Dview: Magnacarta 2 (Xbox 360)

Bottom Line:
Magnacarta 2 is an console action RPG where you primarily play as a character who doesn't remember his past - until it comes back to haunt him.  i know, groundbreaking for an RPG.  Magnacarta 2 is actually a RPG that leans heavily on RPG conventions - but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  You are thrown into one side of a civil war as certain events traspire.  But is everything as it seems?  You can switch between characters in battle using the direction pad (and it is necessary for some types of attacks - like battle chains) or the battle menu.  As a character attacks they lose stamina, when that happens enough they can't attack until they "cool down" - unless battle chains are used. 

There are a variety of skills to learn (kind of a skill tree scenario), unfortunately some skills are only available based off of what weapon type the character is using. Each character has two weapon styles (ex. Juto has 2 Handed sword or 1 Handed sword), which has different associated skills.  Battle skills can be launched with the B button (provided they have saved up enough Kan to use them).  Oh yeah, as a character attacks or is attacked they build up Kan which can then be used for special skills.

There is also DLC that costs 400 points that adds 240 gamerscore points and a weapon (in each style) for each of the 6 characters.  The weapons are a little overpowered (especially early on). 
Grade: C+

What to Expect:
* Numerous side quests (over 100)
* Fighting monsters and humans in a party of 3 (user selectable, though some might not be able to be used at certain times)
* Decent length for an RPG, i think this was designed for 2 playthroughs.
* Action combat with the semi-frequent need to switch characters
* Some relatively difficult enemies
* Relatively standard RPG faire
* Battle system that may take a little while to become proficient in

How i Played:
Difficulty: Default
Play Time: 40 hours (probably another 30+ on 2nd playthrough)
Achievements: 38/46 (with DLC), 1,000/1,240 gamerscore
Bad Tips: Rue (Katana) is a good leader to use when you get her as she has an instant kill ability that you can use sometimes - well it would be if you didn't need to use so many Battle Chains for the achievements. 

Achievements:
i will get 1,240 eventually, but i only have 1,000 now.  Basically the achievements are for stuff like: finishing all of the side quest (some are easily missable), doing X Chain Breaks, Story Related, Mastering Weapon Styles, etc.  The DLC is for watching brief videos and collecting all weapons for the 6 characters.