too human demo (after)

(tags game, Xbox 360, demo)

The demo kicked me out as soon as it was over. Talk about unfriendly.

I felt like I was playing a World of Warcraft or Diablo. Actually I've never played those games for longer that 15 minutes, but it felt like that... guns are ineffective, so hack and slash in a remote hands off style. Click the mouse button faster! It doesn't feel anything like a Dynasty Warriors. Perhaps it's only because I mastered the right stick slashing only at the end of the demo. The way Baldur skated around while slashing made me think this game was totally easy. And I actually felt guilty when my support party was dying off, but my party was continually refreshed when going to the next room. Oh.

Cybernetic hacking formulated as a natural world? "We, the three witches" who are actually AIs or cybernetic faces of the same overgoddess? Hm.

Bleh? This game doesn't feel so fun.

Whoops I'm playing it again. I see that there is an equipment treadmill now, oh yeah give me my next Armor of 0.2% Level Raising. And hidden rooms full of timed baddies. Wow. WoW.

As far as the voice actors are concerned, they seem to have some mainstream headliners here, according to the official page. There are plenty of voice snippets here. I'm sitting at the startup screen listening to the announcer, who sounds really familiar. Baldur, our main tough guy, is voiced by top tier (voiceover) actor Rikiya Koyama (小山力也) who did the main character for the TV series 24 and also Neo in The Matrix. There's sexy voice Atsuko Tanaka (田中敦子) and Takako Honda (本田貴子), who both star in some anime and movies I know about.

And I do like how they put some emphasis on the facial expressions during the cut scenes. That soldier's gaze conveys hesitance and that receptionist type was probably thinking about a double cross.

I'll ask my Xbox friend who was looking forward to this game about his opinion of the demo. This one is not worth a buy just yet.

Hello Xbox 360, jealous of my Game Boy Micro?

(tags Idolmaster, purchase, Xbox 360, demo, Burnout, racing, RPG, Final Fantasy)

Well I have to turn on my Xbox 360 today, because I have to buy this month's sale DLC in Idolm@ster. Bye bye 2800 points. Yeah, "Japan Downloads Idolm@ster Content Big Time" (thanks Kotaku). It doesn't seem like there's any announcement for the next catalog or sale. It's time to concentrate on Live 4 U.

Yesterday, I finally checked out the Burnout Paradise demo. I want this game. It looks pretty cool and I can really dig into the stunts. With a city this big and seamless, it would be a shame to not have any taxi mini game. But no Burnout to date has any images of people, so it doesn't make sense. Some parts of it remind me of driving around Los Angeles, like the big white Paradise sign and the beach area. Oh yeah, the announcer is in Japanese, except for the part where he says "right here, on Crash FM". It sounds okay, but wierd. Japanese radio announcers are so cool, they speak perfect intonation (American) English while shredding it up in Japanese. I wanna be like that.

I bet you Xbox 360 owners have downloaded your Undertow for free right? It's an apology gift. (Game Watch: マイクロソフト、Xbox LIVE アーケードで「Undertow」を期間限定で無償提供 )

And I am still playing Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. It's not hard, it's just a easy treadmill of leveling up and acquiring spells/skills through combat points (AP?). 43 hours, probably most of it in bed before I go to sleep.