Dview: Costume Quest (XBLA)

The Bottom Line:
Costume Quest is a semi-old school kid friendly RPG.  The battles are turn-based (with a one button activator after attack is selected, there is an activation button for defense too).  i wish this would have been 5x-7x the length and a retail game.  Basically, you collect costumes (or pieces of them) and then go into battle as that character: robot, knight, pumpkin, etc.  The characters have different special abilities that you can use (at about the 3 turn mark in a battle).  The main story happens around Halloween (my favorite holiday) and you go around to houses and trick or treat.  At around 5-7 hours for both of the main game and the DLC, it feels a little short.  i recently got this game on sale (and beat it in a day), if i had to pay the full 1,200 points for this i would have been a little more disappointed.
Grade: B


What to Expect:
* Turn-based battles (there is a level cap for the main game at 10, 14 for the DLC).  Most of the game you will have a party of three.  Battles are with visible characters in the field or at doors you trick or treat at.  Characters can be enhanced a little by acquiring battle stamps
* A fairly colorful game that takes place on Halloween (the DLC is more winter themed), some people say it has charm
* Chests/costume pieces to search for.  Some costumes have field abilities - like light, protection field, etc
* Trick or Treating (in one of the 3 separate areas: the suburbs, the mall and the country)
* Side quests (maybe 20 or so) - these range from things like winning a costume contest, to finding a treat card to fetch quests, even bobbing for apples.
* A fixed camera that you cannot really move.
* A fairly linear game.

Achievements:
The achievements in this game are mostly straightforward, the only one i had to look up was the visitor one from the DLC.  They are for things like collecting (treat cards, battle stamps), using costume, defeating bosses, doing all of the quests, etc.  There are an additional 50 gamerscore points from the DLC (hint, using the Yeti costume in the final fight may be a good idea).