I'm an action junky. I can admit that. This naturally makes me found of FPS, sports games, and an occasional action RPG.

I don't like the requirements of most Japanese style RPG's where you have to read and then read some more and then a little more and maybe you get to fight. I just couldn't take the building plot. This isn't a freakin' movie it's a game. I want to play the movie not watch the movie. But in the last few weeks I've learned to appreciate the story style of these RPG's.

I'm going to give credit where credit is due, the turn-based game. Yes, I saw some screenshots of Heroes of Might and Magic V and thought I would try out HoMM IV. I was really aggravated with the slow stupid style of the game, but I kept playing. The more I played the more I was hooked. I actually started to look forward to HoMM V. I even tried Civ IV, but I think I went to far with that one since I nearly drove myself away from the turn-based genre playing that. The problem with that one is that you don't do much of anything, but I won't spend my time writing a review of that game when this is about Japanese RPG's. The point is that the slower style of gameplay brought me down a notch or two. It got me to appreciate a slower plodding style of gameplay.

I like to try games that have gotten really good reviews so I added Dragon Quest VII to my Gamefly que I had my standard response to this game. "Crap another Final Fartsy spin-off." It may be sacrilege to make any negative comment about Final Fantasy, but I don't like them - any of them. They don't have enough action for my taste. Now imagine my shock when I got into Dragon Quest and actually liked it. No, it's not any different then any other Japanese RPG, it's basically the same, but I was still into the slower style of the gameplay. I appreciated the opportunity to chose my attack or spell or whatever. I could understand why people like this style of game. Sure, you have to be a slower person, not in the head, but in the style of play where you choose each action and instead of the knee-jerk response like in a FPS.

I went as far so to go and buy Dark Cloud 2 since it was one of the RPG fanboys that I know favorite game. I'm playing that one now and it's a nice combination of action RPG and standard Final Fantasy RPG.

I'm going to play these games for a few weeks so lets see how well it goes. Does it have the staying power or am I go to get bogged down and bored? Stay tuned to find out.