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They did change Etna's voice actress but the entirety of the vocal track was kept the same if I recall. They only redubbed Etna's lines. As for the Tsunami Bomb song, I think it might have been a licensing thing (or the fact the group is defunct) that kept them from reusing it. It is an NISA release this time, not Atlus.

As for Trails in the Sky, it's a very light-hearted traditional-esque RPG. Combat feels like Grandia what with position and attack ranges but it's nothing complicated. There IS a grid based movement system involved but it's not like an SRPG by any means.

And, when I say light-hearted, I don't mean childish or anything. I just mean it's not dramatic. The game is a tale of an adventure throughout their world. To see the sights. To see the people. The experience of the travel. And it does this masterfully. It's a pleasure to go on this journey and to marvel at the world alongside Estelle.

What the game is, though, is a lush, rich world that isn't there just to house the game. The story isn't heavy handed but still carries weight. The characters are refreshing even if they do fall back to cliches and tropes; there's something about the characterizations that works for them, be it the writing, delivery, or just atmosphere of the game.

It is a wordy game, though. The sheer volume of text in it is ridiculous. There's encyclopedia entries on basically everything in the game. There's an in-game fucking book that's part of a collect-a-thon (for the ultimate weapon in the game for the protagonists) and an on-going Newspaper that covers events of the game as they happen. Even the (empty) treasure chests have something to say. But, it's a well-crafted experience.

Basically, it's a lovingly crafted game with a world that was both well-sculpted and then remembered throughout the game. Little nuances that makes the game world feel alive and that the characters in the game are living, breathing characters within the world rather than your cut-out figures you drag from point A to Z. If there's a weak point it's that the combat system has room for improvement as there's not much in the game that's really and truly hard and that lets you really take advantage of the system.

Also, the soundtrack is lovely:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVHIVCiNW6Y[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV-vVvdBCTg[/youtube]

Oh and ... DEAR GOD DO NOT GO TO WIKIPEDIA. The Sora no Kiseki series is huge in Japan (like, best selling RPG franchise on the PSP) but they're also older than dirt. Wikipedia is filled to the brim with spoilers for the trilogy.

Edit: Word of warning, it IS part of a trilogy and only the first game has made it over so far. XSEED has promised over and over that they'll all come over eventually (they've already dubbed all the voices they're going to be using, for instance) but we don't know how long. SC is a monstrous game though. It's slotted to come in on 2 UMDs to house all the text of the game.

You forgot to include a link to .

The other day I bought myself a few new games (including TitS, which I have yet to play), hoping to break myself out of my Dissidia addiction. I succeeded, but unfortunatley did it by getting addicted to a new game, Lord of Arcana.

LoA is basically what I wanted Monster Hunter to be, albeit easier. Like MH you spend pretty much all your time farming for materials to make more/better items, but unlike MH, combat controls smoothly and fluidly. So far I only really have two major gripes with the game.

Firstly, the randomness of the Arcana system makes getting a specific Core a pain in the ass and, secondly, it is really annoying having to wander around town after every quest gathering Clean Waters so you can keep your stock of potions topped up.

Despite these flaws however, LoA is awesome. Combat is fast (especially using a 1H Sword) and fun and the music is great. I also love the Pulse system; at the top of the screen you have your Pulse Gauge, which fills up whilst dashing, blocking, dodging or using Battle Arts, and falls when you are doing anything else. If it fills up completley, it will slowly deplete and you can't do any of those things until it is empty again. Having to moniter it at all times, factoring in how much each action will fill it up, makes fights more interesting.

@Dissida: In the first game I mained Sephiroth and Squall pretty much equally, with Zidane being my secondary character. This didn't change with the transition to Duodecim, and I filled my fourth and fifth party slots with Vaan and Cloud. Though, in saying that, I usually do gateways with mirror piece fights with just Squall, so that they go faster.

I finally got around to using Feral Chaos a bit and his CP shortage has really become apparant. Everything is so goddamn expensive, and it costs a good chunck of points just to remove those bloody handicaps. Even once everthing is mastered, getting an effective build with him will be tricky at best. My initial opinion of him still pretty much holds: he's a damage/priority powerhouse that is huge and slow.

@Ronin_Cooper: Did you play Ura Kaiten Patissier, or just the original?

...am I seeing someone dressed as Cless?

Well, it's about time we saw an alternate outfit that's his. XD