all was added with the first three expansions to the game (rise of zilart, chains of promethia, treasures of aht urghan) as I did not start playing this game till well after the release of TOAU. I do know, however, the Wings of the Goddess expansion released two new jobs: Dancer and Scholar. It also let the player travel to the past (20 years to be exact) through things called Cavernous Maws. WOTG expansion is aimed at the higher level players and I suggest not traveling to the past unless you are 60+ or have someone that can guide you.
I found this final fantasy XI a really good buy when it first came out and now that its twenty dollars its well worth the buy. I've heard people complain about the monthly charge of the game on top of the xbl charge. *For your information:you can play this game on the xbl silver account.* Thing is that most people don't just play this game, they play others as well on xbl and the monthly fee is from the maker's of the game. Alot of mmorpg's have a monthly charge and this one is no different. The updates and installing can take a really long time, maybe to long but you really shouldn't let that deter you from at least trying this game out.
There is so much more to this game and is hard to put in a review, I really don't think its possible to review even half of what this game has to offer someone who really is interested in playing. The only areas that I can think of where this game suffers is the exceptionally hard to make money or gil for weapons and gear and the long installing process and the sometimes very long updates.
All I can really tell you is try the game out and decide for yourself whether or not its a game you want to put a lot of time into. Just remember if you get stuck there are people you can ask to help you out and most of them will be more than happy to. Don't be quick to judge the game from just the beginning, it takes awhile to really get into the heart of the game itself so get out there try it and keep at it.

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The Crystal War has ravaged the land of Vana'diel.Three solitary nations are now all that remain in the desperate fight for survival against the forces of the relentless beastman.A call is put forth for new heroes to join the fight.

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This game is the chief selling point for the XBOX 360, and now it's available with the two major expansions included.
If you already own Oblivion (and especially if you've already bought Knights of the Nine and Shivering Isles from XBOX Live), DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM. You will be filled with the righteous fanboy rage you see in the one star reviews below.
But if you're new to the 360, this game is a must have. Even the training mode/introduction is amazing, with Patrick Stewart as the voice of the dying King who sends you on your quest.
Highlights of the game and expansions:
OBLIVION:
+The quest story lines are well written, and the tone of guild and side quests varies and makes for a lot of fun (especially Thieves' and Assassins' Guilds)
+Great voice acting from the likes of Sean Bean (Boromir), Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), and Terence Stamp (General Zod/Jorel).
+A more engaging combat system than turn based RPGS, and amazing graphics
+Character customization is more detailed than you could hope for.
+It's a very materialistic game. Looting is great fun, especially at higher levels.
+You get to battle demons in Hell, or whip thieves in caves. There are a lot of varieties of game play.
+The game is absolutely huge.
-You will find the leveling system infuriating about 20 hours into the game. All of your enemies level up with you; so, your best options are to avoid leveling up entirely (which limits your selection of weapons and armor), or to be obsessive about controlled leveling, which takes a lot of the fun out of the game.
-There's no clear sense of "fair play" in the game. You can create a set of chameleon armor that will let you walk through the whole game unnoticed and kill whomever you wish. Once you can do that, how much worse is duplicating items using inventory tricks? You really set your own level of difficulty in how you play, but I find that takes away more than it adds.
-There are really no branching quest lines in the game, and nothing you do affects the story line. Why can't I take control of the Mythic Dawn or Necromancers?
-There aren't really any race or gender specific quests in the game. Why isn't there some sort of elf society in the game that affects the storyline for an elf character?
While I have problems with it (comparing it to KOTOR, as I do all things), I haven't found a better 360 game yet.
KNIGHTS OF THE NINE
+A new guild! They should release more expansions like this.
+You can lower your infamy to 0 by making a pilgrimage.
+If you have a crusader fantasy, this expansion is for you.
+You get some cool items, if you're willing to stay infamy free.
-The quest line is pretty short.
Basically, this is a good early game quest line to take on, but it's not as big as the other guilds.
SHIVERING ISLES
+This takes place in the realm of the demonic prince of madness. Where Oblivion involves lush, realistic landscapes and scary forays into Hell, Shivering Isles has lots of bizarre, beautiful, surreal images. It's a much different design concept, and worth it for a change of pace.
+The quests are especially ingenious.
+The quest line is long enough to make it interesting.
-Despite what you may see advertised, there's still very little in way of branching quest lines. Really, the only things that differ are when you get certain items and what greater powers you have access to.
This is a really great expansion, and can help you build skills early in the game. And you can become the demon prince of madness, so that's cool.
In short, this is the best game for 360, and one of the best RPG's on the market. It does have its limitations and frustrations, but it will give you about 80 more hours of fun than Bioshock (which is also really cool).


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Oblivion Game of the Year edition presents one of the best RPGs of all time like never before. Step inside the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. With a powerful combination of freeform gameplay and unprecedented graphics, you can unravel the main quest at your own pace or explore the vast world and find your own challenges. Also included in the Game of the Year edition are Knights of the Nine and the Shivering Isles expansion, adding new and unique quests and content to the already massive world of Oblivion. See why critics called Oblivion the Best Game of 2006.

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