Dview: Enchanted Arms (Xbox 360)

The Bottom Line:
Enchanted Arms was one of the first RPGs on the Xbox 360.  In some ways, this game is kind of a throwback RPG: it is turn based and the random encounter rate is annoyingly high.  The turn based system is a little different in that it uses a grid where players can be positioned before their turn.  You input the commands for your 4 characters then start the turn.  Some golems fill up 4 spaces in the grid, human and smaller characters take up 1 space.  The position within the grid (and the enemy's position) dictates what enemies you can attack.  i wish more games used this system.  There are also numerous golems you can use instead of the 4 humans.  i heard the voice acting was kind of bad, especially early on (but i typically play without sound on). 
Grade: C-

What to Expect:
* Random Encounters, lots of random encounters.  There is an expensive skill you can buy that negates them.
* Grid based turn based combat system
* Average story
* Numerous skills and Golems to buy/find
* Some kind of annoying "tutorials" which all end up with pressing the A button (yes, Atsuma isn't very smart - they overdid that a little)
* Vitality points for characters which kind of prevent insane grinding.  There is an item that can replenish them
* A fairly annoying/difficult boss (Ice Queen) unless you sufficiently level/parameter grind
* Some enemies are weak to certain elements (same for characters you control)
* Summons (EX attacks) that are usually learned through leveling or story progression.
* Fairly linear: there really aren't quests, though there is the optional bonus dungeon (Holy Beast Shrine) and collecting the "god weapons".  The weapons from the Holy Beast Shrine are better, but you learn a skill from the "god weapons". 
* Mini-games: golem battle (kind of an arena), slots, roulette, etc.  Lots of golem cores, skills, etc to buy from the casino
* Length: 30-50+ (especially if you get all golems with full FP).

Obvious Tips:
* Use your skill points (you can use them to build up parameters or learn skills).  You won't earn any more than 99,999. 
* Right Trigger is auto battle for a round (when you don't want to do every fight)
* After your turn starts, hold the Y button to slightly speed up technique/summon animation

My Stats:
* Playtime: 53 hours 44 minutes (did bonus dungeon with random encounters enabled)
* Achievements: 25/25 (1,000 GS)
* Level: 79
* Golems: 79%
* Skills: 96%
* Support: 94%
* Battles 971 (though that might be low)

Achievements:
All of the achievements in this game are directly related to the story.  i wish there would have been more variety to the achievements like collect all golems, skills, win all golem battles in casino, etc.  This isn't the most difficult 1,000 GamerScore, but it will take a while (and one of the bosses is a pain - several other if you are under powered). 

Video Game Annoyances: Freezing

Wouldn't you know it, i just got to the final boss in Enchanted Arms (it is like a 5 fight sequence - after the 2 fight sequence) just to have my Xbox 360 hard freeze.  That is so fricking annoying.  i also had a freeze at the final boss of Star Ocean 4 (i should probably finish off that playthrough sometime).

Is it too much to ask that consoles (and games) be perfectly stable and never crash (even if i play for 13 hours straight)?  i guess so.  Freezes (especially hard freezes) are probable my second least favorite technical hassle (the first being the red ring, or light of death). 

On that subject, i am on my 3rd Xbox 360.  My launch window console (December 10th) lasted a little over 3 years before the video card failed (or i think that is what it was), the replacement lasted about 1 year before it started frequently freezing and locking up (so i traded it in to Game Stop, i know that is kind of bad).  My current console is a 4 GB slim with an added 250 GB hard drive.  i had to send it in for repair less than 6 months in - probably because a firmware update bricked it.  i was really not happy and almost quit playing it, but ultimately i had too much already spent on it (invested is totally the wrong term).    

What are your video game related annoyances?   

What i've Been Playing this Week

Video games are apparenlty game with video - go figure.  So, what have i been doing for the last week or more.

i finally finished off Magna Carta 2 (1,240/1,240 GS) and started a game of thermo-nuclear war (no, that was War Games).  i did start Enchanted Arms.  Enchanted Arms is a throwback turn-based RPG (originally released around the Xbox 360s release), the encounter rate is kind of insane.  i'm about 30 hours in.  Then i guess i played a little Overlord 2.  i actually dusted off my Nintendo DS too.  That was to start a game of Chrono Trigger (i don't exactly like the battle system).  Playing games on the DS is kind of hard for me, as the characters look like ants (way too small).

If anyone is annoyed that i don't really don't have much to say about other consoles than the Xbox 360, i could be grudgingly willing to accept donations of consoles and games. 

Games Started:
* Enchanted Arms
* Lost Odyssey
* Overlord II
* Chrono Trigger (DS)

Current Gamerscore:
* 27,012 (new main acocunt, started June 2010)
* 36,790 (original account i don't use much anymore as it may be cursed)

Did MSFT Do a Stealth Price Cut on the Xbox 360?

The June NPD numbers (apparently) are in.  MSFT (Microsoft, i use the stock abbreviation a lot) sold over 500,000 consoles in what is a traditionally slow month.  Some of this is tied to the PC/Xbox promotion (likely less than 25%). 

What i was wondering is if MSFT did a stealth price cut a few months ago.  What i mean by stealth price cut is that the price cut was really on the retailer side (not the MSRP).  i would guess that somewhere  around $25 per console has been taken off the cost for retail.

It would explain somewhat why there seem to be so many stores offering gift cards with purchases of Xbox consoles (and especially bundles).  Maybe i'm wrong and stores are just seeing an uptick from a brief economic recovery.  However, it seems to me that stores are not really using gift to act as a loss leader.  Gift cards really are an ideal method for the stores (as either they won't be used or future purchases are "locked in" at that store chain).  i find these gift cards reappearing so frequently interesting (a one off promotion i could understand, but virtually every week looks like a tip-off to a price cut or an effective price cut for them).   

i postulate that the official price cut will be revealed before the end of TGS (mid September), at least for the consumer. i expect a $25-50 cut on console price, $25 cut on Kinect stand alones and a $50-75 cut to Kinect/Xbox bundles. This is not really based off of anything other than a guess.  

Game Room - The July 2011 Report

i was kind of bored, so i did the July leaderboard check a little earlier than i anticipated.  i guess i also did it a little early due to the switchover to Xbox.com of Games for Windows Live.  i have switched both gamertags to the PC version of Game Room - so i don't suffer hard console freezes.

Maybe some more games will have leaderboard increases between now and July 15 (when i was going to do the check).   

Observed Increases:
* Dodge 'Em (+100)
* Dolphin (+100)
* Jail Break (+1,000)
* Scooter Shooter (+1,000
* Super Basketball (+100)
* Super Breakout (2600) (+100)
* Vectron (+10)
* Time Pilot (+1,000)

Summary:
This time, i only observed 8 increases for 3,410 in total leaderboard increases.  This was not as long of a time horizon as my last check, so results compared month to month are likely skewed.  The actual increase in leaderboards in probably greater. 

Interesting Note:
Combined Atari (Arcade and 2600) has taken over the lead in ranked Game Room sales by publisher from Konami by 2,705 (that might have happend last time).  80 games are not ranked.  My most basic current estimates by publisher have:
*Atari at 147,081 
* Konami at 144,376 
* Activision at 33,688 
* Intellivision at 24,021
Total: 349,166 or approximately $1,047,498 in gross sales of ranked games

i just updated my SkyDrive file for Game Room estimated sales based off of leaderboards (87.5%).  This is not my slightly more convoluted irr stuff.   

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=c67fdccca0fc034e&sc=documents#!/view.aspx/Public/Game%20Room%20Sales%20Estimates.xlsx?cid=c67fdccca0fc034e&sc=documents

HD Remakes i Want to See

So, i start another post off with the word "so".  Recently some HD collections have been announced - the out of nowhere Halo CE Anniversary and some Konami stuff.  This got me thinking...  what games from my shadowy gaming past would i like to see remade for the modern HD console.  i decided to limit the list to PS1 and later titles.  Downloadable titles (that are more emulation) and portable versions aren't enough for me.

Here goes:
1 with a bullet) Lunar: Eternal Blue & Lunar: Silver Star Story
2) Grandia 2 and Grandia
3) Fable: The Lost Chapters
4) Skies of Arcadia (i don't think i ever beat that game)
5) Star Ocean (the first 3 games)
6) Tales of _____ games
7) Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
8) Evolution 1 & 2
9) Voodoo Vince (could be interesting as a Kinect title)
10) Sudeki
11) Chrono Trigger (the DS version doesn't really work for me, small screen and all)
12) Final Fantasy VII
13) Basically any RPG going for over $100 on AMZN
14) King's Quest Series (on console)
15) Gazillionaire Deluxe, Profitania, Zapitalism (on console)
16) Azurik: Rise of Perathia (i'm weird like that)
17) Jade Empire
18) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic