Sep 19, 7:09 am
I’m a fan of bizarre jRPG games with unlikely costumes and swords that weigh more than my house. I like plots that give people a blank look when I try to explain them. I like classic battle systems and phoenix downs and impressive names for simple moves. I also like my Xbox 360.
When Enchanted Arms came out it was a no-brainer that I would take it home with me and play however many dozens of hours, and buy badass weapons, and heavily favor my favorite characters in battle. The earth rotates on an axis. I buy jRPGs. That’s just physics. Now, after an entire year of drought in the genre (at least where my 360 is concerned) I’ve just been slapped with 2 new titles that are both guaranteed to erode my sleep schedule and my already-shaky dedication to a fitness regimen. I’m so thrilled to have new games that it’s difficult for me to be upset about this.
The Mistwalker Studios entry into the jRPG genre on the Xbox 360 has a stunning pedigree. Mistwalker Studios was founded by many ex Square-Enix names, including Hironobu Sakaguchi, one of the founders of Square, and Nobuo Uematsu, the famous composer for the Final Fantasy games and possibly my most favorite VG composer EVER because his work has made me cry. With Akira Toriyama (of Dragon Ball series fame) working on character design, this title has a lot to live up to. I’ve gotten as far as cracking open the case, but got distracted by playing with a vacuum so my only impression so far is, “Wow! 3 discs! Now there’s a strong argument for Blu-ray!”
How’s this for a weird premise? 3 hours before Frédéric Chopin’s death, he has a dream of a fairy-land in which people with incurable diseases have great magical powers. That’s really all I know about the game itself. That premise, and that the score features music by Chopin performed by Stanislav Bunin, who is apparently kind of a “big deal” when it comes to Chopin’s music. The game is also created by tri-Crescendo, the developers behind Baten Kaitos, so I feel like I"m in good hands.
Really, the point of this blog is to let you know that I won’t be around much for a while. I’ve easily got 150-200 game hours ahead of me, and it’s going to take some major focus on my part! And remember, this is only the beginning. This holiday season may well glut the entire gaming population so much we’ll never be able to crawl out from under the pile that awaits us.
- jinx
we could be bouncing off the top of this cloud
