I played through the Costume Quest demo last night. I am going to buy the full version tonight when I go home. I know that I am not the only person who let this one fall through the cracks. I just heard about this one the other day while I was listening to the Weekend Confirmed podcast. I haven't been playing my Xbox very much lately, so I don't know if the advertisements for this were pretty subdued or not. I do know that one the PS3 there was a panel on the opening screen for the Playstation Store (that little thing that shows you six new products on the store), and it was on there for a couple of weeks. I just didn't know what the game was or what it was about. I never heard anybody talking about it, and it is so difficult to get information from the PSN Store. I never took the time to go any deeper than looking at the picture and deciding that it was probably a title meant for the younger crowd.  
 
I finally played the demo after hearing so much about it over the last week or two. I thought the demo was pretty brilliant. The art style was very eye catching. It seems like its reminiscent of Psychonauts, but it seems much more flat. The dialog in the game, while only textual, was funny and playful. I really liked the way that the dialog stopped at certain times and continued without the need of a button push, at other times. This might have been the first time that I have noticed that most of the RPGs that I have played have always needed a button press to continue the dialog (I am sure there are some out there that do not need tactile feedback, but I just have never played any of them).  
 
The RPG elements of this game were pretty subtle, but still present. I really like the use of traditional RPG elements like turn based attacks, but with elements of action as well. This game reminds me of Deathspank, which was made by another former Lucasarts luminary.  
 
I have really come to enjoy downloadable games much more in the last few years. I really respect the work that goes into these titles. I like that companies like Double Fine can make a small title like this and, hopefully, make a profit on it. I also like that because the title is small I can play through it and feel satisfied at the end, but I also feel like I would like to come back again soon. With Deathspank, I played through the first game, but before I finished the first game the second one was already out, so I bought the second game but have not played it yet. I think that is the response that these companies want out of their consumers.  
 
Costume Quest left a great taste in my mouth. I really enjoyed playing the game. I really liked the 80's style movie aspects of it. It is a game that is good for kids, but there are so many elements that would make it fun for an adult to play; Viva Piñata had these same elements. I think that this will be a good game to play through during my winter break. Double Fine has already released a DLC pack for winter. I can't wait to have a few days off from work and just play until my heart’s content...then play something else when I am finished.

I got tired of the battles fast, but other than that I liked it.