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Finally, I have started playing Final Fantasy XII on PS2.

Initial Comments:
* The opening movies/scenes give me a feeling that I had seen them before (think Star Wars Episode 1 for the wedding parade and Lord of the Rings for the battle for Nalbina fortress).
* The gameplay is unique for the entire Final Fantasy series, although my brother wondered about the similarity between FFXII and the PS2 Castlevanias.
* I really hate the ACTION wait (FFX fanatic). FFXII is somewhat confused. Is it an RPG or an action game? And mice can have that long attack range? Gimme a break!
* I have mixed feelings regarding the character design. They are smooth, but so alien to the series. And why an almost androgynous lead? Is he a male overflowing with estrogen? Or a female who took a lot of testosterone shots?
* This game tends to move a bit slow. Too much background info presented at the beginning.
* Please bring back Nobuo Uematsu. Please.

But I really like the game overall, although it is too early to give an honest assessment at this point.

—

When I started playing Samurai Warriors 2, my brother asked, tongue-in-cheek, “Where’s Kenshin Himura?”

And where, indeed. This cousin of the icon Dynasty Warriors is one controller basher of a game. You know, in DW, you have to press the attack button several times and then press the charge button once, and watch the fireworks. (That’s why I like Lu Bu; press attack twice and charge once. I even had a character created using DW:XL destiny mode, and I was lucky enough to pick up a halberd, Lu Bu’s weapon.) In SM2, well, you have to push and push and push.

NB: There’s one irritating bug/snafu/whatever whenever I play Sakon Shima (or maybe it is just my controller). I usually do the attack-twice-charge-once button mashing, and one-in-two it won’t work. But it always work on other characters. Which leads me to believe that there will be a Samurai Warriors 2:Xtreme LegendsEmpires (well, actually there is, but unsure if it would be released in the US).

The gameplay is straightforward enough, and tends to get stale in the long run. Not too much variety. There’s the Sugoruku board game, if the real game bores you. Or take the survival mode.

Well, it’s a good game, but not in the long run.

UPDATE: Samurai Warriors 2: Empires slated for US release on February, 2007.

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