I loved going for the highest ranks in Contra:Shattered Soldier, so perhaps trying for the highest ranks in this game will have me just as addicted.

I beat Contact, and I have to say that I liked it overall.  I was worried that the dungeons were going to be far too long and complicated at one point, but somehow I never got lost.  Normally I can't stand long dungeons, but for some reason I was always able to tell where to go while completely dodging enemies.  It just flowed for me.

The touch control sucked for everything except applying stickers, which luckily was one of the only things you were actually required to use it for.

I would say that Contact is the middle-ground for PC RPGs and console RPGs.  I felt the desire to grind my stats, and when you're in that mindset, dungeons of Contact's size actually feel short.

I'm a Killer7 fan, so the complete and random disregard for fact and continuity was right up my alley.  All story elements seemed intentionally simple and only needed to be at the tip of your brain, and it all came together nicely in the end to provide deeper meaning in life.

You know, you can just close the DS at any time and it will go to sleep.  I was playing contact in bed one night, closed the DS, slept 8 hours, went to work for 8 hours, and when I got home it was still fine.

I didn't check to see if the gameplay clock had stopped or not, which is the only problem I can see with putting your DS to sleep.

I'm going to try for the name Renze.  I'll either be a human hunter or a cast hunter.  It sounds like Ranger gets the best of both worlds with hunter skills on top of the Ranger ones, so I'm going to see what magic I'm missing out on as a cast hunter to make sure everything balances out.

Typing of the Dead was fun as hell, and would have been an excellent way to get your children to learn to type without looking at the keyboard.

Has it yet been said that the PS3's logo going up the side of all of its games look like the damned Spiderman 2 logo?

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/9/928399_67462_front.jpg

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/spider-man2/index.html

What would be a good PC controller for this game?  I have one with two analog sticks, but I don't like the D-pad... the diagonals are too easy to hit, plus the four face buttons click a little wrong.  I'll use it, but I'd like something more like a PS2 controller.

I have a few dual shock 1 controllers laying around... could I use an adapter of some sort?

This game is not like the original, no.  In my eyes, it's enough of a sequel; the attention to the original's details validates this game.



Let a good game be a good game.

Indeed.  Ice magic damage depends on the caster's level.  Fire magic depends on the caster's MAG.  You can actually increase your MAG with equipment, so do that, and switch to a fire spell.  

...Then, take that pesky "Fire dmg down 1/2" sealstone off the dais and you're godly.

I'd say this battle system kicks Grandia's ass.  I'm always fighting bosses repeatedly in order to get all of the "crafting" materials, and I don't feel like I'm grinding because I know that I can continue the story whenever I'm ready.  

Everything up until those trolls in Coriander (which is as far as I am now) seems to have been a learning experience, and I am hoping for the dungeons to get impossibly complicated with the sealstone usage and platforming.  It's been pretty easy up until now, and I actually feel up to the challenge of some crazy elaborate dungeons for once in my life.

Frailty on the trolls eh?  I was considering putting the masochist stone on the dais to help counteract that regeneration... frailty sounds like a better deal to me.