Heya, I've got a couple of new games over the weekend, and I'm lovin' both. Prince of Persia, and Valkyria Chronicles. I didn't pick up Mirror's Edge or Tomb Raider because the price was too high, and I didn't have enough cash. Let's start off with the one I'm playing the most.
Prince of Persia, I remember first getting Sands of Time, I never got past the fight with his father, I guess I wasnt skilled enough to get through it, and I just lost interest after that, but from what I remember, I loved the stuff I played. Warrior within didn't captivate me at all at the time, it was too dark for my tastes back then, same with two thrones. This time around, I'm  really into the game, I freakin love the art style! The Anvil Engine(that's what it says on the site, I thought it was called Scimtar) is probably my new favourite engine because of the huge vistas and beautiful veiws it produces. I love just standing at the highest point in a level, just staring at the fully healed land.
Watching the land transform from dark, gritty and corrupted, to colourful, vibrant and full of life is nothing short of astounding. There's no doubt that PoP is one of the most beautiful games of the year. Though levels lose their challenge once the land is healed, it's still fun to run through the level, gathering light seeds, which are pretty much the only reason to go back through the levels. The fights are highly entertaining, mostly because they look so pretty and stylish. My only gripe is the fights with the warrior, because in order to beat him you have to get him to a ledge or corner, and initiate a button mashing sqeuence, but unlike the other bossfights' button mashing events, this one requires you to mash at the speed of light. Which, for one, hurts my finger or thumb, and two, is really frustrating because I suck at tapping buttons really fast. That's really my only gripe with the game, otherwise, I'm happy with everything. The game is short though, I've only got to beat the warrior, then I've healed all the lands, I got this far in just a couple of days. So unless you really have a reason to play through the game again(unlocking powers in a different order perhaps?) this would most likely be a rent only.

Valkyria Chronicles, I wasn't going to pick this up until some time in january, but it's low price won me over. I really enjoyed the demo, so I picked it up. So far, its tough, really tough, one thing I wish I was able to do is restart a battle from atleast halfway through the level, because sometimes I'd just get so close to winning, then my tank blows up, or someone dies, then I lose the game. But that just means I have to plan ahead and think it through. I've never enjoyed a strategy game as much as Valkyria Chronicles, the story is interesting, and it sucks you in, it makes you want to know the characters more. I absolutely love the leveling system, the way you only level up a whole class, and not individual characters, this gets rid of all the micromanagement I hated in other JRPGs. This comes in handy, since once a character dies, and isnt evacuated or is touched by an enemy, they die and you won't be able to select them, ever again. So it would be a real bummer if you're majorly leveled up character just happens to die, and no one is able to get to him before its too late. Same as PoP, this game is freakin beautiful too, I love the art direction, and going from Command Veiw to controlling a character never gets old.

Valkyria is also alot longer than PoP, I'm about 7 hours in, and I've barely finished chapter 5(I think). So it is worth a buy if you're on the fence.
Other stuff I've done over the weekend was that I got a new Headset, and its way more comfortable than my old one, and it has noise filtering, and it actually picks up my voice instead of just my breath!
The guy at the game shop said that he'd have PSN cards sometime this week, so next time I go I'll get some, and I'll be able to get Ratchet & Clank Quest for Booty, and maybe even WIpeout HD. If you've got any PSN suggestions please post them.
Other than that, there really hasn't been much going on. I've got a holiday until the 5th of January, but I've got a week and a half of exams then. So my holiday is kinda ruined :P. So until my next blog post, happy holidays! :D