Patchinko

I'll try to post my own review in the coming days as I finish the game up, but just my take on the battle system...
 
The battles are intense because the ATB is unrelenting and the Optima Change is basically an instant party job class swap. It makes sense when you're playing because of how valuable Chain Breaks are. I do not consider this a bad thing--in fact, I find the battles system to be one of the strong points of FFXIII.  
 
If you like turn-based or the ability to pause the ATB (ala Dragon Age), it may not be the game for you. You can slow the ATB down in the config, though I haven't because I actually enjoy the fast decision making involved in the combat.

The site said that it would take a couple of days to process your code and then they would email you with the way to get Juggie. I submitted it two nights ago (release day night) and haven't heard anything yet. I'm going to give it another day before I call up Gamestop and ask them what's up.
 
So far I'm really enjoying the game. I never played MUA1, so it's new to me. The reviews from the typical junkie sites kept bashing it for being "too much like the original", which is meaningless to me. At the current point, and I'm not far in the game, just a few chapters in, I'd give it an 8.5. The story is pretty cool and yes, I love being able to play as all these characters I grew up with in a beat-em-up RPG.
 
Update: I received the code yesterday, but it was in my spam box! Make sure to check there for it. :)

Already did. CE. Very satisfied with what I've experienced in the beta. It gets significantly more interesting post-20, but I even enjoyed the earlier levels.

http://kotaku.com/5317187/surprise-your-disgaea-3-saves-are-safe-after-all

In case anyone didn't know, the rumors that saved games wouldn't work with trophies was misinformation. :)

BTW, I can't find this game at any stores. Darn me for being too busy to get to it over the past year. :(

Playing it right now. I'm enjoying it!

The ring thing is Lunarsphere. I use it on my Mage and Hunter specifically because they have a lot of abilities that I like to have in a click's distance without needing to open the spellbook and page to them (portals, buffs, tracking, pet stuff, et cetera).

Sorry the pics are small... you can zoom in on them in my pic gallery if you want to see the area (or my UI or whatever) up close.

So, tonight in Ulduar, I tested out a little bug I had heard about where you can blink through the floor in the entrance to Freya's room. Basically, after you teleport to her room, you run forward to the middle of the lip in the doorway and then blink. It took a bunch of tries, but eventually I ended up shoulder-deep in the floor just inside her room. Then I ran forward and started falling, and falling, and falling. Then I used Slow Fall and landed in one of Yogg-Saron's nightmare rooms. Honestly nothing to do in there, and you get trapped, but it's something to do if you're bored waiting for a disconnected Shaman to come back.

Some screens of it:

I really loved Beatmania back in the day (is that back in the day), but this looks pretty different. Still excited about it, though.

That's good news because I just bought this one.

I skipped the Edy one (for now) in part because she's not a very good, and I honestly found her annoying. :)

Anyone try the hard mode DLC? How was it?

I'll wait until someone other than the people who practiced a choreographed set of motions in front of it uses it and reports that it works amazingly well.

If it does work as well as they want us to believe it does, I'll be impressed. If it doesn't, I won't be surprised. Either way, I didn't find it overly impressive, personally.

It will be a decent gimmick for some games, given what I've seen of it thus far.