Jetspike

Yeah I think MS is finally making a product that can really compete with the iPod. HD radio is a big plus imo!! I would love to get one of these!

Yup, it's a go. I got L4D and Dead Space.

Well, the game is quite excellent, although its obvious the high score from Famitsu was paid for. On one hand, the production is top notch, featuring some very well known Japanese actors (most notably Takanaka Naoto, from movies like Waterboys and Shall We Dance). Also, their PS3 counterpart looks just like the real person which is quite nice.

If you are interested in a Edo era setting, this game is excellent. The streets are very reminiscent of old Kyoto and u visit some notable landmarks (namely Kiyomizudera, etc which still stand today). The characters and acting are all great and the story is good too.

On the other hand, the battle system is very similar to how it was in Ryu ga Gotoku 1. Its not horrible, but since games like Ninja Gaiden redefining action battles, this game comes up short and personally quite boring I think. Most battles so far (about 5 hrs in) take no more than a min to complete and some almost seem quite tacked on just to make the player have to pick up a controller every now and then.

Overall, the setting is rich and the dialogue makes the game come alive, but from a gameplay aspect, it doesnt deserve the 37/40 I think it was that Famitsu gave it. Also, it shows quite a bit of things that wont be getting past censors in the west. Specifically the prostitution/slavery of 8 year old girls. Lines such as "Please buy me!" uttered by an 8 year old to the old lady who prances around town with her prostitutes in training. So I wouldnt be shocked to see this game not hit the west. But if you do have a PS3 and know some Japanese, I highly recommend checking this game out. Sorry for the long post...

Yeah, I think it was summed up nicely. This was not an average week for the PSP due to the slims, limited edition CC PSPs and CC. But, now that everyone who was gonna buy a new PSP and CC has already done so, expect the figures to drop exponentially. And just cuz it sold alot (as all FFs do here in Japan) doesnt mean its an amazing game. Sure CC has it's strong points, but I dont think the gameplay is one of them. I dont care much for doing the RPG comparisons, but I think it can be done with CC and Jeanne. Jeanne I love for the gameplay and battles, while I hate the useless cardboard personality of the characters. Seriously, if I could just fight a battle with Jeanne and Gilles I would. CC draws me in for the story. Seeing Zack meet up with the other characters before FFVII takes place is the only real reason I'm playing it. CC just doesnt feel like a FF. You play as 1 character, u dont change weapons/armor and I find the battle system uninspiring and quite boring. Both are decent RPGs but for me, neither one succeeded in bringing together a great storyline/characters with a great battle system. Of course, just my opinion...

Yeah, I have to second the motion that the game does not run slow on the 1000s. I got my PSP back in May and it runs smoothly on it. Never did I think "Damn is this running/loading slow." I thought that alot playing through the crap port job Square did of FF Tactics with the abundance of slowdown. And imo, even that didnt cripple the game or anything like that. In other words, if you werent gonna upgrade before, dont let this misleading analysis trick you into doing so...

Well, I think Rings of Fate is decent in comparison to Revenant Wing, but it seems like it would be much more fun multiplayer. The single player campaign is ok, but I wouldnt give it much of a rating above a 6 or 7. With all the dialog, I think Crisis Core (sucks you cant even abbreviate CC cuz it can mean Crystal Chronicles) is much less forgiving if you cant understand japanese, but it's also a much better game than Ring of Fates imo.

Hahah, it's funny that someone on here actually thinks he is the ONLY person with the game considering it's already been out 4 days now and you know, there are actually people on this board who live in Japan (and hence got a copy of the game on Thursday). But anyway, about the game...
Overall I think the movie scenes are very impressive and there's alot to be nostalgic about (from the characters to Shinra HQ to Midgar, etc). The battle system is new which is nice but alot of times there's just alot of button smashing. When you reach save points you can do mini-missions which warp you to a small map and you usually just have to beat a boss monster and get it's item to complete the mission. But the difficulty of the monsters increase as you do more missions so I found it easy to get lost just doing the missions and not really advancing the plot (especially since doin the missions nets you some nice items like new materia etc).
The only real negative aspect of the game so far other than the button smashing is that there's alot of breakup in the action. During the 1st few hours of the game, you mostly fight for 5-10 min and then watch 10 min of dialogue and CG. Being able to understand Japanese it's ok, but for those without Japanese knowledge it might be a bit too much storyline if you really wanna enjoy the game. Other than that, I think it's an interesting new battle system and a pretty decent game thusfar.

Well, I think anyone here in Japan who is a "fanboy" and wanted GTA for the PSP has gotten it and finished it a long time ago. That's one of those advantages of the system being region free. Plus, GTA is pretty import friendly for those lacking English skills. While it's officially out in Japan, it's been readily available at import and used game shops ever since it was released in Japan. So yeah, not really news imo...

JetSpike

Yeah, not too much news from looking at the scan. Basically is just says, "What? The new game in the FF series is ACTION?" and then talks about a couple of the characters (Zidane, warriors of the light, blah blah). "Fight Garland to the death" and then the bottom right portion says to wait for a future announcement regarding the system and new characters. Of course price and release date has yet to be determined. Just for those of you who were havin trouble with the Japanese...

JetSpike

Yeah, EBA I would have to say is readily more available than pretty much any other import game for the DS here in Japan. To find import games, you have to usually go to import shops, like Trader, Messe Sanoh and whatever than one is next to it in Akiba (Game Hollywood or somethin, I've never gone in). But EBA can usually be spotted at most used game stores and I dare say is at times in stock more often than OTO. Even used, OTO goes for around 4000 yen here and seems to be a bit hard to find new compared to most DS games which are bountiful. I guess you can chalk this one up to the Japanese liking the rhythm based games and how well it works on the touch screen, cuz from my experience, not many Japanese know the songs on EBA. Just my two cents...

JetSpike