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Shop Watch December

By Russ | December 3, 2009 at 8:56 pm

If the number of Christmas presents were determined by the number of good RPGs coming out this month, you’d be getting jack under the Christmas tree.

That means there’s not a lot of releases this month.

Well, I’ll be honest – Dragon Age is kinda ‘meh’ once you play past the opening sequences.  Demon’s Souls has captivated me more than Dragon Age, which is a complete reversal of what I was expecting.  Perhaps it’s the amount of effort it takes to do anything in Dragon Age that makes it a little wearisome.  On the PS3, the game takes forever to load, save, and generally run.  When it is time to do something – whether it be fighting or advancing the story – the game engrosses the player easily.  However, once those parts are finished the game gets sluggish.  I’ll have a better idea when I put more time into the game.  I’ve jut scratched the surface, to be honest.

This month sees a whopping two, maybe three releases of note, and only one of those could truly be considered an RPG.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS, shipping Dec. 7.  While I do not consider the Zelda series RPGs, I do think the Zelda series is something RPG fans should be familiar with.  This is an adventure game, and this series holds some of the best adventure titles.  It will be a nice break from stat grinding.  Or something to do while stat grinding.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for the Wii, street-dated for Dec. 26.  Well, this probably isn’t an RPG either.  It looks like fun, though!

Divinity II: Ego Draconis for the 360 and PC, shipping Dec. 29 or Jan. 5 – depends on who you ask.  A dragon slayer turns into a dragon.  Along with auto-fighting on the ground and aerial combat, the protagonist of this game will still manage to cut himself on the dull blade of irony he’s been handed.

Some Advice:  You probably have some RPGs left to play from this year.  Just stick with those.  Zelda games are great, but they are easy find throughout the year.  Crystal Bearers will go on sale.  It’s a Crystal Chronicles game after all.  Divinity II is bargain bin bound, possibly within weeks.

The Future:  Pretty good.  January 26 will have Mass Effect 2 in stores. February 17 will see White Knight Chronicles.  March 9 is Final Fantasy XIII.  March is a big month for Square-Enix, with Star Ocean: Last Hope on PS3, and Nier, FFXIII, and Front Mission on both the PS3 and and 360.  The future is good.

All games (with the exception of those marked as street-dated or available for download) will be in stores one day after their release. Release dates also tend to be shipping dates. All release dates are subject to change.

Topics: Shop Watch