Thanks must go out to Ender – not for reminding me that Ateleir Iris 3 was out – Jeff did that a couple of weeks ago – but for reminding me that I needed to order Grim Grimoire. It kind of amuses me that both Jeff and Ender picked up AI3 in the place other other games (particularly given that they were both distro’d via Atlus). I’m kind of slacking when it comes to keeping up with the release schedules at the moment ^^;

I have a horrid habit of buying RPGs just to stick in the pile of games I’ll probably never get around to playing (or at least finishing). It kind of goes back to the PSOne days, I guess, where I was late in getting a PSOne which could play US games, and wasn’t wealthy enough to pick up everything I wanted immediately. I missed out on a few games I’d have really liked, and payed through the nose to get some of the others. These days, I have a habit of buying pretty much everything remotely interesting (which is about 90% of all RPG output for me) immediately in case something I really want goes out-of-print before I pick it up. I still miss a few things now and again (US GBA SRW:OG, for example), but honestly I’ve probably got more games than I’m likely to ever get around to finishing given I’m backlogged with other forms of entertainment as well (it may surprise people, but I do actually read a lot as well).

Coincidently, my game of the year thus far has been THE iDOLM@STER – I’ve clocked up crazy-hours on that game. I guess that goes some way to explaining my interest level in Xenoglossia being a lot higher than a lot of the rest of anime fandom.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering about that Negima game in the pile, I’ll get around to reviewing it eventually. From the hour I have played, though, I can tell you that it’s a not particularly great SRPG affair.

Anyway, one game which arrived yesterday and ended up jumping straight to the top of my backlog, and into my 360, is Trusty Bell ~Chopin no Yume~ (Chopins’ Dream), which is going to be released in the US as Eternal Sonata. I think you’d probably have to play the full game, with it’s cut scenes and more expansive environments, to really appreciate it, but this really is the most downright beautiful game I’ve ever played. It’s not just from a technical standpoint, though it certainly is impressive enough in that regard, it’s that it has the visual design to match it. Absolutely everything looks beautiful, to the point where I’ve found myself stopping on several occasions just to admire things. It really needs to be seen in it’s full, HD glory.

The actual story to the game is kind of odd. I mean, I’m playing it in Japanese, and my minimal (at best) grasp of the language doesn’t really help me, nor does the fact that the opening (which is probably one of the most cut-scene intensive ones I’ve seen outside of Xenosaga) has a habit of jumping around a lot, but even setting those aside it’s still odd.

Basically, the game starts three hours before the death of Chopin – not a fictional character, but the actual composer Frederic Chopin. He’s bedridden with tuberculosis, and the game makes sure to point out the fact that he is 39 years old, just to ensure it’s clear that he’s about to die. Anyway, on his deathbed, he starts dreaming of the fantasy world in which the game is actually set.

Of course, if playing a game in which you know one of the playable characters is going to die before the end (yes, Chopin is controllable in battle – he’s a melee fighter using a sword-sized conductors baton to beat his foes) wasn’t melancholic enough, the games opening movie actually starts with the games 14 year-old, Aya Hirano-voiced heroine Polka committing suicide by throwing herself off a cliff. I can’t wait see the actual context for that scene…

If that wasn’t depressing enough, Polka is something of an outcast – she can use magic, and given that in the world it’s set it’s a side effect of incurable illnesses which are rumoured to be contagious, people aren’t really keen to go anywhere near her. Still, upon meeting Chopin, she sets out along with the other characters she meets to spend the rest of her days doing what she can.

Even if you completely set aside the staggering visual quality, Trusty Bell is still a really great game. It has a distinctive story (come on, you can’t call that generic) and an unusual combat system which kind of melds turn-based with Tales-series styled action elements. For those with US and EU 360s, it’s definitely worth a look when it comes out in English.

And, yes, it is better than Blue Dragon.