I am both very excited and a little disappointed by reading about this.

Of course it was inevitable that a sequel would be released, but I can't help but feel after it does come out the first game will be neglected. Chances are it'll be one of those cases where the sequel makes the first one near obsolete. The best thing about LBP1 (after beating the 1-Player) is the community levels. Once #2 comes out the best developers will probably move on. Nothing wrong with that but it probably means I'd never go back to play #1 again. Especially being able to transfer everything across.

But I adored the first one and am looking forward to a second one. I hope they release a "campaign" like in the first one too. For those of us who aren't developers I don't want to have to wait for good levels to be created. Though I could probably wait a few months before buying it too.

Yeah, the poor translation of the Ghostlight (UK) version plus the average reviews have still been putting me off. It does look fun, so I might try it out myself in the end anyway. I'm a big TBS with RPG elements fan.

I would have preferred that. Well, not exactly like in your example, but you know what I mean. I don't feel like I'm advancing or getting stronger, I just get more and more frustrated each chapter. I'm past that now, but the statue thing annoyed me too. Way more annoying than fun.

I agree with Serene Prophet too. The battle system just doesn't do it for me any more. I enjoyed the ingenuity when I started playing, but I'm a bit over it now. I liked the Valkyrie Profile 2 version of the system better. I felt like there were more options available in that.

Mind you, there are a lot of things I like about the game too. That's why I'm still playing!

That's a really good point actually. Hadn't thought about it.

Let me think... In the examples you gave, "Persona" and "Final Fantasy" I would say it is the new skills you learn or the new party members you get. It gives you more options and allows you to approach similar battles in entirely different ways, if you so desire. Even after you have your full party you're still going to be learning new skills and/or gaining new abilities.

In Resonance of Fate (as far as I've played anyway), you start the game with near your full potential. Sure, you will obtain new weapons and you can upgrade them to make them slightly different. But the strategy remains much the same each battle, you just get stronger.

Each battle I still have Zephyr with a MG and Leanne and Vashyron with HGs. I start off with Zephyr and run him between the other two at an angle taking shots at enemy (possibly with a jump). I then take Vashyron and do the same thing at a different angle to set up a triangle. I then start a Tri-Attack using Leanne and shoot as much as I can. If the battle isn't over then I do it again. The only time this changes is in boss battles, in dungeons where the terrain isn't predominantly flat or if I need suddenly need a hand grenade or some healing.

If this was Persona 3, for example, I'd be constantly having to change tactics in battle to suit whatever my enemy's current weakness is. If I'm really having trouble I might even have to swap my party around or fuse some new Personas with different abilities.

I think the other thing about RoF is that, because it can be so hard, I tend to stick to the same strategy because I know it works. I don't want to keep getting frustrated when I feel ripped off and then throwing my money at retrying.

I've been tossing up importing the badly translated UK PS3 Version. Call me old-school, but I enjoy unwrapping a game from its plastic and putting the disc in my console. I'm not a fan of download games at all. Plus the download for it is approx 10GB I hear. I only have an 80GB PS3 so that's a fair chunk of my space...

I'm a little further than you. A few more chapters ahead, to be specific. Honestly, I'm feeling the same thing. Battles do become a little more varied, but not in terms of the attacks you have. Rather you come up against more status ailments and enemies with different defensive mechanisms.

I've personally found battles are starting to get repetitive. Apart from figuring out the best type of damage to use on an enemy I've recycled the same basic strategy for almost every battle of the game. I am enjoying the game, but I don't think the combat is fun enough to warrant the high level of difficulty.