After a couple of quiet weeks, it's back, and there are interesting things abound.
Lost Odyssey and
Persona 3 stand out particularly - two quite different JRPGs. There's also the first real competition to the Battlefield series in
Frontlines, and a new
Katamari Damacy game.
Lost Odyssey brings the 360's Japanese RPG count to four, and it's really quite good. I've been playing it since the beginning of the month and am about half way through the third disc of four. Technically very traditional in its design, but with interesting enough characters, a well refined and energetic battle system, as well as stunning graphics and music. Do not hesitate if you have any time at all for this sort of thing.
Unless of course this looks more like your cup of tea.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 was praised massively by Americans and importers last year. Another JRPG, but set in a school and generally quite hard to describe. Its PAL release (thanks Koei) is however overshadowed somewhat by Atlus's announcement that they will be releasing the heavily expanded version of the game (persona 3 FES) in America. Make your choice. Personally, I'll be staying away. I've seen enough of the dialogue scenes on Youtube to know that I'd hate it. Apparently this is supposed to be "
funny. Jesus...
One of the previous generation's most prominent cult hits has its fourth iteration released this Friday. Personally once was enough for me, but if you've yet to play any of them,
Beautiful Katamari is supposedly perfectly competent.
Finally of note is
Frontlines: Fuel of War. It's essentially a Battlefield clone, but with some very sensible tweaks that succeed in their aim of making the combat feel like more of a concerted effort with team-mates fighting side by side rather than spread isolated across the map. Its other main point of interest is its inclusion of remote-controlled drones. Try the demo, it's not bad at all and they've even got some dedicated servers on Xbox Live which isn't very common.Lost Odyssey (360)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2)
Beautiful Katamari (360)
Frontlines: Fuel of War (360, PC)
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (PS3)
Guilty Gear Core (Wii)
Bleach: The Blade of Fate (DS)
Bleach: Shattered Blade (Wii)
Blitzkrieg 2 Anthology (PC)
Lost (360, PC, PS3)
Gothic Universe (PC)
Call Of Duty: Triple Pack (PS2)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PSP)
Fizz (DS)
Megaman ZX Advent (DS)
Namco Museum 2 (DS)
Tigerz (DS)
Fantasy Wars (PC)
Flight Crew (PC)
Silent Hunter 4: Wolves of the Pacifc - U-Boat Missions (PC)
The Sims 2: Freetime (PC)
SnoCross 2 Featuring Blair Morgan (PS2)
Hard Rock Casino (PSP)
Asterix At The Olympic Games (Wii, PS2, DS)
Spongebob: Atlantis Squarepantis (Wii, PS2, DS)