Well said, Kevadu, that's what I was attempting to refer to with my post, but you made your point much more clearly than I did.

That entire situation was ridiculous on every level.

EO1 is the most broken of the EOs, in my opinion.  Even if you don't use Immunize/Defender you still have the attack boost/Relax on Troubadours and the Survivalists being ridiculously overpowered, with Poison being incredibly strong for the first 1/3 of the game. Almost any class setup you use can be abused in some way.  I can't really say I agree with you, Farron.

I'm hoping for a class rebalance.  Given that they're adding Gunner (itself a broken class from EO2) I expect I'll be getting my wish.

I honestly found almost every single one of DA2's character unlikeable, save Aveline.  Varric was okay.  I wouldn't consider that "well done."  I also wouldn't say the story presentation was particularly stellar, either.  Siding with either the Mages or Templars changes nothing, and the Mages in general are just ridiculous.  Every mage is a blood mage now, apparently.

That's my problem with it; it doesn't even have, as you say, "Bioware's strengths."

I do like the idea of skipping through time, but they could have worked better with it.  They should look at something like Dragon Quest V for it being done properly.

I imagine his teleporting will be, at most, like Zone of the Enders 2.

I'm certainly not complaining if it is, though they may have to balance the game around it.

It was the giant Leviathan that did it for me. 

Destiny of Spirits was announced today, and it definitely isn't a Demon's Souls 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzFXNGAC1vQ

Nah, the first Kingdom Hearts isn't too bad.  I'd say it's pretty straightforward.  It's everything after that. Especially DDD.

Do you like Disney?

If so, you'll probably like it.  

If you don't like Disney, well, it's an interesting ARPG but I'm not sure how much you'll get out of it.  I really enjoy its vertical components and its emphasis on jumping and gliding.   You even get the ability to fly, later.  It also has some neat platforming that, unfortunately, was removed from the later titles.

Definitely not min-max, just about any decently built party works in it.  It's pretty easy for a dungeon crawler. I wouldn't call it a good introduction to the genre because it doesn't have explanations, but, from a difficulty perspective, it isn't too bad.

Atelier Rorona is pretty obviously European Renaissance based. The other games in the Arland sub-series don't really have its unique atmosphere, though.

Koudelka - and Shadow Hearts - is definitely what you're looking for. Koudelka takes place around 1900, and the Shadow Hearts games around 1920.  They even have the Asian themes, as well!

Not really an RPG, but Hakuoki is a visual novel based off of Japanese history, complete with the Samurai that you want.

Oh, the leaked concept art is wonderful.  Thanks for that.

The tribal(?) girl is incredibly out of place.  She's even smiling.

Special Edition confirmed - with a Japanese-style towel and artbook.  Just in case anyone's interested and didn't see:

http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/31/hakuoki-memories-of-the-shinsengumi-limited-edition-has-these-lovely-items/

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.  The art is fine, it's when it's turned into a 3D model that it becomes unappealing to me.

That's what I meant, apologies for the lack of clarity.  The SMTIV designs look nice, as did the Catherine designs.  I just don't think pure non-monster Kaneko designs would look very good outside of a few specific settings.  I'll never get tired of his monsters.

I may be of the unpopular opinion here, but while like Kaneko's artwork, I'm of mind that it needs to stay exactly that: artwork.  Even in PS2 titles characters some of the characters' face models were starting to look creepy/strange (and not in a good way to fit the games and their themes, especially in the Raidou games).  I imagine a more detailed character model for current-gen or next-gen would be even worse.  I think the new artwork strikes a good balance.

That said. . .I can't see Devil Survivor's character designs working particularly well in 3D, either.