Games this week:

• Xbox 360      - Shadows of the Damned
• Playstation 2 - Persona 3: FES
• Playstation 3 - Dragon Age: Origins
• Nintendo Wii  - Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
• PSP             - Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Whew!  Okay, let's start with the most-played game, Shadows of the Damned.  They were having buy two get one free sale on Amazon.com, so I picked up this, Persona 3, and The Last Remnant.  So, got this game on Tuesday and started it, beat it today (about half an hour ago, in fact.)  And it's fucking AWESOME.  I've always loved Suda51's style but I've never finished any of his games because the gameplay definitely leaves something to be desired.  But he teamed up with Shinji Mikami for this one.  So, it's totally playable.  It's nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but, it's playable so it's way less frustrating to see all of the crazy stuff that comes out of Suda's head.  And it delivers.  Sometimes they beat the juvenile dick-jokes to death [HAHA], and for the most part it's not particularly funny, it's just an insane spectacle full of cool shit and a well-written story.  The funniest parts, for me, are the story book asides and the comments from Johnson and Garcia as they're being read.  Also, the protagonist's name is Garcia Hotspur.  I think that's kind of amazing.  And I really liked the ending, I actually had not figured the twist out myself until the very last few minutes.  It's just a great game, and it's damn near criminal that it sold as poorly as it did.

I've also played several hours of Fragile Dreams this week, and that's another over-looked piece of art.  It may be the saddest game I've ever played.  The ambient sounds are great, coupled with the almost complete lack of music.  The memory pieces you collect are terrific and flesh out the story.  Unfortunately, the combat remains terrible, but manageable so far.  We'll see how that progresses.

Started Persona 3, only a few hours in.  Always meant to play this game, never got around to it.  I love Persona 4, and I'm already falling in love with this one.  I'm not a big fan of not being able to control my whole party directly, though.  Kind of bummed at that, unless I'm missing how to change that?

Before these other games came, I got back into Dragon Age: Origins for a couple days.  I just had to put it on Easy for that fight then put it back.  This game is fuckin' HARD.  I'm currently stuck on another fight, may have to do that again.  But then way more awesome games came in the mail, so my attention has been drawn away.

And finally, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.  I've still barely played this game.  I'm past the tutorial now, though!  And the character select part.  And then there was Maleficent, and then... I stopped playing.  I'll get back to it eventually!!

And that's it.  See y'all next week!

Games this week:

• Xbox 360      - Shadows of the Damned
• Playstation 2 - Persona 3: FES
• Playstation 3 - Dragon Age: Origins
• Nintendo Wii  - Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon
• PSP             - Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Whew!  Okay, let's start with the most-played game, Shadows of the Damned.  They were having buy two get one free sale on Amazon.com, so I picked up this, Persona 3, and The Last Remnant.  So, got this game on Tuesday and started it, beat it today (about half an hour ago, in fact.)  And it's fucking AWESOME.  I've always loved Suda51's style but I've never finished any of his games because the gameplay definitely leaves something to be desired.  But he teamed up with Shinji Mikami for this one.  So, it's totally playable.  It's nothing amazing or groundbreaking, but, it's playable so it's way less frustrating to see all of the crazy stuff that comes out of Suda's head.  And it delivers.  Sometimes they beat the juvenile dick-jokes to death [HAHA], and for the most part it's not particularly funny, it's just an insane spectacle full of cool shit and a well-written story.  The funniest parts, for me, are the story book asides and the comments from Johnson and Garcia as they're being read.  Also, the protagonist's name is Garcia Hotspur.  I think that's kind of amazing.  And I really liked the ending, I actually had not figured the twist out myself until the very last few minutes.  It's just a great game, and it's damn near criminal that it sold as poorly as it did.

I've also played several hours of Fragile Dreams this week, and that's another over-looked piece of art.  It may be the saddest game I've ever played.  The ambient sounds are great, coupled with the almost complete lack of music.  The memory pieces you collect are terrific and flesh out the story.  Unfortunately, the combat remains terrible, but manageable so far.  We'll see how that progresses.

Started Persona 3, only a few hours in.  Always meant to play this game, never got around to it.  I love Persona 4, and I'm already falling in love with this one.  I'm not a big fan of not being able to control my whole party directly, though.  Kind of bummed at that, unless I'm missing how to change that?

Before these other games came, I got back into Dragon Age: Origins for a couple days.  I just had to put it on Easy for that fight then put it back.  This game is fuckin' HARD.  I'm currently stuck on another fight, may have to do that again.  But then way more awesome games came in the mail, so my attention has been drawn away.

And finally, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.  I've still barely played this game.  I'm past the tutorial now, though!  And the character select part.  And then there was Maleficent, and then... I stopped playing.  I'll get back to it eventually!!

And that's it.  See y'all next week!