Also, does Rogue Galaxies story suck like everyone said it does, ala Dark Cloud 2, or is it really a great character focused story that just has a mediocre overall storyline.


Again, I really respect the look of Odin Sphere, but a few things make me shy away from it.

A. Switching characters thing makes me feel like it's not the traditional leveling model I want. I hate going through large portions of a game feeling confused about what's going on.

B. The inventory management thing looks downright frusterating.

C. The circular level thing looks meh.

D. The gameplay looks awesome though, but I dunno if its the traditional experience I'm looking for, structure wise. In other words, it looks easily exploitable and twitch based(but so did FFXII and it wasn't, it was amazing, imo)

E. How is the story. It looks like kinda not as fufilling and lengthy in narrative as I would like.


Now, all that said, I'm still highly considering buying the game, as I've put hours of research in GrimGrimoire and this game, but I just have a bad feeling:


When games get good review scores, that have amazing and innovative graphics, and then a traditional game gets the same score, but has nothing new or innovative for it, I can't help but feel that the innovative game got points for graphics and gimmickry, while the traditional game got points for simply being an outstanding example of a type of game in its genre done right.

Even though some would argue Grim has a gimmickry in its rts system, I feel like after looking at the game, it is basically a really solidly made jrpg with the typical battles(which are only a small part of the overall game's quality, in most cases, with exceptions like Radiant Dawn) replaced with RTS. I feel that most reviewers would actually dock points for this wierd marriage, and that the game would have to be outstanding on at least some level to garner the minor critical praise that it did.

Lol, sounds great to me.  I think that's a pretty good decision.

I just got Valkyrie Profile 2 in the mail today! Can't believe I haven't played it yet....

Try out Rogue Galaxy. 

Yeah, tell me how VP2 is, I've never played a VP game, ever.

Also, I hear Rogue Galaxy has fluff for a story. If someone can tell me about the story for that game, if it is charming or whatever, I would love to read it. 

I just, literally, bought Valkyrie Profile 2 off Ebay, after reading its user reviews, based on your suggestions.

Odin Sphere has a great story. Seriously, one of my favorites ever in a video game. It's very emotional and has great characters.  I admit it is a bit complex though. The only negatives about Odin Sphere are the inventory system and the FR drops. Other than that, great game. Oboro Muramasa on Wii is my 2nd most anticipated Wii game for the rest of this year (after King's Story). 

The GT review is the best:

 A) The game consists of several "books," each of which has you playing a certain main character. The only time you switch characters is when you complete a book and move on to the next one. Characters play more-or-less the same, with slight variations. (The first one you get can fly, the second can bounce on enemies and has slightly shorter reach, and so on.)

B) I wouldn't say it's "downright frustrating," though you may find it as such. You have extremely limited inventory space, which often forces you to dump less-useful items.

C) The circular levels actually work very well. I much prefer them to the "invisible walls" of a flat level, since they allow for some extra strategy in the gameplay. (For example, you can run around and attack enemies from behind.)

D) The combat is like a beat 'em up, using a hit-point system similar to a post-SotN Castlevania game. I don't know what you consider a "traditional experience;" if you're looking for a turn-based, "press X to attack" game, then it might not be for you, but I found it more fun than most such "traditional" RPGs. It's also not easily exploitable; at least, not by any way that I've found.

E) The story is extremely lengthy and fulfilling. I'm not a fan of most JRPGs' stories (to say the least), so my praising it should tell you something. Each "book" presents a sort of subplot in the game's universe, all of which tie together in the final book. I should also mention that the locailzation is generally top-notch, and that there's not a bad voice actor among the game's main characters.