• This was, by far, my favorite PS3 game of 2008. Over at GameShark I tried to make it the PS3 GotY, but alas one person is nothing compared to the half dozen who never played it but DID play GTA and Fallout... It's a shame it sold so poorly. There are talks of it being ported to the 360, so hopefully that happens and it sees enough sales so SEGA isn't afraid of things like this in the future. (PS, that same tank mission pissed me off so much. So many hours spent trying to beat that one mission... And the first time I ended up JUST about killing his tank, and then he got off a lucky shot on mine and one-shotted me...)

• Sold. I think that spark is what's missing from the games that are causing the post-Fallout doldrums.

• Gus: I did see how bad it sold. I don't even want to talk about it, especially when you look at what games are outselling it... guh. Anton: I know exactly where you're coming from, because I wasn't sure why I should care either - in fact it sat in the cellophane wrap on my entertainment stand for weeks before I even opened it. It's just one of those games that's really, really well done - it has that little spark that some games have. I can only compare it to Halo, which was "just another FPS" but had a polish down to the smallest degree that just made it seem like more. Personally, I get a big Shining Force vibe from it. Though it does have a military theme and has some aesthetic similarities to Advance Wars, you're controlling individuals on the map (not units or whatever), each with their own nuances. I think something that was a big relief to me was the leveling system - my biggest complaint about the SF games was the utter lack of balance in how characters gained experience: your front line fighters were always many levels ahead your mages and healers, forcing you to grind or usher them in for coup de graces on an enemy with only 1 hp left or something. VC ditches all that crap by giving experience in a pool, which you apply to characters by class as you see fit. It works really well and I don't think I could ever go back. Similarly, I also really, really enjoy the fact you're given basically a number of moves for each turn, which you can spend (or most intriguingly, save and roll over) however you like - so rather than being forced to move every character on the map (even some engineer on the back who has nothing to do) once, you can have a sniper placed up in a tower attack two or three times, or have a scout run out and attack in one move, then back off and take cover someplace else in another... or you could even have one machine gunner just unload on an armored personnel carrier over and over again for an entire turn (which I just did in a certain mission). That flexibility really opens up the possibilities. At least rent it, Anton. While it's tragically underplayed, it seems 100% of the people who give it a try LOVE it.

• Fallout 3 is still in its plastic wrapper, sitting on my shelf because of Valkyria Chronicles. I find myself deploying particular troops, regardless of the type of mission, just because of their spoken lines. Jann, with his "Die for me, Sweetie!" and singing "I could get lost in those muscles." is a must have on any mission. Vyse is also brought out every time just because of the maniacal laughter he lets out when he opens fire on an enemy. I play the hell out of the skirmish battles that I've unlocked because, like you, I keep discovering new wrinkles and ideas for tactics, troop deployments, and even how to spend or save my command points from round to round, and I want to try them out. I'm going to replay the Chapter 7 battle because I want to try out a human wave type of attack on that tank with lancers just to see what happens. I love the graphics of the game. The anime style watercolor appearance is a very welcome break from the greyed out, browned out, blahed out look of just about every other title with a military/war theme to it. Actually, it just looks great and stands on its own merit. Who cares what other games look like? I don't know how close I am to finishing the game (I'm on either chapter 11 or 12), but when it's done I know I'll be wanting it to go longer. Sure I can, and will, play it again, but there is definitely something about having new challenges thrown at you. Hopefully Sega will release some downloadable updates. But it's a good thing that I will finish VC in the near future. Otherwise Fallout 3 will never get out of its wrapper.

• The gameplay in it's simplest form can be described as Advance Wars + FPS. The plot is great. The music is great. The art style is made to resemble a sketched/waterbrush aesthetic and it comes off very well. That fight was rough, and I can assure you that there are much worse fights down the way. Also, before you do anything else, get your scouts to level 10. They get grenade launchers.

• I'm in serious post-Fallout game malaise right now. I've heard many people extol the virtual of VC, but haven't really heard why it's supposedly so awesome. Anyone care to explain it to me? Maybe it's the game I need right now.

• I just finished the same fight. Went down in flames in the last seconds rather than pulling out a victory. I was a little bummed that my new strategy (holding off on bombing radiators until all guns were handled) went so well. But yeah, this game is woefully under-appreciated. Did you see how miserably it sold?

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