FPS...TPS...I should just go back to calling them "Shooters". XD Nice, simple and they're basically the same thing. Point gun, pull trigger, kill enemy.

Quite frankly, yes. I have no real interest in FPS games which this is shaping up to be. The original was not a traditional RPG, no. But that's what made it so memorable for me. Honestly I think it was easily a decade ahead of its time because if you compare the systems used in PE to that of Fallout 3's VATS combat they look remarkably similar minus the whole SPECIAL system to customize your main character.

I don't mind Hybrids so long as they are heavier on the RPG emphasis than the other genre/s fused in with them. That's part of the reason I disliked PE2 is because they chopped out a bit more of the RPG elements in exchange for something that felt more like Survival Horror due to the tank like controls and real time main attacks.

So far between the screen shots and demos I've seen of this game it looks greatly like there are little to no RPG elements within the gameplay system. Even the control scheme is screaming "This is a FPS title." Unless for some reason the in-battle menu will be linked to the Start/Select buttons...which will be a nightmare in itself.

Honestly if this game was named anything else with any other main character I wouldn't have a problem with it. But because it's a "Parasite Eve" game which is supposed to be an RPG series...it bugs me, endlessly. I thought SquareEnix learned the last time what happens when you take an RPG series and tack on FPS gameplay as the major style; it blows chunks. (I'm looking at you Dirge of Cerberus.)

Y'know normally I might agree my statement is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction except Japan already has a track record for taking gold and turning it into turd. Sonic the Hedgehog anyone? Just to name the most infamous example.

My question still stands as valid. I've seen nothing presented from The 3rd Birthday so far to even make me think it would be an RPG aside from it's connection to the original PE.

...wow, just...wow. So the game series that started off as one of the first and great cinematic RPGs of the prior decade has turned into something only summarized as a "disintegrating jeans action title"?  Is this even an RPG anymore?

*sigh*...thank you so much Japan for taking yet another beloved franchise and raping it into a horrid shell of it's former self. :-/ Maybe Japanese developers need to just stop making games for a year and re-discover what actually made the classic games so good to begin with.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/japanese-debut-catherine/703245

Gametrailers has it marked as an RPG and since it's by Atlus via the same team as Persona I believe it but still...um...I don't think I've seen such a large "What the hell?" trailer in a long time...anyone have a clue what this game's about?

Tangent related to the FPS mechanic- I was actually also thinking about just waiting until New Vegas came out. However I think it's interesting that people are talking about Fallout 3 not having a playable FPS mechanic when in the New Vegas interview things I've seen they quite often play it as an FPS with minimal VATS. Is this a new thing to New Vegas's mechanics? Just wondering because personally from looking at it I can't tell the difference in the combat system between F3 and NV.

Was going to go out and pick up another RPG for my freshly traded Xbox360  but that got canceled...so now I have 48hours to wait and figured I might as well get some more feedback before I make my choice. I've watched/read reviews for the RPGs on the console and originally was debating between Record of Agarest War, Star Ocean, and Fallout3 GOTY version. Then I saw the sausage scene and that ruined any desire to play Agarest. XD

So now it's mostly between Star Ocean and Fallout 3. The big "this or that" factor for me is F3's DLC. I played F3 when it originally came out and had a moderately good time with it. The ending kinda left a sour taste in my mouth but it wasn't a bad experience overall. But now that they have 5 DLCs with what sounds like 2 FPS-style add ons, 2 Side-Story add ons, and a Post-Game+ so to speak, how does it hold up from the perspective of the average gamer?

Considering the primary mechanics of PE3...that's just premium grade nightmare fuel right there...

I agree that Yggdra Union is no where as bad as mjrpgfan is making it out to be. I bought it on a whim last month and haven't regretted a minute of it since. That being said though Leyviur I think you're glossing over some of the things that really do detract from the game (just wanting to debate for the sake of having a friendly argument).

-While the critical hits might be rare they still show up often enough to be a noticeable blight on the game. In every map I've played so far I have never once been lucky enough to have any unit effected by it go on to win the battle. (Although usually the morale loss isn't that big of a deal IMO.) It would've almost been more fair just to have critical hits = instant death because that way you'd waste less time staring at a losing battle you have absolutely no control over. Even though they sometimes play into my favor as well honestly I think the game would have been much better off without them. No one likes being screwed over by an RNG. XD

-Regarding items, I agree that there are plenty of them you can come across via enemy victories and hidden squares (a lot of which are in really obvious places) but an unusual thing I've noticed is I very rarely see any "useful" items. A lot of them are either not equipable by my party or are just plain bad due to having such large stat penalties in return for measly gains. Almost all the battles I've done in the game thus far have been with a "naked" party due to this combination (and so far I haven't had trouble, which leads me to believe actually having a full roster of good items means one could steamroll anything with ease in this game).

-Your point about playing it intelligently and choosing your attacks is quite true, but for me it only feels like that's up to a certain  point due to the over powered nature of some characters. The biggest case and point I can make is the map in Korona right after you recruit Russel. In the first fight against Aegina I sent him solo against her formation just to see what he could do. What he did do was solo kill 4 groups of enemy archers and crippled Aegina (all without any critical hits), only to finish her off in the next round. The for the second part of that map Mistel and Rosina pretty much zerged past the cannons and crushed Eudy's formation without issue, then due to the large distance gap I sent Mistel to face the Emperor and his minions solo and she cleaned house with them as well even with the whole 5 v 1 + no item issue. I haven't gotten a chance to play much past that point due to working on other things but it strikes me as odd that what feels to be the mid-point of the game suddenly throws strategy out the window and basically says "Bum rush ahoy!".

Lol, bravo for the satire. Points for that. *sincere applause*

Although I think you might've misunderstood my position/I probably phrased my point a bit too liberally. I don't mind minor elements of it. Fanservice always has and always will exist but personally I prefer mine in smaller doses. The amount in which it is doled out in modern games, in my opinion, is a bit extreme. Especially with more and more titles starting to make Final Fantasy X-2 look like a sincere attempt at character development. It's almost to the point where it makes me go "You know...Japan has an entire genre devoted to this stuff. If I wanted it that badly I'd go play one of those games."

Personally I see torn clothes in PE3 at about the same level as all the innuendo in Ar Tonelico 2. It might be "realistic" within the context  of that world but to those of us looking at the outside in it's blatant fan service and an annoyance when built into the core gameplay (I'm looking at you X-Blades).

This actually makes me pine for the days when "fanservice" was just a quick 30 seconds of FMV of random anime girl #19 in random hot spring #145 covered by copious amounts of steam as the hero stumbles in. It was quick, simple, and we never had to bother with it again for the rest of the game. XD

Oy oy, Rita Repulsa wasn't "that" bad of a villain. XD At least she was a moderate threat and did some decently evil things back in her heyday. Now Divatox on the other hand...

Point taken about the Face of Boe, however that really didn't feel like a huge plot point at the time as it wasn't shoved in our faces every episode. Not explaining the Silence or the Tardis exploding would be like not explaining "Bad Wolf", or "Torchwood", or "Mr. Saxon". Like those, these new things were practically in every episode. :-/ It just feels kinda like a hollow season to me now that I know they aren't even given basic explanations. It's basically like Season 5 was all filler with the "promise" that Season 6 will have the "real" plot.

Simple, the Saw movie franchise is built on the whole tactic of "See this plot point? It's important, come back next year to find out why." The Silence is "what's in Jill's Box" in Saw V. The Tardis exploding is "the i dunno in the brown envelope at Doctor spoiler's office" in Saw VI (said example could be made with each movie past the first). That tactic is the main reason the Saw franchise has steadily lowered in the box office each year before it finally bottomed out at 6, it's a crap tactic that can ruin the taste of a good series.

Season 5 is using this tactic in spades with two such things in one go. :-/

I do like the season mind you, personally I think this one thing is a huge eyesore that Moffat is using shenanigans to try and get people back next season. He's a good writer, he doesn't have to lower himself to that level of cheap trickery.

While I won't argue that it wasn't a fantastic season finale, I will argue that this was not the most satisfying finale. Mostly because I'm seeing the main difference between Daives Writing Style vs Moffat's Writing Style.

Daives gave use self contained seasons that had all the lingering major questions answered. Any important keywords that were dangled in front of our face were explained, all major plot points resolved, even if it was by pixie dust "I believe in Time Lords" at least it was a conclusion.

Moffat...for a most direction comparison...has been watching too many Saw movies. The Silence, why the Tardis exploded...so much build up that went unanswered during the season. It's a crap tactic that I got bored of long ago. :-/

I watched each season of Doctor Who (at least the new stuff) because I was impressed by the writing and loved the character, and wanted to see more of  the Doctor's adventures. Not because the production staff spent 13 episodes dangling a carrot in front of my nose only to say "come back next year if you wanna find out what we spent this whole season building up to".

Honestly for that fact alone I'm going to have to say out of the new stuff, this is the weakest season of  Doctor Who yet. Not for the episode writing (which I thought was great), not for the Doctor (whom I loved), but for that one craptastic tactic alone. XP

Here's to hoping that in season 6 Moffat cuts the Saw act out and starts treating the seasons like independent entities.