Enchanted Arms - Xbox 360

[primesuspect]

Started it tonight. Initial impressions from someone who is hoping beyond hope that there will be more than one RPG for the 360:

Graphics are great, of course. Battle system is turn based, and seems like it could be interesting. I haven't explored it in any sort of depth yet, basically just clicked "attack" all the way through.

Voice acting is kind of cheesy. The main character sounds pretty lame, like a goofy Disney-channel teenager, and it takes away from the feel of the game, in my opinion. One of the secondary characters is gay, which could make for a pretty refreshing change from the standard "tough guy, nerdy guy, tough chick, silly chick" RPG party mix, but so far his voice acting is a little too gay, a bit over the top. I haven't even really started the game yet, so it may change, but that's my first impression.

Gameplay seems pretty much like Final Fantasy X: linear, move the guy around the map to the next "story and/or fight point". If you like that sort of thing (I do) then this seems pretty cool so far.

I think maybe one of the problems is that I am just coming off of finishing Tales of Symphonia (gamecube) which was incredibly in-depth, with excellent voice acting, and an amazing story. Truly epic. It was nice because my kids watched and played with me the whole time (yes, it is an actual multiplayer RPG), and reading it to them out loud was the equivalent of reading an epic fantasy novel to them for the last several months. It was a lot of quality time spent with my kids. I guess I'm hoping for the same thing with Enchanted Arms. We'll see.

[profdlp]

Sounds fun. :)

Also, any game you can play with your kids is worth playing. :wave:

[primesuspect]

Well I'm a bit deeper into the game, and like Tycho says (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/09/06), it's a thoroughly standard Japanese-style, turn-based, story-driven RPG. This doesn't mean it's bad. If you enjoyed the Final Fantasies 7-10, or Dragon Quest 8, or the Lunar games, you will enjoy this. I'm not sure if this bodes well for RPGs on the 360 - they may have missed their audience. 360 players, to me anyways, seem to prefer sports, "thug simulators", or action/shooter games, and also prefer the "trying so hard to make them look human" graphics, and this is neither. This game would have been highly successful on the PS2, or even the PS3 (there's nothing that would keep this from the other platforms except for some the unlockable acheivements), because those buyers tend to enjoy this sort of game more than the standard "jocks love the xbox" crowd ;)

Now I get to wait months for Blue Dragon (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/bluedragonxbox360/) :-/

[FormFactor]

Hmm sounds like it could be interesting. My friend has an eval copy I might check out.

Would you say its worth 60$? I dig RPGs as well, but more the Zelda types than the FF types (although I loved FFVII).

[primesuspect]

Hrm.. that's tough... I haven't played it enough yet to tell you if it's worth $60. If it was $40 I'd say "yes" right away... but $60 is a tough call.

I mean, the game is cool, really... It's a great RPG.. But the voice acting is pretty darn bad, and it honestly takes away from the whole experience. In fact, I switched the voices to Japanese so I wouldn't have to hear the horrible voice acting. Since I can't understand it anymore, I can't tell you if it's bad or good :crazy: Everything is subtitled in English, so it's not that big of a deal...

[Thrax]

Well I'm a bit deeper into the game, and like Tycho says (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2006/09/06), it's a thoroughly standard Japanese-style, turn-based, story-driven RPG. This doesn't mean it's bad. If you enjoyed the Final Fantasies 7-10, or Dragon Quest 8, or the Lunar games, you will enjoy this. I'm not sure if this bodes well for RPGs on the 360 - they may have missed their audience. 360 players, to me anyways, seem to prefer sports, "thug simulators", or action/shooter games, and also prefer the "trying so hard to make them look human" graphics, and this is neither. This game would have been highly successful on the PS2, or even the PS3 (there's nothing that would keep this from the other platforms except for some the unlockable acheivements), because those buyers tend to enjoy this sort of game more than the standard "jocks love the xbox" crowd ;)

Now I get to wait months for Blue Dragon (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/b/bluedragonxbox360/) :-/

I agree with you 100% about your demographics analysis. I would buy a 360 if it had more RPGs, and I would buy the PS3 for its RPGs if it were cehaper. :(

/me sighs

[primesuspect]

See, you need to do what I did: Wait five years and then buy a PS2 for less than $100 :D Now I have access to the huge awesome PS2 rpg library for teh cheap :ninja:

* prime sets aside a $100 bill to buy a PS3 in the year 2011

[Thrax]

I've had a PS2 since the march after its original christmas release. Now, of course, it's not at home since I let my brother take it to school with him. :P

[primesuspect]

dude, i've seen your brother.. I could kick his ass for you, if you want it back :rarr:

[Thrax]

dude, i've seen your brother.. I could kick his ass for you, if you want it back :rarr:

It's no big deal. I can't afford games right now.. I need to save every penny I can for the coming months. But if you want to kick his ass aaaanyways...

[primesuspect]

* gets into his tan volvo

[profdlp]

Tough crowd. :range:

[primesuspect]

i'll be here all week.. don't forget to tip the waitresses.

[Freemymelody]

I saw my brothers playing that game last night. It's the only game I actully get to see a gay guy as one of the main characters.